Why I Feel Compelled to Write

"Basically I wanted to undertake the task of writing songs about a particular year of my life. Not the task of telling that story in a linear way, or in any way that would make the story explicitly knowable to a listener, but rather, to tell the story to myself. I was starting to see a lot of connections, and I wanted to make them more substantial to myself, or at least explore them. Writing these songs was a way to organize my brain and organize these events and how they had affected me."

- Joanna Newsom, on writing the songs that became "Ys"

http://www.pitchfork.com/features/interviews/6488-joanna-newsom/