"When I did '1,2,3,4' on 'Sesame Street' they'd rewritten the song and made it about counting. At first, I balked. I was like, 'Counting to four? That's where we're going with this?' Then they sent me appearances by other people like James Blunt doing 'You're Beautiful' as 'My Triangle.'"

"There's real potency in metal. Metal fans love metal as if it's a nation they would fight for. It's not diluted by pop culture."

"I'm a Canadian. Outside Canada I carry the flag. Canadian nationalism isn't as insidious as American nationalism, though. It's good natured. It's all about maple syrup, not war."

"Any kind of anthemic song, for the most part, they're on the positive side of things. It's not hard to identify when a melody is just one degree too complicated or one degree too simple and where that line of pop memorability lies."

"To conquer fear is to realize that a single moment of clarity can change a lifetime."

"Going through puberty as a young girl is so confusing. This monster invades your body, changes things and makes things grow, and no one tells you what's going on."

"Fame changes a lot of things, but it can't change a lightbulb."

"Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house."