Marty Stuart, April 1994:
At the end of the day, when nobody’s looking and I’m just alone, my favorite thing to do is get my mandolin or acoustic guitar and sit in the corner with one light bulb hanging down in the dark and sing about sick people or dead people.
Thoughts?
Yes, we may think that’s a weird thing for the man to say. But this is what authentic country music used to be about, at least one very important strand of it. He knows what he’s talking about (IMHO).
I guess some of my favorite songs are actually about sick or dead people, but dead people seem to be better fodder than sick people, since just being sick can often equal cloying. For songs, I suppose I prefer the “I didn’t survive” over the inspirational “I will survive” scenario.
Ditto to Erik’s comment. I’d rather listen to Marty Stuart sing about sickness and death than listen to all the generic and interchangable fare on country radio these days.
“For songs, I suppose I prefer the “I didn’t survive” over the inspirational “I will survive” scenario.”
Ha! A classic Leeannism.
I think it’s cool that he was doing the typical mainstream thing at the time, but essentially predicting what he’d do musically once he no longer had do please radio.
That crossed my mind too, Kevin.
How very Florence Nightingale of Marty Stuart. :)