Question: You've lived in Nashville for a while. How did that happen?

Answer: It's a beautiful place. There are so many writers here, so it's just a cool place if you want to hook up with another writer. And it's not so busy that people have no down time.

Q: Is it a different vibe from Los Angeles?

A: People here do a lot of socializing, but not in a real Hollywood way. It's more warm, more inviting. People will take out their guitars after dinner and just sing. It's just that kind of cool environment.

Q: You're performing with the symphony here. Do you get to do that a lot?

A: Over the years, I've done it, but I would really like to go on a symphony tour. It's a totally different experience. All those intricate little patterns and melodies and counter melodies . . . even the simple songs when you hear them played with an orchestra? It's like, "Wow! I didn't know I was Beethoven!" (Laughing) You know: "Move over, Beethoven! I wrote 'I Feel Love!' "

Q: I read you're working on a standards album. That would work well with symphonies.

A: I just started doing that this summer. I do "Don't Rain on My Parade" from "Funny Girl," so I'm sampling songs that will work for me. I'm not bringing them to my style; I'm lending myself to their style. I'm wrapping myself around the song.

Q: How do you find songs like that?

A: I think of great performances. If there's a great performance, there's usually a great song there. You think of Nat King Cole and Barbra Streisand, people who sang really wonderful songs. I'll pick one or two songs and see if I can find the human being that sang the song. I try to find a character myself away from the person who sang it. Like, "What would my 'Funny Girl' be?"

Q: With your voice, you could have had a career like a Nat King Cole or a Judy Garland. Do you ever think you were born in the wrong time?

A: I think I was born at the perfect time. Even where I'm placed in time, with my biggest successes in the '70s and '80s, is perfect. Now I'm able to come back with a whole other point of view, so I get to do it all.

Q: How so?

A: In the sense that I did my things, and now I can do what I want, like the standards. I always would do one standard for every show. I was doing "Someone to Watch Over Me," and I was going to take it out of the show. My daughters are in their 20s, and one of them just about had a hissy fit when I was going to take it out.

Q: Do you have a wide range of ages at your shows?

A: The nice thing is people feel confident that they can bring their kids. Even when I do "Love to Love You Baby," it's not as raunchy as it was.

Q: You stopped singing that for a long time. Why?

A: I hadn't done it in years, but I finally felt released to do it again. My life has moved so far beyond it. And really, it's nothing compared to what they do now. Now people bring their babies with them. They sit them on their shoulders. It's really a love fest when I'm singing. I don't think you can be happier than being onstage.

Q: A lot of your songs are getting sampled and covered these days. Are you possessive of the songs?

A: No (laughing). I call my accountant and ask how my publishing is doing. For a songwriter, that's your bread and butter. Plus, if someone samples the songs or records them, they always add something of their own. It's not your song. Once it goes out into the world, you can never get it back. That's why we have the problem with the Internet.

Q: Even with the Internet, you're still making the charts. "To Paris With Love" hit the dance charts this year. Is that still exciting?

A: Am I blind? (Laughing) Of course I get excited!

Q: Do you read your reviews?

A: My husband reads them (laughing). You can have a single dot on a white piece of paper. You don't see the piece of paper, you see the dot. I can get the most amazing review but maybe they will say, "Oh, the red dress was a little too short." Well, that's what I'll focus on! I try not to read what people write, but I do get the idea of what they're saying.