(I started this post a few months ago, but I was so hesitant to say anything that I couldn't even post a link to something someone else had said. Something has changed, though. I don't know what to say yet, but here's something Nick Cave said. Maybe that's a start.)

I have come to be deeply reluctant to talk about what it's like to do the work I do. And why bother, when Nick Cave is doing such a good job these days of saying how it is in "the foul rag and bone shop of the heart"?

We understand the dark potential of the world’s heart because we have seen inside our own. In this way, artists are His faithful emissaries. We have the information. We know.
Outstanding!’ you may say, Fletch. ‘That’s for me!’ ‘I’m gonna quit my fucking job!’ ‘I’m gonna tell my boss to shove it!’ But, before you rush into anything, remember that creating art, like many things of value, comes at a cost – and confronting one’s own self can be the most challenging and fearful thing you’ll ever do. Fletch, I wish you luck in whatever you choose to do.
Love, Nick

Nick Cave, on packing it in to be an artist