Michael Jackson's people called me to write a song for him, and this was it, though he didn't record it. It's really the type of song I don't write - a straightforward love song. But I'm glad I get a chance to get out of myself a little bit and do something like this. It wouldn't surprise me if ";Every Time It Rains"; were the easiest to take for people who've never heard me before.

There's this Web site devoted to me, and the people who go on there recently voted on what their favorite songs are. And the songs they like best are the ones like ";Marie"; [from 1974's Good Old Boys] - ";You looked like a princess the night we met With your hair piled up high I will never forget."; They like the romantic me, even the biggest fans I have. But I don't work in that vein much. It's funny. It's like, why me? Why not like Billy Joel?