"Thousand Words"

Darren Hayes of Australian pop sensations Savage Garden feels truly, madly, deeply about the following:

"Star Wars."
It reminds me of my childhood. I was completely obsessed with it and I've never really gotten over it. I used to collect all the toys and I remember when I was 13, I thought I was too old to have toys so I sold them all for $26 and it's something that I have regretted all my life. I've spent a fortune since re-collecting everything.

U2.
Everything from "Achtung, Baby" onward, nothing before. It changed the way I see music, especially lyrically and vocally. It's so dark, brooding and honest. I have a copy of "Pop" at home and I bought another one on the road because I missed it and the two of us fight over it on the plane. It's like, "Are you gonna listen to 'Pop?' Dammit, O.K ..."

Avanti Italian Restaurant.
I can't get enough of that stuff. My favorite dish of all time is linguine with pesto. My favorite place is in my neighborhood back home in Bardon, Australia. I've been to Italy but nothing compares to Avanti yet. Like anything, the Italian that I know is a gross generalization of what Italian food is like, it's a parody -- maybe that's why I enjoy it.

New York City.
To put it in perspective, less than a year ago was the first time I left my country. I had been obsessed with America. We were so green and the minute we landed, I realized that everything I thought was cool wasn't really cool anymore. There is just something in the streets and the air that I had never experienced it before. It's just so "F--- You!"

Anne Rice.
The name of the band comes from her vampire novels. It's a concept within one of the books -- they talk about their world is a savage garden. There are times when you'll be reading the books and you'll say, "All right, is this real?" I just think it's so clever that she's been able to create that feeling of paranoia when you're reading her books.

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