The world is so downbeat, so cynical; people want something to believe in. At least, people do deep down, but they’re afraid to admit to humanities out loud for fear their friends and neighbors will think they are ‘square’. I get awfully sick of the mass flip attitude. I wish we weren’t so hard-boiled. The human spirit is really at a dangerously low ebb. We need to pump adrenaline into our sentimental values, which have become so badly depleted. In this age of war fears, the destruction of everything and the fantastic progress of scientific wonders, we seem to have adopted only the rasping emotions of nerves for feelings – not emotions of the heart and soul that speak for faith and kindness and understanding. There is something important in people, something that’s dying – the senses, a universal thing. We can’t agree on politics, but maybe we can agree on senses. We are dying of sadness. The whole world is dying of sadness. We are the enemy.

People don’t want to say, ‘Yes, we are confused; we are nothing.’ It destroys all kinds of entertainment. If you really observe and put within the framework of the story some more important facet of life, if you say something that is a positive statement rather than a negative one, you have confirmed somebody’s belief. If you affirm somebody’s emotion or ideas, they don’t feel ashamed of feeling this belief. I want to stress the indomitable qualities of people, not the defeatism. Too Late Blues is a compassionate picture about people in combat with life.