Lonesome EJ,

Point taken. Maybe it sounds sophomoric, but as a guy too shy to write for fear of criticism, I gotta ask....

....so what should they have been reading?

Catspaw,

I guess I saw the same interview -- I was fascinated to hear him say he wrote to rhythms. so much of what he writes seems to stand well on its own, so it'd be kinda easy to assume that the words come first to him. Not so. Of course, that's also one reason his stuff holds up well -- or can make it in the pop market.