"I grew up in the '90s and remember the lyrics back then were so abstract and open to interpretation. That always drove me crazy."
"My aim is for every song to have a purpose - for you to be able to say, 'This song is about this.' But love and heartbreak are some of the most abstract subjects."
"If you come to the conclusion that there is no conclusion, well, that's a conclusion, too."
"This is one of the reasons I'm so interested in stories. Because everyone has a story in their life, and when their story doesn't make sense, that's when we get depressed, I think."
"I feel like the few times in my life when I really felt like I love my own story is when I've been the happiest."
"I find it quite hard to connect with the songs where I portray myself as this clumsy, adorable, love-struck man-child."
"You always try different versions of yourself through songwriting. It can get a bit annoying to see them walk around and do their thing when you feel like, 'I'm not that person any more.'"
"I struggled with a lot of doubts around my songwriting and around what I was and what my purpose and mission were."
"For me, it's sort of like a cultural democracy or musical socialism to take a stand and get out of the major cities if you can."
"I would love to hear Marilyn Manson's fans or something, what their stories would be like."
"I've never felt at home in Kortedala, or in Gothenburg, so I always felt like I needed to go somewhere and find some kind of perspective on things."
"Goteborg used to be a not very cool place to live. The culture centered around shrimp and bingo. Bands played Copenhagen and Stockholm and skipped Goteborg."
"Every wedding is slightly different from the other. But you always get to meet the funny uncle and the weirdo relatives, and there's always someone trying to beat you up for not playing enough Beatles songs or something."
"I was in my early 30s, and I longed for real friendships and real relationships, and I started asking myself why I didn't have that. I had a couple of male friends, but every time I would hang out with them, it felt like there was something keeping us apart."
"Even if I wrote a song about math or animals or whatever, there would still be the question, 'Why did you write about that? And what does it say about you?'"
"I've established a certain voice over my albums. It can be an obstacle, but in the end, I think it's a strength, because I can build upon that voice, which is ultimately very much mine."
"You carry all these hurts and breakups with you forever. But there is this sort of joyful realization that the things that caused you pain were real. There is something beautiful and invigorating in holding onto that."
"My first single was based around the mishearing of the words 'make believe' - 'I thought she said maple leaves.' That kind of stuff is very central to my music and my life."
"I became paranoid for a long time: I thought that people were out to harm me."
"A lot of my songs are written prophetically: I write something, and then I make it happen."
"I have mood swings, but I'm sure people in England have that, too. Me and my friends, we're just a bunch of happy idiots."
"I like telling stories with a sense of humor. But humor can also distance you from the subject you're writing about. I'm interested in using humor as a portal to something a bit more serious."
"Any band that doesn't have a sense of humor has a little bit of a problem."
"I don't like irony and sarcasm very much. But I do like it when you think someone is telling you a joke, and then you discover it's serious."
"I have this part in myself that sometimes gets me into situations that can never end well, just because I want to prove to myself that I'm no good."
