“When I first came up with the lines, I don't know what it is, but you got to do it/ I don't know where to go but you got to be there, I was at this party for The Strokes in New York. There was this prevailing sense of, 'We're not quite sure what's happening or what is cool, but we know that it's somewhere around here, in this room.' It was this vague confusion, with everybody kind of sniffing for blood. It wasn't that it was a bad party, or that I don't like The Strokes; I just think there's a lot of confusion right now in the music business. Then, later on, I realized the song was really personal. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't know I was actually lost. It wasn't about the party at all; it's about searching but not knowing what you're searching for. There's the train motif, being on this train heading for either oblivion or salvation – and just holding on for dear life. That song came down from some mountain somewhere, because it was right after I wrote it that I sort of packed it in.”

Lyra, in Ch. 1 : The Decanter of Tokay
His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass (1995)

Sherilyn Fenn, quoted in "Fenntastic", by Jill Daniel. Orange Coast (USA). January 1999.

Song lyrics, Blood on the Tracks (1975), Tangled Up In Blue

Destiny (1977)

Call on Me
20 Y.O. (2006)

Interview with Martin Gayford, Independent on Sunday 26 May 2002
Other

7 Questions with Joe Strummer (15 August 2001)

"Doing What I Know" (song)
Song lyrics
Source: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Doing What I Know" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlkC9AFrSNU (song on YouTube)

Source: Women