StarPolish Interview With Emmylou Harris - Page 4

So I started with that premise, but as I cleared the table — I mean, I made it a priority to write, so I let my band go, and I left management, I got released from the record company — it just changed me. Even though I did work in that period of time — I worked on several other records, such as the record with Linda Ronstadt, we worked on the Spyboy record, I did the Teatro record with Daniel and Willie [Nelson], and then I kind of oversaw the Gram [Parson's] record — I wasn't on that little hamster wheel of just touring constantly. So that gave me some time, and I did actually put some effort into it and my main priority was writing. Malcolm, who ended up producing Red Dirt Girl, was very, very adamant once again, and although he loved the songs I had collected from other people, he said he thought it was important that I didn't abandon the writing.

STARPOLISH:: When you were writing the songs, did you imagine some of the possible collaborators, or did that come afterwards?

HARRIS: Oh, no — I never think about that. I'm so focused on what the song is going to be. Only after it's finished do you start thinking about that. And, in fact, as far as Linda [Ronstadt], I had no thought of Linda being on the song; the song was actually the last thing I wrote. I thought the record was finished and the song came unexpectedly. And Linda happened to be recording in the next town in upstate, New York, so that was very serendipitous. We had planned on getting together before the song was written, and when she came over I said, "I wrote this song, and before we go out to dinner do you think that you might try and put a harmony on it?" So it was one of those lovely little moments of grace that happen...

STARPOLISH: Which ties nicely into the album's title. This album seems to deal with some pretty weighty issues, particularly loss and disillusionment, and while that's not new territory for you, I was curious how getting older yourself affected your outlook toward those sorts of themes?

HARRIS: Once again, the decision to write came out of a necessity that I felt, but once you're wearing that writer's hat you tend to pursue an idea because you're thinking, "OK, this is what I've chosen to do, what am I going to write about?" I think that the new territory on this album is that it's social commentary. Normally I just deal with things that are deeply personal to me. As you get older you can do one of two things: if you're so affected by what's going on around you, you either become reclusive and cut yourself off, or you have to become aware, and the songs came from just being more aware about what is going on in the world and having opinions and concerns about it. And so that's where "Time in Babylon" came from, probably just from watching television and going, "I can't believe this." The song was actually started by Jill [Cuniff] and I before 9-11, and we abandoned it because at that point it was almost a satirical thing. We actually finished it right before we were going to war, and I think everybody was just tuned in a different way. So I think the song ended coming up out of that, because we thinking of it as a warning and as a reflection, but I also definitely wanted people to think about it as a hopeful thing, that it's never too late to right the ship.

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