How do you think you developed the sharp observational wit you have?
Um... Well, obviously I wouldn't describe myself as having a sharp observational wit, however; Increasingly, I feel that I can write lyrics that are sort of.. well, I try to make them sharp and observational! And um, I don't know, really. I reckon you tend to get good at what you aspire to get good at, like it's quite.. I think people talk about people with talent and stuff, and I don't think it's.. I think talent is just a combination of application and desire, you know so I want to be like -I've always admired Oscar Wilde, and Stoppard, and Shakespeare, and people who can say amazing things in a short amounts of time and that's what poetry is about, lyrics are trying to say and express an idea within confines as apposed to prose, although I love writers who write great prose as well. Um, economy of words; Ironic, because I babble on like a fool in interviews! But um, so because I've always admired that, I've always wanted to be the sort of person to produce that kind of work, so that's where you head! You know? So I don't suppose I was more inclined towards this then anyone else, except that I think it's a desire to rather than an instinct to. I don't know, is that an answer? I think it is..
So it's something you work at, rather then just have?
Yeah, I guess so, and so because of that, you go through life editing out the parts of you that you don't want to be and exaggerating the parts you do want to be.
So, in a world of grammatical indifference, how do you view your grasp on the English language?
Well, I'm sort of shit at spelling actually.. Given how much I read and how much I write, I'm actually bad at spelling! However I'm adamant that I won't be, so I make sure I'm not!
Ali: You could always use spell check?
Danna: But you can't because it's always wrong! It's American!
Yeah, you need to know about all that stuff, but I.. yeah. I reckon, you know, if you're going to use language well - I like the look of sentences, as well as the sound of sentences. And I don't know, language evolves and I'm sure this digital revolution will have its effects, long term on language. Spelling will probably change in the next ten years, permanently, more then it has in the last two hundred years.
No more vowels.
Exactly, I don't know how much will stick? There's no precedent for this sort of thing. Language always changes, but there's no precedent for this sudden reinvention of spelling. In the mean time, I like it the way it was. But, I don't want to be an old fuddy-duddy!