Most songs have meager beginnings. You wake up in the morning, you throw on your suspenders, and you subvocalize and just think. They seem to form like calcium. I can't think of a story right off the bat that was that interesting. I write things on the back of my hand, usually, and sing into a tape recorder.
To be completely honest, I didn't want to compete with myself. I wanted to reinvent myself. This seemed like the perfect way to step back in without competing with what I've already done, because I can't win that battle.