I think sometimes all you need is to hear someone else say the same thing that you’re going through to realize that you’re not alone. I try to put some sense of hope into the songs, into whatever the situation is so that it’s not just dirt, drudgery and a life of misery.

McLachlan frames songwriting as a form of companionship: hearing one’s private feelings articulated by another person can dissolve isolation and shame. The quote suggests that representation—someone else “saying the same thing”—is itself therapeutic, because it confirms that suffering is shared and survivable. She also describes an artistic ethic: even when songs begin in pain, she tries to shape them toward hope so the listener is not left in mere bleak realism (“dirt, drudgery”). The significance lies in her view of popular music as emotional testimony and mutual aid, not just self-expression.