Writing inspiration - is it different now than it was 20 years ago?
When I started 20 years ago I had no idea that I was going to be writing music. The whole thing of writing music to me has evolved and taken its time. Although, I was lucky when I started, because my first song was a hit. Until that day when I wrote that song, when I was 22, in 1977, I was really totally into the world of art. Since I was six I compelled to paint. I had no aspirations as a writer. It came as a big surprise to me - a big thunderbolt. I wrote a few more songs, they became number one hits, and I was in the music business suddenly. I had a choice: go to university and study art, or sign a record deal. From there on, I've been improving, and I'm beginning to think I have a hold on what I'm doing -- a discipline of writing and a way of getting inspired.

How do you get the writing journey going? How do you get the artistic muse lit?
At the start, I was working with an Israeli poet, Yonatan Geffen. It was perfect for me to get lyrics from him and set music to them. Then I was encouraged by him to write some of my own lyrics. It wasn't long before I realized I would rather collaborate.
What's been giving me a great source of inspiration has been finding the lyrics and poets. Since then I have been burying myself in books, and reading and reading. Over the years, especially spending more time in North America, I read a lot of American poetry. Occasionally, I would find a great poem that I wanted to set to music. So I would set it aside, and I would work on it. When it was ready, I tried to find the poet to see if he was interested in making a personal connection. I was lucky to get to meet them, and discover a relationship with different poets. I would have the poem in front of me, and look for the music that this lyric would want. That has been my source of inspiration for many years.

How did you meet the poets?
Well, I call the publisher, and say, "Hey. I'm a pop artist," and ask to meet them. Then I ask for the poet's number or the publisher would get my number. One time I met with a poet from Indiana in Baltimore, just to make it easier, in a third person's home. He was not sure this was something he wanted to get into. He thought it was a hoax. He was very skeptical. I had to convince him this was something worth doing.
There's a store called Gotham Book Mart in New York City. Any person who is interested in poetry or literature that is the greatest treasure box in America. I spent about three or four years, four times a week, four hours a day research, and that's how I connected with American culture and poetry. Now I don't feel so intimidated, but America doesn't take in foreign acts, especially if they have an accent. I've immersed myself in this culture. I wanted to like it, to feel it, without actually wanting to be an American, but just wanting to communicate. Since I can't communicate with the American people in Hebrew, I've got to find a way to do it - so I have to look for stuff, it took a lot of work - with American poetry. I was juggling languages, but I needed to broaden my audience.

After 19 albums, how much pressure is there at home or abroad to make your music fresh?
In Israel, with such a small market, everyone, after an album, has to try something new. After forty shows, everyone's seen you, and heard what you've had to say. I don't have any pressure whatsoever. The only pressure is my own. I guess I'm a slow starter in a way, but I'm a hard worker. I go between 140 shows a year, and an album every year, but my ultimate aspiration since the day I decided to dedicate myself to music was to communicate in the three languages that I speak, English, Hebrew, and Spanish.
Frankly, when kids are dreaming of becoming rock artists by the time they're twenty and big stars, they've been working at it for fourteen years. I started when I was 22, but it's my own personal need to recognize - I think I've mastered the art, and the art of doing it - after twenty years. I think I'm in the most interesting and powerful moment of my career.

Do you find Israeli audiences different from North American ones?
Well, when you do a show in Israel during a week when there's a lot of tension, there's going to be a somber mood. I don't think there's a difference, but I think there is a difference in the mentality. There are so many different nationalities, a French Jew, a Moroccan Jew, a British Jew, we're all sitting in this room. This one's married to an Ethiopian, and this one's married to an Egyptian. When Israelis come to a concert, it's more like a social event. It's rowdy, but there's a lot of charm in it. Sometimes you have to ask them to calm down a bit.

What goals do you have for your career?
I've achieved my goal, in a sense, artistically. Now my goal will be can I actually have this "Broza English-Spanish-Hebrew" thing and make it sell. I love performing. I'll play in a coffeehouse, in a stadium, in a living room. I'll play in an airport terminal waiting for the plane to take off.

Have your political songs struck any controversy?
No, they haven't sparked any controversy. Many artists stay away from politics. I think if you're acting on something that's important to you, the audience respects you. Bruce Cockburn, for example, is an inspiration, and stands out for what he believes in. It actually broadens his audience. Politics serves the interests of many people.
Singing Yiye Tov, it is also sung by ultra-right-wing settlers in the West Bank. Even though with all the rhetoric the lyrics have about pulling out, they are aware of it, but they don't agree with it. Maybe if they sing it enough, they'll agree with it. But that's just my opinion. It just means we'll have to see who screams louder. A very large percentage of my audience is religious. They love the passion, and they obviously don't have a problem with my politics.