Jason Isbell

A lot of dangerous memories, a lot of bars in this town But oh, to have loved and lost and then still stuck around But I heard God in the rhyme and I crawled out of the grave And I guess I'm still a true believer, babe All your girlfriends say I broke your heart and I don't like it. There's a letter on the nightstand I don't think I'll ever read.

A lot of dangerous memories, a lot of bars in this town But oh, to have loved and lost and then still stuck around But I heard God in the rhyme and I crawled out of the grave And I guess I'm still a true believer, babe All your girlfriends say I broke your heart and I don't like it. There's a letter on the nightstand I don't think I'll ever read.

Well, I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. And now I have to let it burn and let it be.

Well, I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. And now I have to let it burn and let it be.

Bury me where the wind don't blow, where the dust won't cover me. Where the tall grass grows. Or bury me right where I fall. Tokyo to Tennessee. I love them all. See the windmills turn up 55. Still got so much to learn. Still feel alive. No lonely girl is all I need.

Bury me where the wind don't blow, where the dust won't cover me. Where the tall grass grows. Or bury me right where I fall. Tokyo to Tennessee. I love them all. See the windmills turn up 55. Still got so much to learn. Still feel alive. No lonely girl is all I need.

Okay, but those first two lines, keep going. When you said, take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck.

Okay, but those first two lines, keep going. When you said, take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck.

It is, why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect?

It is, why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect?

Y'all would be the plural. So the person who's being addressed is not a single person. There's no criticism of a single person in that line.

Y'all would be the plural. So the person who's being addressed is not a single person. There's no criticism of a single person in that line.

I very much appreciate it, but... And I know that you're not, and I don't mean to be sounding argumentative. I'm trying to show the trick a little bit. I think the closer you pay attention to this record, the more gracious the lyric becomes. I think time has a way of making us feel that way about each other.

I very much appreciate it, but... And I know that you're not, and I don't mean to be sounding argumentative. I'm trying to show the trick a little bit. I think the closer you pay attention to this record, the more gracious the lyric becomes. I think time has a way of making us feel that way about each other.

After something like a breakup, I think perspective, empathy for the other person starts to sink in as time passes. I was hoping that that's how it would work with the lyrics on this record because it sounds accusatory. It sounds angry. And then you go back and think, well, who's he accusing and who's he angry at?

After something like a breakup, I think perspective, empathy for the other person starts to sink in as time passes. I was hoping that that's how it would work with the lyrics on this record because it sounds accusatory. It sounds angry. And then you go back and think, well, who's he accusing and who's he angry at?

And I think, unless I'm wrong, I think in every situation, the closer you look, the more it becomes obvious that the record's about growing and changing as me, myself, and not about accusing Amanda or any other individual person. I'm trying to push myself, and I'm trying to work in a different way than how I've worked in the past.

And I think, unless I'm wrong, I think in every situation, the closer you look, the more it becomes obvious that the record's about growing and changing as me, myself, and not about accusing Amanda or any other individual person. I'm trying to push myself, and I'm trying to work in a different way than how I've worked in the past.

Everything's green right now Tennessee at the end of June You get a day to come down We'll ride Roberts in the afternoon

Everything's green right now Tennessee at the end of June You get a day to come down We'll ride Roberts in the afternoon

Yeah, there were. There were big PV amps and a drum set and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah, there were. There were big PV amps and a drum set and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I feel like that question is still above my pay grade. You know, I just liked both of them. And I think I preferred the one with the loud amps, to tell you the truth. But there was one moment where I'd gone to my dad's family's church a couple Sundays, and they spoke in tongues when it was time to pray. Everyone in the church, they started praying all at the same time out loud.

I feel like that question is still above my pay grade. You know, I just liked both of them. And I think I preferred the one with the loud amps, to tell you the truth. But there was one moment where I'd gone to my dad's family's church a couple Sundays, and they spoke in tongues when it was time to pray. Everyone in the church, they started praying all at the same time out loud.

in what they considered to be a spiritually motivated language. Really, I think chances are they were just kind of making it up. It was sort of gibberish. But they spoke in tongues. And then when I went to my mom's church, the Church of Christ, Most people in the congregation did not speak at all, usually just the preacher or a few people who were designated to speak.

in what they considered to be a spiritually motivated language. Really, I think chances are they were just kind of making it up. It was sort of gibberish. But they spoke in tongues. And then when I went to my mom's church, the Church of Christ, Most people in the congregation did not speak at all, usually just the preacher or a few people who were designated to speak.

Tie me to this world Make me believe Well, I ain't no cowboy But I can ride And I ain't no outlaw But I've been inside And there were bars of steel, boys And there were bars to sing And there were bars with swinging doors For all the time between

Tie me to this world Make me believe Well, I ain't no cowboy But I can ride And I ain't no outlaw But I've been inside And there were bars of steel, boys And there were bars to sing And there were bars with swinging doors For all the time between

So when it came time to pray, the preacher would do the praying, and occasionally you would hear kind of a quiet amen from somebody in the congregation. But I got them confused, and I was, I don't know, probably four years old. And when it came time to pray in my mom's Church of Christ church, I just dropped down to my knees and started yelling in gibberish.

So when it came time to pray, the preacher would do the praying, and occasionally you would hear kind of a quiet amen from somebody in the congregation. But I got them confused, and I was, I don't know, probably four years old. And when it came time to pray in my mom's Church of Christ church, I just dropped down to my knees and started yelling in gibberish.

And, oh, my mom grabbed me by the back of the neck like, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, be quiet. It was a very embarrassing moment for her. I still don't know which one's right. I kind of hope it's neither of them at this point in my life. But musically, I was very, very fortunate, very fortunate because my family were all very musical people. My parents didn't play any instruments much.

And, oh, my mom grabbed me by the back of the neck like, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, be quiet. It was a very embarrassing moment for her. I still don't know which one's right. I kind of hope it's neither of them at this point in my life. But musically, I was very, very fortunate, very fortunate because my family were all very musical people. My parents didn't play any instruments much.

But everybody else in the family did, and that's sort of how we all bonded.

But everybody else in the family did, and that's sort of how we all bonded.

Yeah, I don't know that I needed it as much as my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents needed it. I think for them, there's very little reward in this world. And to keep them going, probably survival instinct, to keep them on the straight and narrow, they needed to store up their reward in the next life or in heaven. For me, I'm very lucky.

Yeah, I don't know that I needed it as much as my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents needed it. I think for them, there's very little reward in this world. And to keep them going, probably survival instinct, to keep them on the straight and narrow, they needed to store up their reward in the next life or in heaven. For me, I'm very lucky.

I have been able to do the thing that I love the most every single day. And I've been rewarded for it in a way that sometimes seems ridiculous. So I don't know that I have the same needs that they had. But they had to have a certainty of heaven and a certainty of hell.

I have been able to do the thing that I love the most every single day. And I've been rewarded for it in a way that sometimes seems ridiculous. So I don't know that I have the same needs that they had. But they had to have a certainty of heaven and a certainty of hell.

And if we keep our wits about us, treat each other well, be honest, do the right things according to the scripture, then we'll go to heaven and we'll get our reward. And if we don't, Then we'll go to hell and we'll get the exact opposite of a reward. I think what really started crumbling the cookie for me was hell just seemed way worse than it should have been. It didn't have to be that bad.

And if we keep our wits about us, treat each other well, be honest, do the right things according to the scripture, then we'll go to heaven and we'll get our reward. And if we don't, Then we'll go to hell and we'll get the exact opposite of a reward. I think what really started crumbling the cookie for me was hell just seemed way worse than it should have been. It didn't have to be that bad.

It was like the fire was seven times hotter. the pitchforks and the constant torture. And it's just really hard for me to believe, you know, that for stealing a pair of sunglasses or, you know, I don't know, kissing your buddy's girlfriend that you were going to, you know, go to actual hell. So I started, maybe this is not all literal.

It was like the fire was seven times hotter. the pitchforks and the constant torture. And it's just really hard for me to believe, you know, that for stealing a pair of sunglasses or, you know, I don't know, kissing your buddy's girlfriend that you were going to, you know, go to actual hell. So I started, maybe this is not all literal.

And then everything just sort of fell apart as far as organized, structured biblical religion for me.

And then everything just sort of fell apart as far as organized, structured biblical religion for me.

That was about obsessive compulsive disorder. That's what that was about. Yeah, that was so I didn't die in my sleep. And it worked. It worked.

That was about obsessive compulsive disorder. That's what that was about. Yeah, that was so I didn't die in my sleep. And it worked. It worked.

That's a really good question. What made me think that? Chemicals in my brain, maybe. Trauma from... Growing up in rural Alabama with really young parents, for some reason, I thought that someone was looking out for me, but I also was very afraid of that God and had taught to be very afraid of him.

That's a really good question. What made me think that? Chemicals in my brain, maybe. Trauma from... Growing up in rural Alabama with really young parents, for some reason, I thought that someone was looking out for me, but I also was very afraid of that God and had taught to be very afraid of him.

My grandfather, anytime when I was little, I remember being two years old, three years old, asking him, what are you afraid of? Because he looked like Clint Eastwood. He seemed like the toughest dude that had ever lived. And I would say, what are you afraid of? And He said, the only thing I'm afraid of is God. That's all I'm afraid of. I remember thinking, well, God must be pretty scary then.

My grandfather, anytime when I was little, I remember being two years old, three years old, asking him, what are you afraid of? Because he looked like Clint Eastwood. He seemed like the toughest dude that had ever lived. And I would say, what are you afraid of? And He said, the only thing I'm afraid of is God. That's all I'm afraid of. I remember thinking, well, God must be pretty scary then.

And so I think I was sort of bartering with the man upstairs as a child, you know, every night thinking, well, he's not going to let me die if I'm the best Bible reader there is among six-year-old children in the state of Alabama. Pretty tough competition, turns out.

And so I think I was sort of bartering with the man upstairs as a child, you know, every night thinking, well, he's not going to let me die if I'm the best Bible reader there is among six-year-old children in the state of Alabama. Pretty tough competition, turns out.

This one, this happens to me a lot. Maybe I should sit down before I write the song and make a plan. Because sometimes I'll think, well, I think I'm going to write a love song to my hometown or to the place where I grew up. And then usually third or fourth verse, the difficult stuff finds its way in. And I think, well, if I'm going to be honest, I'm going to have to be honest.

This one, this happens to me a lot. Maybe I should sit down before I write the song and make a plan. Because sometimes I'll think, well, I think I'm going to write a love song to my hometown or to the place where I grew up. And then usually third or fourth verse, the difficult stuff finds its way in. And I think, well, if I'm going to be honest, I'm going to have to be honest.

And that's kind of how this song went. We were going just fine early on. And then you get to that bridge, that third verse, and it's like, oh, boy, out of nowhere comes the tough stuff.

And that's kind of how this song went. We were going just fine early on. And then you get to that bridge, that third verse, and it's like, oh, boy, out of nowhere comes the tough stuff.

Oh, let's see. Where does it start?

Oh, let's see. Where does it start?

Yeah, there's a little noose in a locker. When I was in school... There was a girl who was living in the Christian children's home just a few – a couple miles away from my high school and a black girl. And almost everyone in our school, K through 12, we were all white kids and redneck, like poor white people.

Yeah, there's a little noose in a locker. When I was in school... There was a girl who was living in the Christian children's home just a few – a couple miles away from my high school and a black girl. And almost everyone in our school, K through 12, we were all white kids and redneck, like poor white people.

And this little girl came to school from the Christian children's home and there was – I think somebody hung a noose or drew a picture of a noose and put it in her locker and she changed. Schools went somewhere else after that. And then there was a – we had a couple of teachers who were black and – You know, their children came to that school but didn't wind up graduating.

And this little girl came to school from the Christian children's home and there was – I think somebody hung a noose or drew a picture of a noose and put it in her locker and she changed. Schools went somewhere else after that. And then there was a – we had a couple of teachers who were black and – You know, their children came to that school but didn't wind up graduating.

Something happened, you know, and I'm not sure the details, but they just all sort of moved away and went somewhere else. And so that was the picture in my mind when I was working on the bridge of that song.

Something happened, you know, and I'm not sure the details, but they just all sort of moved away and went somewhere else. And so that was the picture in my mind when I was working on the bridge of that song.

Someplace in the song there's rebel flags. Rebel flags on the highway and wooden crosses on the wall. Yeah.

Someplace in the song there's rebel flags. Rebel flags on the highway and wooden crosses on the wall. Yeah.

No, no, they were on the wall. I mean, it's the same cross, Terry. Yeah, that's true. It's the same cross.

No, no, they were on the wall. I mean, it's the same cross, Terry. Yeah, that's true. It's the same cross.

I got a little bold action on my ninth birthday And I can flip a silver dollar from a hundred yards away. 1911, under my floor, man. And one day it just occurred to me I got no use for that. Guess the city didn't kill me after all. This hang that nearly took me out was loneliness and alcohol. And I just put it down and walked away. Crawled back to the crimson and the clay.

I got a little bold action on my ninth birthday And I can flip a silver dollar from a hundred yards away. 1911, under my floor, man. And one day it just occurred to me I got no use for that. Guess the city didn't kill me after all. This hang that nearly took me out was loneliness and alcohol. And I just put it down and walked away. Crawled back to the crimson and the clay.

See the moon in the morning, I anticipate the night. Licked a spoon in the kitchen, we prayed to Martha White. in a locker brown eyes crying in a hall rebel flags on the highway wouldn't cross his own wall guess the small town didn't suit me after all still so many lonely kids surrounded by the rest of y'all and I can't seem to keep myself away So I head back to the crimson and the clay.

See the moon in the morning, I anticipate the night. Licked a spoon in the kitchen, we prayed to Martha White. in a locker brown eyes crying in a hall rebel flags on the highway wouldn't cross his own wall guess the small town didn't suit me after all still so many lonely kids surrounded by the rest of y'all and I can't seem to keep myself away So I head back to the crimson and the clay.

Well, so we used to have a pull-behind, a very small pull-behind trailer that went behind the van. And the cap, sort of like a hubcap, I guess it is a hubcap, it would sometimes come off and all of the grease from inside the axle on the trailer would shoot out onto the highway and the trailer would catch on fire.

Well, so we used to have a pull-behind, a very small pull-behind trailer that went behind the van. And the cap, sort of like a hubcap, I guess it is a hubcap, it would sometimes come off and all of the grease from inside the axle on the trailer would shoot out onto the highway and the trailer would catch on fire.

I don't know how many times that trailer caught on fire, more than once, as we were going down the road. And people would pull up besides and roll the window down and be waving and shouting and yelling. And we'd be too tired or too stoned to realize what they were saying for a few minutes. And then look in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, it was flames coming out of the wheels of the trailer.

I don't know how many times that trailer caught on fire, more than once, as we were going down the road. And people would pull up besides and roll the window down and be waving and shouting and yelling. And we'd be too tired or too stoned to realize what they were saying for a few minutes. And then look in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, it was flames coming out of the wheels of the trailer.

Yeah, so that really happened.

Yeah, so that really happened.

No, no, no. This was with my rock and roll band.

No, no, no. This was with my rock and roll band.

Yes, yes, different kind of trailer, though. This was... Right, okay. Yeah, that was a house trailer, but this was a pull-behind trailer with their equipment in it. Did you find that terrifying? I'd be terrified. Yeah, I mean... I don't know about – we were pretty feral. And at that point – And probably pretty drunk.

Yes, yes, different kind of trailer, though. This was... Right, okay. Yeah, that was a house trailer, but this was a pull-behind trailer with their equipment in it. Did you find that terrifying? I'd be terrified. Yeah, I mean... I don't know about – we were pretty feral. And at that point – And probably pretty drunk.

Yeah, pretty drunk or hungover enough to basically be drunk or stoned or, you know. I don't know that fear kicked in for us the way it probably should have in those days. There were a lot of situations where, you know, we came very close to death and, you know, we were just –

Yeah, pretty drunk or hungover enough to basically be drunk or stoned or, you know. I don't know that fear kicked in for us the way it probably should have in those days. There were a lot of situations where, you know, we came very close to death and, you know, we were just –

Layers and layers of exhausted and for some stupid reason kept on going and kept on working until we got to a point to where we could lay down and go to the bathroom on the bus and buy some groceries and put them in the fridge and hear ourselves on stage and then people start showing up and more people start showing up and finally... Thank you.

Layers and layers of exhausted and for some stupid reason kept on going and kept on working until we got to a point to where we could lay down and go to the bathroom on the bus and buy some groceries and put them in the fridge and hear ourselves on stage and then people start showing up and more people start showing up and finally... Thank you.

Thank you

Thank you

I have been to jail. Yeah, never for longer than a day and never for anything violent. But, yeah, I have been. For drinking too much? Yeah, just from drinking and yelling and hollering at people who were also drinking.

I have been to jail. Yeah, never for longer than a day and never for anything violent. But, yeah, I have been. For drinking too much? Yeah, just from drinking and yelling and hollering at people who were also drinking.

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Yes, yes. But it's also there are – I'm attempting to work on different levels sometimes. It's not necessarily an allegorical song, but there are pieces of this song that are directly about me, and there are details that I pull from my own life. Yeah.

Yes, yes. But it's also there are – I'm attempting to work on different levels sometimes. It's not necessarily an allegorical song, but there are pieces of this song that are directly about me, and there are details that I pull from my own life. Yeah.

you know, the swinging doors line, I mean, that could be, you know, I'm sitting here looking at a gate out the window right now, and that could also be gates. And there is at least one very, very famous set of gates when it comes to right and folk music. But... Is it by the Gates of Heaven? I am, indeed, yeah, in a death song. You know, so it's the kind of thing where...

you know, the swinging doors line, I mean, that could be, you know, I'm sitting here looking at a gate out the window right now, and that could also be gates. And there is at least one very, very famous set of gates when it comes to right and folk music. But... Is it by the Gates of Heaven? I am, indeed, yeah, in a death song. You know, so it's the kind of thing where...

I sort of let my unconscious mind build these lyrical phrases, and then I go back and shape them into something that not only sings and scans accurately, which is this is a huge part of the process for me that I think sometimes people don't realize how much energy you spend just trying to get something to sing naturally. Was death on your mind when you wrote this?

I sort of let my unconscious mind build these lyrical phrases, and then I go back and shape them into something that not only sings and scans accurately, which is this is a huge part of the process for me that I think sometimes people don't realize how much energy you spend just trying to get something to sing naturally. Was death on your mind when you wrote this?

I don't know that death was on my mind any more than life was on my mind. Anytime I think about being grateful, I call it my hillbilly brain, but it goes to the worst possible place. uh, scenario in a lot of situations.

I don't know that death was on my mind any more than life was on my mind. Anytime I think about being grateful, I call it my hillbilly brain, but it goes to the worst possible place. uh, scenario in a lot of situations.

So, you know, I, I spend a lot of time thinking about death, not in a, not in a sad or fearful way, but in a way that, you know, I think, well, I've already done so many things and got to see so many things and that might not have necessarily been in the plans for me at the beginning.

So, you know, I, I spend a lot of time thinking about death, not in a, not in a sad or fearful way, but in a way that, you know, I think, well, I've already done so many things and got to see so many things and that might not have necessarily been in the plans for me at the beginning.

So I'm very, very grateful for the time that I have had, and I think this song deals with that, among other things. There was a time, though, there was definitely a time early on after Amanda and I had split up.

So I'm very, very grateful for the time that I have had, and I think this song deals with that, among other things. There was a time, though, there was definitely a time early on after Amanda and I had split up.

You know, when I was just driving in the car and the radio wasn't on and I was alone and I just heard myself say out loud without realizing that I was saying, and I heard myself say, is this going to kill me? And I didn't even know that I was thinking that question, but I heard it bounce off the windshield. So yeah, I mean, it's a combination of both of those things. Everything is brief.

You know, when I was just driving in the car and the radio wasn't on and I was alone and I just heard myself say out loud without realizing that I was saying, and I heard myself say, is this going to kill me? And I didn't even know that I was thinking that question, but I heard it bounce off the windshield. So yeah, I mean, it's a combination of both of those things. Everything is brief.

It's so, so brief, but it's so beautiful.

It's so, so brief, but it's so beautiful.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

Well, where am I being critical?

Well, where am I being critical?

Well, now, I didn't say that I'm sorry the day came when I was raised. I said I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised.

Well, now, I didn't say that I'm sorry the day came when I was raised. I said I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised.

Yeah. And then the next chorus I say, and you couldn't reach me when I felt like I was raised. Right. Okay. So I'm still looking for the critical part.

Yeah. And then the next chorus I say, and you couldn't reach me when I felt like I was raised. Right. Okay. So I'm still looking for the critical part.

This is not my job, you see. My job is to write the songs, but it's in there. Right. If you look close enough, your answers are all in there. I think that I'm always being self-critical. I think I'm being as honest as I can be, and I think I am forcing myself. to work at a higher level in some ways than I have worked before.

This is not my job, you see. My job is to write the songs, but it's in there. Right. If you look close enough, your answers are all in there. I think that I'm always being self-critical. I think I'm being as honest as I can be, and I think I am forcing myself. to work at a higher level in some ways than I have worked before.

Not necessarily in the part where it's glitter and dust and look what I can do, look at the phrases I can turn, but in a way, let's see how much I can show people and still be neutral and still be an observer in my own life. And it's there. If I've slipped, let me know, because I think it's there.

Not necessarily in the part where it's glitter and dust and look what I can do, look at the phrases I can turn, but in a way, let's see how much I can show people and still be neutral and still be an observer in my own life. And it's there. If I've slipped, let me know, because I think it's there.

It's like the tree, the crack in the sidewalk, you know.

It's like the tree, the crack in the sidewalk, you know.

It does, yeah.

It does, yeah.

Right.

Right.

Her dad's a florist. Not a florist, but he grows commercial flowers, and so they would call it a trash plant. All right. Not me. That's not a metaphor. Yeah, we're not doing the job right now. We're just talking right now. The gravel weed itself would be the kind of plant that you would pull. You know, you would pull it up out of the gravel so your gravel would look nice and neat.

Her dad's a florist. Not a florist, but he grows commercial flowers, and so they would call it a trash plant. All right. Not me. That's not a metaphor. Yeah, we're not doing the job right now. We're just talking right now. The gravel weed itself would be the kind of plant that you would pull. You know, you would pull it up out of the gravel so your gravel would look nice and neat.

And most people would do that. Some people would say, well, that grows very tall and grows flowers if you let it grow.

And most people would do that. Some people would say, well, that grows very tall and grows flowers if you let it grow.

I wish that I could be angry. I wish I didn't understand. I said your skin was like water and let you flow right through my hands. Is there a love that's not crazy? Is there a life that's not alive? All I know is I had to go and you know why. Why?

I wish that I could be angry. I wish I didn't understand. I said your skin was like water and let you flow right through my hands. Is there a love that's not crazy? Is there a life that's not alive? All I know is I had to go and you know why. Why?

I was a gravel weed and I needed you to raise me And you couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raped And now that I live to see my melodies betray me I'm sorry that love songs all mean different things today

I was a gravel weed and I needed you to raise me And you couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raped And now that I live to see my melodies betray me I'm sorry that love songs all mean different things today

I can, yeah, yeah. And the old songs, they mean different things to me now because I have hindsight, you know, and the emotions that I'm feeling now when I'm playing those songs they're not the same as they were when I wrote them. You know, they're certainly not that sort of obsession. There's more nostalgia for the person that I was when I felt that way.

I can, yeah, yeah. And the old songs, they mean different things to me now because I have hindsight, you know, and the emotions that I'm feeling now when I'm playing those songs they're not the same as they were when I wrote them. You know, they're certainly not that sort of obsession. There's more nostalgia for the person that I was when I felt that way.

And there's also a document of love that I had for someone, and I feel like that was reciprocated at the time. And, you know, I mean, that's just art, you know. Our lives change. And the hard part for me is, It's not writing about it. The hard part is making the decisions that lead me to peace. That's very, very difficult, but I'm not just going to whine for the rest of my life.

And there's also a document of love that I had for someone, and I feel like that was reciprocated at the time. And, you know, I mean, that's just art, you know. Our lives change. And the hard part for me is, It's not writing about it. The hard part is making the decisions that lead me to peace. That's very, very difficult, but I'm not just going to whine for the rest of my life.

I have been given too much already for that.

I have been given too much already for that.

Mm-hmm. Which is a beautiful lyric. That's one way to do it. What I try to do is closely document my own experience. Even though I think my audience might not recognize themselves in this story, usually what winds up happening is I come up with something that I might not be saying a new thing.

Mm-hmm. Which is a beautiful lyric. That's one way to do it. What I try to do is closely document my own experience. Even though I think my audience might not recognize themselves in this story, usually what winds up happening is I come up with something that I might not be saying a new thing.

I might not, you know, everybody's looking at the moon, but we're all looking at it from a different spot. And so I'm trying to say instead of this is what the moon looks like, I'm trying to say this is what the moon looks like from right here. And, you know, also you don't have to say anything new, to tell you the truth. You don't. You can combine words and melodies in a way that sounds familiar.

I might not, you know, everybody's looking at the moon, but we're all looking at it from a different spot. And so I'm trying to say instead of this is what the moon looks like, I'm trying to say this is what the moon looks like from right here. And, you know, also you don't have to say anything new, to tell you the truth. You don't. You can combine words and melodies in a way that sounds familiar.

I think my rule is as long as you don't know who you're ripping off before the song comes out, then you're okay. Yeah.

I think my rule is as long as you don't know who you're ripping off before the song comes out, then you're okay. Yeah.

No, I like the melody and the chorus on this one. This is one where I... My daughter, Mercy, she's nine. She likes to listen to the pop hits of the day on her way to school and back home. And so I've been listening to a lot of the current pop hits and thought, man, I need to write this big, huge melody to go with this really sad song. So I like that melody a lot.

No, I like the melody and the chorus on this one. This is one where I... My daughter, Mercy, she's nine. She likes to listen to the pop hits of the day on her way to school and back home. And so I've been listening to a lot of the current pop hits and thought, man, I need to write this big, huge melody to go with this really sad song. So I like that melody a lot.

Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck. Why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect? If I got a little loose, I just forgot to be afraid. But I started out a true believer, babe.

Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck. Why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect? If I got a little loose, I just forgot to be afraid. But I started out a true believer, babe.

No, I like the melody and the chorus on this one. This is one where I... My daughter, Mercy, she's nine. She likes to listen to the pop hits of the day on her way to school and back home. And so I've been listening to a lot of the current pop hits and thought, man, I need to write this big, huge melody to go with this really sad song. So I like that melody a lot.

No, I like the melody and the chorus on this one. This is one where I... My daughter, Mercy, she's nine. She likes to listen to the pop hits of the day on her way to school and back home. And so I've been listening to a lot of the current pop hits and thought, man, I need to write this big, huge melody to go with this really sad song. So I like that melody a lot.

Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck. Why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect? If I got a little loose, I just forgot to be afraid. But I started out a true believer, babe.

Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck. Why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect? If I got a little loose, I just forgot to be afraid. But I started out a true believer, babe.

A lot of dangerous memories, a lot of bars in this town But oh, to have loved and lost and then still stuck around But I heard God in the rhyme and I crawled out of the grave And I guess I'm still a true believer, babe And all your girlfriends say I broke your heart and I don't like it. There's a letter on the nightstand I don't think I'll ever read.

A lot of dangerous memories, a lot of bars in this town But oh, to have loved and lost and then still stuck around But I heard God in the rhyme and I crawled out of the grave And I guess I'm still a true believer, babe And all your girlfriends say I broke your heart and I don't like it. There's a letter on the nightstand I don't think I'll ever read.

Well, I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. And now I have to let it burn and let it be.

Well, I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. And now I have to let it burn and let it be.

Okay, but those first two lines, keep going. When you said, take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck.

Okay, but those first two lines, keep going. When you said, take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck.

It is, why are y'all examining me? Like I'm a murder suspect.

It is, why are y'all examining me? Like I'm a murder suspect.

Y'all would be the plural. So the person who's being addressed is not a single person. There's no criticism of a single person in that line. The second one.

Y'all would be the plural. So the person who's being addressed is not a single person. There's no criticism of a single person in that line. The second one.

I very much appreciate it, and I know that you're not, and I don't mean to be sounding argumentative. I'm trying to show the trick a little bit. I think the closer you pay attention to this record, the more gracious the lyric becomes. I think time has a way of making us feel that way about each other.

I very much appreciate it, and I know that you're not, and I don't mean to be sounding argumentative. I'm trying to show the trick a little bit. I think the closer you pay attention to this record, the more gracious the lyric becomes. I think time has a way of making us feel that way about each other.

After something like a breakup, I think perspective, empathy for the other person starts to sink in as time passes. I was hoping that that's how it would work with the lyrics on this record because it sounds accusatory. It sounds angry. And then you go back and think, well, who's he accusing and who's he angry at?

After something like a breakup, I think perspective, empathy for the other person starts to sink in as time passes. I was hoping that that's how it would work with the lyrics on this record because it sounds accusatory. It sounds angry. And then you go back and think, well, who's he accusing and who's he angry at?

And I think, unless I'm wrong, I think in every situation, the closer you look, the more it becomes obvious that the record's about growing and changing as me, myself, and not about accusing Amanda or any other individual person. I'm trying to push myself and I'm trying to work in a different way than how I've worked in the past.

And I think, unless I'm wrong, I think in every situation, the closer you look, the more it becomes obvious that the record's about growing and changing as me, myself, and not about accusing Amanda or any other individual person. I'm trying to push myself and I'm trying to work in a different way than how I've worked in the past.

Let's see. Let's play Eileen. Have we played Eileen?

Let's see. Let's play Eileen. Have we played Eileen?

Let's play Eileen. I think there's some really good turns of phrase in that song, and it's lower in my vocal register than anything I've ever sang before. A little over a year ago, I lost my voice, and I think part of this was probably psychosomatic, but Also, I had just been yelling for 30 years and never really learned how to sing.

Let's play Eileen. I think there's some really good turns of phrase in that song, and it's lower in my vocal register than anything I've ever sang before. A little over a year ago, I lost my voice, and I think part of this was probably psychosomatic, but Also, I had just been yelling for 30 years and never really learned how to sing.

And when my voice went out, I had this really traumatic experience where I was singing a Bon Jovi song at the Music Cares tribute to John Bon Jovi. And I know if you know this, but Bon Jovi songs are not easy to sing. And I looked down and there sits John singing. with Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, and they're all sitting right in front of me.

And when my voice went out, I had this really traumatic experience where I was singing a Bon Jovi song at the Music Cares tribute to John Bon Jovi. And I know if you know this, but Bon Jovi songs are not easy to sing. And I looked down and there sits John singing. with Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, and they're all sitting right in front of me.

And they start counting off the song, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm not going to do a good job. And I didn't. And it didn't kill me. And I started taking vocal lessons and got an ENT and learned how to sing over the course of the next year. And so not only can I sing higher than I used to, But I can sing lower, too, and Eileen is a really low key for me.

And they start counting off the song, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm not going to do a good job. And I didn't. And it didn't kill me. And I started taking vocal lessons and got an ENT and learned how to sing over the course of the next year. And so not only can I sing higher than I used to, But I can sing lower, too, and Eileen is a really low key for me.

Terry, thank you. You truly are an American treasure. I'm always a little bit nervous to talk to you because I know how smart you are and how much I enjoy listening to your show, and it's an honor for me.

Terry, thank you. You truly are an American treasure. I'm always a little bit nervous to talk to you because I know how smart you are and how much I enjoy listening to your show, and it's an honor for me.

Started out like it always starts. Try to hold the hunger back. You don't anticipate a broken heart. Can't see nothing but the track. A diamond earring and a bowery bed. You kicked your shoes across the floor. Do you regret the things that went unsaid? Or have you heard it all before? Darling, you should have seen this coming sooner. I mean to be alone for all my days.

Started out like it always starts. Try to hold the hunger back. You don't anticipate a broken heart. Can't see nothing but the track. A diamond earring and a bowery bed. You kicked your shoes across the floor. Do you regret the things that went unsaid? Or have you heard it all before? Darling, you should have seen this coming sooner. I mean to be alone for all my days.

Bury me where the wind don't blow, where the dust won't cover me. Where the tall grass grows. Or bury me right where I fall. Tokyo to Tennessee. I love them all. See the windmills turn up 55. Still got so much to learn. Still feel alive. No lonely girl is all I need.

Bury me where the wind don't blow, where the dust won't cover me. Where the tall grass grows. Or bury me right where I fall. Tokyo to Tennessee. I love them all. See the windmills turn up 55. Still got so much to learn. Still feel alive. No lonely girl is all I need.

Tie me to this world Make me believe Well, I ain't no cowboy But I can ride And I ain't no outlaw But I've been inside And there were bars of steel, boys And there were bars to sing And there were bars with swinging doors For all the time between

Tie me to this world Make me believe Well, I ain't no cowboy But I can ride And I ain't no outlaw But I've been inside And there were bars of steel, boys And there were bars to sing And there were bars with swinging doors For all the time between

I have been to jail. Yeah, never for longer than a day and never for anything violent. But yeah, I have been.

I have been to jail. Yeah, never for longer than a day and never for anything violent. But yeah, I have been.

Yeah, just from drinking, drinking and yelling, hollering at people. And we're also drinking.

Yeah, just from drinking, drinking and yelling, hollering at people. And we're also drinking.

Yes, but it's also there are. I'm attempting to work on different levels. This is not necessarily an allegorical song, but there are pieces of this song that are directly about me, and there are details that I pull from my own life. You know, the swinging doors line, I mean, that could be, you know, I'm sitting here looking at a gate out the window right now, and that could also be gates.

Yes, but it's also there are. I'm attempting to work on different levels. This is not necessarily an allegorical song, but there are pieces of this song that are directly about me, and there are details that I pull from my own life. You know, the swinging doors line, I mean, that could be, you know, I'm sitting here looking at a gate out the window right now, and that could also be gates.

And there is at least one very, very famous set of gates when it comes to right and fault music.

And there is at least one very, very famous set of gates when it comes to right and fault music.

I am, indeed, yeah, in a death song. You know, so it's the kind of thing where...

I am, indeed, yeah, in a death song. You know, so it's the kind of thing where...

You know, sort of let my unconscious mind build these lyrical phrases, and then I go back and shape them into something that not only sings and scans accurately, which is, this is a huge part of the process for me that I think sometimes people don't realize how much energy you spend just trying to get something to sing naturally.

You know, sort of let my unconscious mind build these lyrical phrases, and then I go back and shape them into something that not only sings and scans accurately, which is, this is a huge part of the process for me that I think sometimes people don't realize how much energy you spend just trying to get something to sing naturally.

I don't know that death was on my mind any more than life was on my mind. Anytime I think about being grateful, I call it my hillbilly brain, but it goes to the worst possible scenario in a lot of situations.

I don't know that death was on my mind any more than life was on my mind. Anytime I think about being grateful, I call it my hillbilly brain, but it goes to the worst possible scenario in a lot of situations.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about death, not in a sad or fearful way, but in a way that I think, well, I've already done so many things and got to see so many things, and that might not have necessarily been in the plans for me at the beginning. So I'm very, very grateful for the time that I have had, and I think this song deals with that, among other things.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about death, not in a sad or fearful way, but in a way that I think, well, I've already done so many things and got to see so many things, and that might not have necessarily been in the plans for me at the beginning. So I'm very, very grateful for the time that I have had, and I think this song deals with that, among other things.

There was a time, though, there was definitely a time early on after Amanda and I had split up, you know, when I was driving in the car and the radio wasn't on and I was alone and I just heard myself say out loud without realizing that I was saying, and I heard myself say, is this going to kill me? And I didn't even know that I was thinking that question, but I heard it bounce off the windshield.

There was a time, though, there was definitely a time early on after Amanda and I had split up, you know, when I was driving in the car and the radio wasn't on and I was alone and I just heard myself say out loud without realizing that I was saying, and I heard myself say, is this going to kill me? And I didn't even know that I was thinking that question, but I heard it bounce off the windshield.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

So, yeah, I mean, it's a combination of both of those things. Everything is brief. It's so, so brief, but it's so beautiful.

So, yeah, I mean, it's a combination of both of those things. Everything is brief. It's so, so brief, but it's so beautiful.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

Well, where am I being critical?

Well, where am I being critical?

Well, now, I didn't say, I'm sorry the day came when I was raised. I said, I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised.

Well, now, I didn't say, I'm sorry the day came when I was raised. I said, I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised.

Yeah. And then the next chorus I say, and you couldn't reach me when I felt like I was raised. Right. Okay. So I'm still looking for the critical part.

Yeah. And then the next chorus I say, and you couldn't reach me when I felt like I was raised. Right. Okay. So I'm still looking for the critical part.

This is not my job, you see. My job is to write the songs, but it's in there. Right. If you look close enough, your answers are all in there. I think that I'm always being self-critical. I think I'm being as honest as I can be, and I think I am forcing myself to work at a higher level in some ways than I have worked before. Not necessarily...

This is not my job, you see. My job is to write the songs, but it's in there. Right. If you look close enough, your answers are all in there. I think that I'm always being self-critical. I think I'm being as honest as I can be, and I think I am forcing myself to work at a higher level in some ways than I have worked before. Not necessarily...

In the part where it's glitter and dust and look what I can do. Look at the phrases I can turn. But in a way, let's see how much I can show people and still be neutral and still be an observer in my own life. And it's there. If I've slipped, let me know because I think it's there.

In the part where it's glitter and dust and look what I can do. Look at the phrases I can turn. But in a way, let's see how much I can show people and still be neutral and still be an observer in my own life. And it's there. If I've slipped, let me know because I think it's there.

It's like the tree, the crack in the sidewalk, you know.

It's like the tree, the crack in the sidewalk, you know.

It does, yeah.

It does, yeah.

But it is, as Amanda and her dad would say, it's a trash plant. Right.

But it is, as Amanda and her dad would say, it's a trash plant. Right.

All right. Not me. That's not a metaphor. Okay. Yeah, we're not doing the job right now. We're just talking right now. The gravel weed itself would be the kind of plant that you would pull.

All right. Not me. That's not a metaphor. Okay. Yeah, we're not doing the job right now. We're just talking right now. The gravel weed itself would be the kind of plant that you would pull.

I wish that I could be angry I wish I didn't understand I said your skin was like water, but you flow right through my hands. Is there a love that's not crazy? Is there a life that's not alive? All I know is I had to go and you know why.

I wish that I could be angry I wish I didn't understand I said your skin was like water, but you flow right through my hands. Is there a love that's not crazy? Is there a life that's not alive? All I know is I had to go and you know why.

I was a gravel weed and I needed you to raise me You couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raped Now that I live to see my melodies betray me I'm sorry the love songs all mean different things today

I was a gravel weed and I needed you to raise me You couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raped Now that I live to see my melodies betray me I'm sorry the love songs all mean different things today

I can, yeah, yeah. The old songs, they mean different things to me now because I have hindsight, you know, and the emotions that I'm feeling now when I'm playing those songs, they're not the same as they were when I wrote them. You know, they're certainly not that sort of emotional. obsession. There's more nostalgia for the person that I was when I felt that way.

I can, yeah, yeah. The old songs, they mean different things to me now because I have hindsight, you know, and the emotions that I'm feeling now when I'm playing those songs, they're not the same as they were when I wrote them. You know, they're certainly not that sort of emotional. obsession. There's more nostalgia for the person that I was when I felt that way.

And there's also a document of love that I had for someone. And I feel like that was reciprocated at the time. And that's just art. Our lives change. And the hard part for me It's not writing about it. The hard part is making the decisions that lead me to peace. That's very, very difficult, but I'm not just going to whine for the rest of my life. I have been given too much already for that.

And there's also a document of love that I had for someone. And I feel like that was reciprocated at the time. And that's just art. Our lives change. And the hard part for me It's not writing about it. The hard part is making the decisions that lead me to peace. That's very, very difficult, but I'm not just going to whine for the rest of my life. I have been given too much already for that.

which is a beautiful lyric. That's one way to do it, you know. What I try to do is closely document my own experience. Even though I think my audience might not recognize themselves in this story, usually what winds up happening is I come up with something that I might not be saying a new thing. I might not, you know, everybody's looking at

which is a beautiful lyric. That's one way to do it, you know. What I try to do is closely document my own experience. Even though I think my audience might not recognize themselves in this story, usually what winds up happening is I come up with something that I might not be saying a new thing. I might not, you know, everybody's looking at

the moon, but we're all looking at it from a different spot. And so I'm trying to say instead of this is what the moon looks like, I'm trying to say this is what the moon looks like from right here. And, you know, also you don't have to say anything new. To tell you the truth, you don't. You can combine words and melodies in a way that sounds familiar.

the moon, but we're all looking at it from a different spot. And so I'm trying to say instead of this is what the moon looks like, I'm trying to say this is what the moon looks like from right here. And, you know, also you don't have to say anything new. To tell you the truth, you don't. You can combine words and melodies in a way that sounds familiar.

My rule is as long as you don't know who you're ripping off before the song comes out, then you're okay.

My rule is as long as you don't know who you're ripping off before the song comes out, then you're okay.

No, I like the melody and the chorus on this one. This is one where I... My daughter, Mercy, she's nine. She likes to listen to the pop hits of the day on her way to school and back home. And so I've been listening to a lot of the current pop hits and thought, man, I need to write this big, huge melody to go with this really sad song. So I like that melody a lot.

Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck. Why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect? If I got a little loose, I just forgot to be afraid. But I started out a true believer, babe.

A lot of dangerous memories, a lot of bars in this town But oh, to have loved and lost and then still stuck around But I heard God in the rhyme and I crawled out of the grave And I guess I'm still a true believer, babe And all your girlfriends say I broke your heart and I don't like it. There's a letter on the nightstand I don't think I'll ever read.

Well, I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. And now I have to let it burn and let it be.

Okay, but those first two lines, keep going. When you said, take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck.

It is, why are y'all examining me? Like I'm a murder suspect.

Y'all would be the plural. So the person who's being addressed is not a single person. There's no criticism of a single person in that line. The second one.

I very much appreciate it, and I know that you're not, and I don't mean to be sounding argumentative. I'm trying to show the trick a little bit. I think the closer you pay attention to this record, the more gracious the lyric becomes. I think time has a way of making us feel that way about each other.

After something like a breakup, I think perspective, empathy for the other person starts to sink in as time passes. I was hoping that that's how it would work with the lyrics on this record because it sounds accusatory. It sounds angry. And then you go back and think, well, who's he accusing and who's he angry at?

And I think, unless I'm wrong, I think in every situation, the closer you look, the more it becomes obvious that the record's about growing and changing as me, myself, and not about accusing Amanda or any other individual person. I'm trying to push myself and I'm trying to work in a different way than how I've worked in the past.

Let's see. Let's play Eileen. Have we played Eileen?

Let's play Eileen. I think there's some really good turns of phrase in that song, and it's lower in my vocal register than anything I've ever sang before. A little over a year ago, I lost my voice, and I think part of this was probably psychosomatic, but Also, I had just been yelling for 30 years and never really learned how to sing.

And when my voice went out, I had this really traumatic experience where I was singing a Bon Jovi song at the Music Cares tribute to John Bon Jovi. And I know if you know this, but Bon Jovi songs are not easy to sing. And I looked down and there sits John singing. with Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, and they're all sitting right in front of me.

And they start counting off the song, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm not going to do a good job. And I didn't. And it didn't kill me. And I started taking vocal lessons and got an ENT and learned how to sing over the course of the next year. And so not only can I sing higher than I used to, But I can sing lower, too, and Eileen is a really low key for me.

Terry, thank you. You truly are an American treasure. I'm always a little bit nervous to talk to you because I know how smart you are and how much I enjoy listening to your show, and it's an honor for me.

Started out like it always starts. Try to hold the hunger back. You don't anticipate a broken heart. Can't see nothing but the track. A diamond earring and a bowery bed. You kicked your shoes across the floor. Do you regret the things that went unsaid? Or have you heard it all before? Darling, you should have seen this coming sooner. I mean to be alone for all my days.

Bury me where the wind don't blow, where the dust won't cover me. Where the tall grass grows. Or bury me right where I fall. Tokyo to Tennessee. I love them all. See the windmills turn up 55. Still got so much to learn. Still feel alive. No lonely girl is all I need.

Tie me to this world Make me believe Well, I ain't no cowboy But I can ride And I ain't no outlaw But I've been inside And there were bars of steel, boys And there were bars to sing And there were bars with swinging doors For all the time between

I have been to jail. Yeah, never for longer than a day and never for anything violent. But yeah, I have been.

Yeah, just from drinking, drinking and yelling, hollering at people. And we're also drinking.

Yes, but it's also there are. I'm attempting to work on different levels. This is not necessarily an allegorical song, but there are pieces of this song that are directly about me, and there are details that I pull from my own life. You know, the swinging doors line, I mean, that could be, you know, I'm sitting here looking at a gate out the window right now, and that could also be gates.

And there is at least one very, very famous set of gates when it comes to right and fault music.

I am, indeed, yeah, in a death song. You know, so it's the kind of thing where...

You know, sort of let my unconscious mind build these lyrical phrases, and then I go back and shape them into something that not only sings and scans accurately, which is, this is a huge part of the process for me that I think sometimes people don't realize how much energy you spend just trying to get something to sing naturally.

I don't know that death was on my mind any more than life was on my mind. Anytime I think about being grateful, I call it my hillbilly brain, but it goes to the worst possible scenario in a lot of situations.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about death, not in a sad or fearful way, but in a way that I think, well, I've already done so many things and got to see so many things, and that might not have necessarily been in the plans for me at the beginning. So I'm very, very grateful for the time that I have had, and I think this song deals with that, among other things.

There was a time, though, there was definitely a time early on after Amanda and I had split up, you know, when I was driving in the car and the radio wasn't on and I was alone and I just heard myself say out loud without realizing that I was saying, and I heard myself say, is this going to kill me? And I didn't even know that I was thinking that question, but I heard it bounce off the windshield.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

So, yeah, I mean, it's a combination of both of those things. Everything is brief. It's so, so brief, but it's so beautiful.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

Well, where am I being critical?

Well, now, I didn't say, I'm sorry the day came when I was raised. I said, I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised.

Yeah. And then the next chorus I say, and you couldn't reach me when I felt like I was raised. Right. Okay. So I'm still looking for the critical part.

This is not my job, you see. My job is to write the songs, but it's in there. Right. If you look close enough, your answers are all in there. I think that I'm always being self-critical. I think I'm being as honest as I can be, and I think I am forcing myself to work at a higher level in some ways than I have worked before. Not necessarily...

In the part where it's glitter and dust and look what I can do. Look at the phrases I can turn. But in a way, let's see how much I can show people and still be neutral and still be an observer in my own life. And it's there. If I've slipped, let me know because I think it's there.

It's like the tree, the crack in the sidewalk, you know.

It does, yeah.

But it is, as Amanda and her dad would say, it's a trash plant. Right.

All right. Not me. That's not a metaphor. Okay. Yeah, we're not doing the job right now. We're just talking right now. The gravel weed itself would be the kind of plant that you would pull.

I wish that I could be angry I wish I didn't understand I said your skin was like water, but you flow right through my hands. Is there a love that's not crazy? Is there a life that's not alive? All I know is I had to go and you know why.

I was a gravel weed and I needed you to raise me You couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raped Now that I live to see my melodies betray me I'm sorry the love songs all mean different things today

I can, yeah, yeah. The old songs, they mean different things to me now because I have hindsight, you know, and the emotions that I'm feeling now when I'm playing those songs, they're not the same as they were when I wrote them. You know, they're certainly not that sort of emotional. obsession. There's more nostalgia for the person that I was when I felt that way.

And there's also a document of love that I had for someone. And I feel like that was reciprocated at the time. And that's just art. Our lives change. And the hard part for me It's not writing about it. The hard part is making the decisions that lead me to peace. That's very, very difficult, but I'm not just going to whine for the rest of my life. I have been given too much already for that.

which is a beautiful lyric. That's one way to do it, you know. What I try to do is closely document my own experience. Even though I think my audience might not recognize themselves in this story, usually what winds up happening is I come up with something that I might not be saying a new thing. I might not, you know, everybody's looking at

the moon, but we're all looking at it from a different spot. And so I'm trying to say instead of this is what the moon looks like, I'm trying to say this is what the moon looks like from right here. And, you know, also you don't have to say anything new. To tell you the truth, you don't. You can combine words and melodies in a way that sounds familiar.

My rule is as long as you don't know who you're ripping off before the song comes out, then you're okay.

A lot of dangerous memories, a lot of bars in this town But oh, to have loved and lost and then still stuck around But I heard God in the rhyme and I crawled out of the grave And I guess I'm still a true believer, babe All your girlfriends say I broke your heart and I don't like it. There's a letter on the nightstand I don't think I'll ever read.

Well, I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. And now I have to let it burn and let it be.

Bury me where the wind don't blow, where the dust won't cover me. Where the tall grass grows. Or bury me right where I fall. Tokyo to Tennessee. I love them all. See the windmills turn up 55. Still got so much to learn. Still feel alive. No lonely girl is all I need.

Okay, but those first two lines, keep going. When you said, take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck.

It is, why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect?

Y'all would be the plural. So the person who's being addressed is not a single person. There's no criticism of a single person in that line.

I very much appreciate it, but... And I know that you're not, and I don't mean to be sounding argumentative. I'm trying to show the trick a little bit. I think the closer you pay attention to this record, the more gracious the lyric becomes. I think time has a way of making us feel that way about each other.

After something like a breakup, I think perspective, empathy for the other person starts to sink in as time passes. I was hoping that that's how it would work with the lyrics on this record because it sounds accusatory. It sounds angry. And then you go back and think, well, who's he accusing and who's he angry at?

And I think, unless I'm wrong, I think in every situation, the closer you look, the more it becomes obvious that the record's about growing and changing as me, myself, and not about accusing Amanda or any other individual person. I'm trying to push myself, and I'm trying to work in a different way than how I've worked in the past.

Everything's green right now Tennessee at the end of June You get a day to come down We'll ride Roberts in the afternoon

Yeah, there were. There were big PV amps and a drum set and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah.

I feel like that question is still above my pay grade. You know, I just liked both of them. And I think I preferred the one with the loud amps, to tell you the truth. But there was one moment where I'd gone to my dad's family's church a couple Sundays, and they spoke in tongues when it was time to pray. Everyone in the church, they started praying all at the same time out loud.

in what they considered to be a spiritually motivated language. Really, I think chances are they were just kind of making it up. It was sort of gibberish. But they spoke in tongues. And then when I went to my mom's church, the Church of Christ, Most people in the congregation did not speak at all, usually just the preacher or a few people who were designated to speak.

Tie me to this world Make me believe Well, I ain't no cowboy But I can ride And I ain't no outlaw But I've been inside And there were bars of steel, boys And there were bars to sing And there were bars with swinging doors For all the time between

So when it came time to pray, the preacher would do the praying, and occasionally you would hear kind of a quiet amen from somebody in the congregation. But I got them confused, and I was, I don't know, probably four years old. And when it came time to pray in my mom's Church of Christ church, I just dropped down to my knees and started yelling in gibberish.

And, oh, my mom grabbed me by the back of the neck like, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, be quiet. It was a very embarrassing moment for her. I still don't know which one's right. I kind of hope it's neither of them at this point in my life. But musically, I was very, very fortunate, very fortunate because my family were all very musical people. My parents didn't play any instruments much.

But everybody else in the family did, and that's sort of how we all bonded.

Yeah, I don't know that I needed it as much as my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents needed it. I think for them, there's very little reward in this world. And to keep them going, probably survival instinct, to keep them on the straight and narrow, they needed to store up their reward in the next life or in heaven. For me, I'm very lucky.

I have been able to do the thing that I love the most every single day. And I've been rewarded for it in a way that sometimes seems ridiculous. So I don't know that I have the same needs that they had. But they had to have a certainty of heaven and a certainty of hell.

And if we keep our wits about us, treat each other well, be honest, do the right things according to the scripture, then we'll go to heaven and we'll get our reward. And if we don't, Then we'll go to hell and we'll get the exact opposite of a reward. I think what really started crumbling the cookie for me was hell just seemed way worse than it should have been. It didn't have to be that bad.

It was like the fire was seven times hotter. the pitchforks and the constant torture. And it's just really hard for me to believe, you know, that for stealing a pair of sunglasses or, you know, I don't know, kissing your buddy's girlfriend that you were going to, you know, go to actual hell. So I started, maybe this is not all literal.

And then everything just sort of fell apart as far as organized, structured biblical religion for me.

That was about obsessive compulsive disorder. That's what that was about. Yeah, that was so I didn't die in my sleep. And it worked. It worked.

That's a really good question. What made me think that? Chemicals in my brain, maybe. Trauma from... Growing up in rural Alabama with really young parents, for some reason, I thought that someone was looking out for me, but I also was very afraid of that God and had taught to be very afraid of him.

My grandfather, anytime when I was little, I remember being two years old, three years old, asking him, what are you afraid of? Because he looked like Clint Eastwood. He seemed like the toughest dude that had ever lived. And I would say, what are you afraid of? And He said, the only thing I'm afraid of is God. That's all I'm afraid of. I remember thinking, well, God must be pretty scary then.

And so I think I was sort of bartering with the man upstairs as a child, you know, every night thinking, well, he's not going to let me die if I'm the best Bible reader there is among six-year-old children in the state of Alabama. Pretty tough competition, turns out.

This one, this happens to me a lot. Maybe I should sit down before I write the song and make a plan. Because sometimes I'll think, well, I think I'm going to write a love song to my hometown or to the place where I grew up. And then usually third or fourth verse, the difficult stuff finds its way in. And I think, well, if I'm going to be honest, I'm going to have to be honest.

And that's kind of how this song went. We were going just fine early on. And then you get to that bridge, that third verse, and it's like, oh, boy, out of nowhere comes the tough stuff.

Oh, let's see. Where does it start?

Yeah, there's a little noose in a locker. When I was in school... There was a girl who was living in the Christian children's home just a few – a couple miles away from my high school and a black girl. And almost everyone in our school, K through 12, we were all white kids and redneck, like poor white people.

And this little girl came to school from the Christian children's home and there was – I think somebody hung a noose or drew a picture of a noose and put it in her locker and she changed. Schools went somewhere else after that. And then there was a – we had a couple of teachers who were black and – You know, their children came to that school but didn't wind up graduating.

Something happened, you know, and I'm not sure the details, but they just all sort of moved away and went somewhere else. And so that was the picture in my mind when I was working on the bridge of that song.

Someplace in the song there's rebel flags. Rebel flags on the highway and wooden crosses on the wall. Yeah.

No, no, they were on the wall. I mean, it's the same cross, Terry. Yeah, that's true. It's the same cross.

I got a little bold action on my ninth birthday And I can flip a silver dollar from a hundred yards away. 1911, under my floor, man. And one day it just occurred to me I got no use for that. Guess the city didn't kill me after all. This hang that nearly took me out was loneliness and alcohol. And I just put it down and walked away. Crawled back to the crimson and the clay.

See the moon in the morning, I anticipate the night. Licked a spoon in the kitchen, we prayed to Martha White. in a locker brown eyes crying in a hall rebel flags on the highway wouldn't cross his own wall guess the small town didn't suit me after all still so many lonely kids surrounded by the rest of y'all and I can't seem to keep myself away So I head back to the crimson and the clay.

Well, so we used to have a pull-behind, a very small pull-behind trailer that went behind the van. And the cap, sort of like a hubcap, I guess it is a hubcap, it would sometimes come off and all of the grease from inside the axle on the trailer would shoot out onto the highway and the trailer would catch on fire.

I don't know how many times that trailer caught on fire, more than once, as we were going down the road. And people would pull up besides and roll the window down and be waving and shouting and yelling. And we'd be too tired or too stoned to realize what they were saying for a few minutes. And then look in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, it was flames coming out of the wheels of the trailer.

Yeah, so that really happened.

No, no, no. This was with my rock and roll band.

Yes, yes, different kind of trailer, though. This was... Right, okay. Yeah, that was a house trailer, but this was a pull-behind trailer with their equipment in it. Did you find that terrifying? I'd be terrified. Yeah, I mean... I don't know about – we were pretty feral. And at that point – And probably pretty drunk.

Yeah, pretty drunk or hungover enough to basically be drunk or stoned or, you know. I don't know that fear kicked in for us the way it probably should have in those days. There were a lot of situations where, you know, we came very close to death and, you know, we were just –

Layers and layers of exhausted and for some stupid reason kept on going and kept on working until we got to a point to where we could lay down and go to the bathroom on the bus and buy some groceries and put them in the fridge and hear ourselves on stage and then people start showing up and more people start showing up and finally... Thank you.

Thank you

I have been to jail. Yeah, never for longer than a day and never for anything violent. But, yeah, I have been. For drinking too much? Yeah, just from drinking and yelling and hollering at people who were also drinking.

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Yes, yes. But it's also there are – I'm attempting to work on different levels sometimes. It's not necessarily an allegorical song, but there are pieces of this song that are directly about me, and there are details that I pull from my own life. Yeah.

you know, the swinging doors line, I mean, that could be, you know, I'm sitting here looking at a gate out the window right now, and that could also be gates. And there is at least one very, very famous set of gates when it comes to right and folk music. But... Is it by the Gates of Heaven? I am, indeed, yeah, in a death song. You know, so it's the kind of thing where...

I sort of let my unconscious mind build these lyrical phrases, and then I go back and shape them into something that not only sings and scans accurately, which is this is a huge part of the process for me that I think sometimes people don't realize how much energy you spend just trying to get something to sing naturally. Was death on your mind when you wrote this?

I don't know that death was on my mind any more than life was on my mind. Anytime I think about being grateful, I call it my hillbilly brain, but it goes to the worst possible place. uh, scenario in a lot of situations.

So, you know, I, I spend a lot of time thinking about death, not in a, not in a sad or fearful way, but in a way that, you know, I think, well, I've already done so many things and got to see so many things and that might not have necessarily been in the plans for me at the beginning.

So I'm very, very grateful for the time that I have had, and I think this song deals with that, among other things. There was a time, though, there was definitely a time early on after Amanda and I had split up.

You know, when I was just driving in the car and the radio wasn't on and I was alone and I just heard myself say out loud without realizing that I was saying, and I heard myself say, is this going to kill me? And I didn't even know that I was thinking that question, but I heard it bounce off the windshield. So yeah, I mean, it's a combination of both of those things. Everything is brief.

It's so, so brief, but it's so beautiful.

We need an audio intimacy coordinator.

Well, where am I being critical?

Well, now, I didn't say that I'm sorry the day came when I was raised. I said I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised.

Yeah. And then the next chorus I say, and you couldn't reach me when I felt like I was raised. Right. Okay. So I'm still looking for the critical part.

This is not my job, you see. My job is to write the songs, but it's in there. Right. If you look close enough, your answers are all in there. I think that I'm always being self-critical. I think I'm being as honest as I can be, and I think I am forcing myself. to work at a higher level in some ways than I have worked before.

Not necessarily in the part where it's glitter and dust and look what I can do, look at the phrases I can turn, but in a way, let's see how much I can show people and still be neutral and still be an observer in my own life. And it's there. If I've slipped, let me know, because I think it's there.

It's like the tree, the crack in the sidewalk, you know.

It does, yeah.

Right.

Her dad's a florist. Not a florist, but he grows commercial flowers, and so they would call it a trash plant. All right. Not me. That's not a metaphor. Yeah, we're not doing the job right now. We're just talking right now. The gravel weed itself would be the kind of plant that you would pull. You know, you would pull it up out of the gravel so your gravel would look nice and neat.

And most people would do that. Some people would say, well, that grows very tall and grows flowers if you let it grow.

I wish that I could be angry. I wish I didn't understand. I said your skin was like water and let you flow right through my hands. Is there a love that's not crazy? Is there a life that's not alive? All I know is I had to go and you know why. Why?

I was a gravel weed and I needed you to raise me And you couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raped And now that I live to see my melodies betray me I'm sorry that love songs all mean different things today

I can, yeah, yeah. And the old songs, they mean different things to me now because I have hindsight, you know, and the emotions that I'm feeling now when I'm playing those songs they're not the same as they were when I wrote them. You know, they're certainly not that sort of obsession. There's more nostalgia for the person that I was when I felt that way.

And there's also a document of love that I had for someone, and I feel like that was reciprocated at the time. And, you know, I mean, that's just art, you know. Our lives change. And the hard part for me is, It's not writing about it. The hard part is making the decisions that lead me to peace. That's very, very difficult, but I'm not just going to whine for the rest of my life.

I have been given too much already for that.

Mm-hmm. Which is a beautiful lyric. That's one way to do it. What I try to do is closely document my own experience. Even though I think my audience might not recognize themselves in this story, usually what winds up happening is I come up with something that I might not be saying a new thing.

I might not, you know, everybody's looking at the moon, but we're all looking at it from a different spot. And so I'm trying to say instead of this is what the moon looks like, I'm trying to say this is what the moon looks like from right here. And, you know, also you don't have to say anything new, to tell you the truth. You don't. You can combine words and melodies in a way that sounds familiar.

I think my rule is as long as you don't know who you're ripping off before the song comes out, then you're okay. Yeah.

No, I like the melody and the chorus on this one. This is one where I... My daughter, Mercy, she's nine. She likes to listen to the pop hits of the day on her way to school and back home. And so I've been listening to a lot of the current pop hits and thought, man, I need to write this big, huge melody to go with this really sad song. So I like that melody a lot.

Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck. Why are y'all examining me like I'm a murder suspect? If I got a little loose, I just forgot to be afraid. But I started out a true believer, babe.