I know you’ve been fascinated in the past with writing the classic love song. Which of your songs has gotten closest to the platonic ideal?

I think “The Ship Song” is good. I’m always proud to sing that song even though it’s kind of one of those songs you could crank out. It’s simpler than I normally do. There are a lot of them, actually, that I’m very pleased with. I don’t do that sort of thing very much anymore but I spent a lot time trying to achieve a certain kind of emotional power within a classic format. I don’t know whether I achieved it or not but I did the best I could. I’ve decided to move on to other things.