Being hydrated is a key thing for a singer, especially if you're spending three hours on stage five nights a week, and wine dehydrates me faster than beer.

I read about wine every day.

My dad had a dream of living in an Irish castle, even when we were in Argentina, and in 1960 he found a place without any heat or running water. We had no money, so it was tough.

The first confrontation I had with an Aussie wine was a well-known Cabernet/Shiraz and it reminded me of boiled sweets. I find a lot of Australian wines unsubtle.

I know what it's like to go to a concert, wait to hear your favourite song - and then they don't play it!

I have found myself able to cure people with my hands.

I met someone in the West Indies who was not able to walk. I put my hands on him and he was able to get up. I know the tabloids will get excited by this so I try to play it down.

I love myself. I'm not saying this in a narcissistic way.

I am much loved.

Canada has a great tradition of supporting songwriters.

I think it's the Canadian spirit that encourages people to dream a little bit.

People just love stories.

Love songs are the most complex to write because everyone knows about it.

I know every side of the industry after all these years.

I developed my armour at prep school. I was the smallest guy in the school. I got bullied a lot. So I developed broad shoulders.

I'm emotionally untouchable.

The role of Miss World is one that my daughter has fulfilled to the best of her abilities.

I have never subscribed to public confessionals.

I always have to have what I believe are the pillars of an album - songs which I can go back to and admire personally as a piece of writing.

You get tarred with the brush of 'Lady in Red.' I play Russia or China or places all over the world. They don't even speak English but they know the words. You get a big song like that, and people love it or hate it. And if they don't like it, they don't like anything at all by the artist.

Singing in a restaurant is very demeaning and humiliating but you learn from it, because people aren't there for a show, they're there to eat.

People always try to pigeonhole you, especially the media, who are happy if they can label you as a particular kind of artist. But the spectrum of songs I write and record is vast.

I know it sounds glamorous, but it was bloody cold growing up in a castle.

You know what happens if I walk out on the stage in Montreal? They stand up and they cheer for three or four minutes. It just brings tears to your eyes, because it's a love affair.

I would hate to go out as a legend on tour just playing all the back hits.

In America, if you say 'Chris de Burgh,' they won't have a clue, but they all know 'Lady in Red.'

If you look at the big rock hits I've had - 'High on Emotion,' for example - the songs I write have to have a real meaning. There has to be depth.

As a song-writer I have always written with one instrument - either guitar or piano - because I believe that if a song is strong enough to be performed completely stripped down then it is a good one to go on and record.

Songs don't just suddenly arrive like a taxi you have to work on them and you have to put a lot of time and energy and self discipline into creating that kind of thing.

I have always had a long term view on records as I want them to be books and not magazines and newspapers that you discard very quickly.

I remember talking to an architect and he said 'I am making so much money I don't know what to do' - I am in a business where you don't have an idea from one end of the year to the next how what you are going to earn and it is not like a salary that you can guarantee.

I generally write the songs accidentally. They generally come out of nowhere.

I find it amazing when I get letters from people in Israel and people in Lebanon and they both love the music, but in real life they hate each other.

I've got a room full of gold and platinum records, a lot of them are Canadian, and I've got a very soft spot for that country.

Robert Browning - I like his dramatic revelations, his allegorical form.

I like to be subtle, without being too obvious.

You see, when I go on stage I perform with just a guitar and you have to have very strong material to hold an audience from getting bored or restless. One strong way of doing that is the story because everybody will listen to a story.

Canada was one of the first countries that took an interest in my career. Apart from a freak hit I had in South America, Canadians took my 'Spanish Train' album to heart and have stuck with me ever since. They've been very loyal, and it's been a long and rewarding affair.

It's tough going out as the opening act of a band especially when you're solo.

When I left university, I didn't want to jump into anything right away. Music certainly wasn't a burning ambition.

When you have children, you almost feel like you've made your contribution to the survival of the human species. It's your way of passing the baton.

I come from the school of thought that if you want to succeed and stay successful, you've got to put in the hard work at the beginning.

When I held my first album in my hands, I tell you, there were tears falling down my face. I thought 'This is it. I've arrived. I'm going to be an overnight world star.'

It's every songwriter's dream to come up with a standard.

Every generation has to have its heroes.

Americans are much easier to please than Canadians. The American taste is less critical. Canadians are more cultured, they are more aware of the arts than Americans.

In an outdoor environment, you need to be more energetic. The attention of the crowd begins to wander - not like an indoor concert where the audience attention is riveted on to the stage.

I'm not a big consumer at all. I'm very happy with enough.

Before I ever did a stage concert, I'd done hundreds of living-room concerts, which helped a lot.

I'm far more interested in putting a little more meat into the lyrics than some people are.