Fiona Apple

I was so self-critical. I still am, but it's not as bad anymore. ”

I know what my job is: I write the songs, I sing them, I play them on the piano. ”

I was never somebody who grew up going, 'I really want to be a singer in a band,' and I never had any ambition toward anything, really. ”

I'm incredibly impressed by people who organize to achieve a goal, and believe that they can make a difference and then go ahead and do just that. I think it's incredible. ”

Sometimes interviews are fun and good conversations, but stuff like photo shoots and appearances at places where you have to meet a lot of people - I was never really made for this kind of stuff. ”

Five years from now I'm probably going to look back on the things I'm doing and cringe. ”

Hearing my songs in public freaks me out a bit. There was one restaurant I really liked in L.A., but I had to stop going there when they started playing my music. It felt kinda awkward. ”

When I was a kid - 10, 11, 12, 13 - the thing I wanted most in the world was a best friend. I wanted to be important to people; to have people that understood me. I wanted to just be close to somebody. ”

No, I've never wanted kids. But I do read about parenting a lot. ”

I never went to concerts when I was a kid, so I never knew if what I was doing onstage was right. ”