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TRACK BY TRACK
1.The Long Way Around
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Dan Wilson
Emily: That's a journey song, about the different stages in our lives.
A recap of where we've been, where we're going - and it was nice to remind
ourselves of all that.
Natalie: We've always written songs that are about other people. It's
so much harder to put yourself out there and be honest with your emotions
and your beliefs, but the songs are so much better and mean so much more
when you can let yourself be vulnerable.
2. Easy Silence
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Dan Wilson
Martie: We didn't set out to write a lot of love songs, but we're
all probably in the best place we've ever been with our mates.
Natalie: There's also a bit of political commentary in there,
from my point of view. I had to get a lot of other things off my chest
before I could be nice and sentimental. Even when we tried to write a
sweet song, there was always a little dig at somebody.
Martie: One of the challenges for me was that the songs we were
writing weren't necessarily calling for the traditional kind of fiddling
that I am used to doing on our records. The orchestrated approach really
pushed me to dig back into my training and remember how to play and write
with those sensibilities. Rick really encouraged me to think differently
in this respect and not feel limited.
3. Not Ready To Make Nice
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Dan Wilson
Emily: The stakes were definitely higher on that song. We knew it was
special because it was so autobiographical, and we had to get it right.
We've all gone through so many emotions about the incident. We talked
for days with Dan before putting pen to paper, and he really helped get
inside our heads and put these feelings out. And once we had this song
done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden.
Martie: We had reached a point where we were laughing a lot about it,
and people didn't really know how far it had gone. I realized I had suppressed
a lot about the death threat. It all came flooding back in the process
of writing this song, I think we all realized just how painful it had
been for us.
Natalie: We tried to write about the incident a few times, but you
get nervous that you're being too preachy or too victimized or too nonchalant.
Dan came in with an idea that was some kind of concession, more 'can't
we all just get along?' and I said, nope, I can't say that, can't do it.
And we talked about it, and he said, what about "I'm not ready to
make nice?" From the outside, normal people really weren't aware
of how bizarre and absurd it got. Dan was really good at cluing in to
that, saying something that didn't back down, but still had a vulnerability
to it. This album was therapy. To write these songs allowed me to find
peace with everything and move on.
4. Everybody Knows
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Gary Louris
Natalie: I find the psychology of celebrity very interesting; the
things people are willing to sacrifice to be famous. I think it comes
from a sad place. Some are grounded and can keep it in perspective, and
some let it take over.
Emily: It's a soap opera, something for people to watch that's bigger
than life. And the people who are in the middle of it love that. They
want to be perceived as being larger than life. It's like watching "Richie
Rich" or "Silver Spoons."
Martie: I'm very proud that when Brad and Jennifer broke up, I didn't
know for a month!
Natalie: Sometimes you do feel more claustrophobic. I've definitely
become more reclusive and anti-social and suspicious of people, which
sucks, but it does come with it.
5. Bitter End
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Gary Louris
Emily: That started when Martie came in with a little Celtic fiddle
riff, just like two notes.
Martie: I'd been listening to the Pogues a lot, and I just started
from a drone and a waltz time feel. It was hard at first writing with
people you don't know, how much you're willing to put out there and risk
getting shot down. We spent long hours just talking with these people,
talking about life, collaborating on what we wanted to say
Natalie: It's a lot of hours to spend with somebody if you don't
have much in common. These writers are so good, they are constantly questioning
if a song is the best it can be.
Emily: Gary Louris is just so melodic - and he's really good
at singing nonsense words to the melodies, and then ideas just come out
of that.
6. Lullaby
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Dan
Wilson
Emily: That was last song that was written for the album. We
felt like we said everything we wanted to say, it was time to write a
song about our kids.
Natalie: It's a song that you're really going to get and is going
to make you cry if you have kids. If you're a teenager, I guess you can
skip over it!
One thing that's cool about being a musician is that things live forever,
so our kids will always have this as a gift to them.
7. Lubbock or Leave It
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Mike Campbell
Emily: We'd seen a documentary called "The Education of Shelby
Knox," which was about a girl - she was 16 at the time, very religious
- trying to get Lubbock to teach sex education in the schools. And Lubbock
has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs in the US, so
it really showed what happens when you keep this information away from
people. Lubbock is also one of the last hold-out radio stations that still
won't play us, and of course Natalie is from Lubbock, so she has personal
experience with the box that a small town can keep you in.
Natalie: It's not just about Lubbock, but about any small, hypocritical
town. Mike was asking me for all the details - the stores, streets
and I came up with this long list of names. We talked about the irony
of having a big painting of Buddy Holly at the airport -that his face
is the last thing you see before getting on a plane!
I do feel bad for my family who’s still there and has to defend
me - after everything they already went through, to have to do it again.
8. Silent House
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Neil Finn
Natalie: This song is about my grandmother who has Alzheimer's. It's
about walking through her house, that she no longer lives in. Packing
up a house, having all those familiar feelings and passing those wonderful
memories on to others.
Emily: Martie and I also had a grandfather who had dementia, and you
realize that it's up to you to remember them the way they were, because
you're going to be a witness to their life. That's one of my favorites
on the album. It's kind of a dark horse - it's long, it takes a lot of
patience, but I really grew to like it.
Natalie: Even though this song is about our experiences, almost everyone
has been touched by something like this. The other writers were all very
generous and understood what we needed to say.
9. Favorite Year
Words & Music by Sheryl Crow, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines
Martie: I had an idea for a song where the person knows in their heart
that a relationship wasn't right, but still wants the other person to
look back on it as the best time in their life. I think I was wished
that that’s how my ex husband looked back on our 5 years together,
but I know that's not the case. But hey, you can make it true in a song,
right?
Natalie: I had just watched "The Big Chill," so that's what
I was visualizing. People who were so in love when they were really young,
and you really think you're going to spend the rest of your lives together,
but then life just takes turns.
Emily: Sheryl Crow worked out the chord progression. We worked on this
song together when we were recording "Home."
Natalie: We felt an instant connection to Sheryl, she's very real and
funny, easy to talk to and open about herself.
10. Voice Inside My Head
Words & Music by Linda Perry, Emily Robison,
Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Dan Wilson
Martie: This one was hard for Natalie. It took a long time for
her to feel like she could sing this song and really own it. It's a
very heavy subject matter and it took us a while to get it right.
Natalie: It’s one that didn’t come together until the very
end. Rick was instrumental in making the sound really work for this song.
11. I Like It
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Gary
Louris
Natalie: The day we wrote “I like It” with Gary we were looking
just to write a rock song with a great hook. What I like most about this
song is all the layers of harmonies. It was one of those songs that we
got to try things vocally, that we had never done before.
12. Baby Hold On
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire,
Natalie Maines, Pete Yorn, Gary Louris
Emily: That's a song touching on where we are in our lives and
our relationships, trying to get your partner to be Number One in your
life and putting the focus back on your marriage, as opposed to just being
mom and dad. Kind of a "where are we now" look at married life.
Martie: I thought we'd write more about our families than we
did. We're really good friends, but we don't always talk a lot about our
personal lives - maybe out of not wanting to burden the others, or even
just to keep a bit of privacy.
13. So Hard
Words & Music by Linda Perry, Emily Robison,
Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Dan Wilson
Martie: That song touches on the issue of infertility, which
Emily and I both had to deal with. I think we feel a responsibility to
break down some of these barriers - it's much more of a common problem
than people realize. Someone the other day asked me if twins ran in my
family. When I told them I did in vitro they said, "Oh, so you took the easy
way." I couldn't believe they said that.
Emily: We both got pregnant through in vitro fertilization, and
people usually get all freaked out when we tell them that. I don't find
it a stigma at all - people need to start talking about it, because it
feels almost epidemic. And it's so wonderful that we have this technology.
14. I Hope
Words & Music by Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Keb’Mo’
Emily: Keb’Mo’ was one of the last writers we wrote with,
and it was so nice and so comfortable working with him. With what he's
been through and where he grew up, it's important to him to write positive,
uplifting songs.
Natalie: On the other hand, he wasn't afraid to get political,
and this ultimately turned out to be a pretty serious song. Hopeful
and positive, but serious.
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