If you look at the history of presidential memorials, it takes a long time to get them done.

My favourite book as a child was an old 'Newne's Children's Encyclopaedia' which my grandfather had bought just before World War II and donated to our family after seeing how interested we were in it. Each volume had special chapters called 'Things Boys can Do.' My brothers and I would pick out interesting projects.

When 'Animals' released, I still had one year left in school, so it was, like, super weird. I had number one in the U.K., and I would still go to school five days a week. They made, like, a schedule when I could tour and when I had to be home for tests. But my team made it happen. My parents, they helped as well.

I was not from a middle-class family at all. I did not have middle-class possessions and what have you. But I had middle-class parents who gave me what was needed to survive in society.

Songwriting really kicked in with the guitar. I was going through a lot as a kid. There had been a lot of transitions in my family. So it just became a total therapy, like most artists.