'Headmaster' Has Still Got Plenty of Soul

DATE January 1, 2008 ACCOUNT NUMBER N/A
TIME 12:00 Noon-1:00 PM AUDIENCE N/A
NETWORK NPR
PROGRAM Fresh Air

Interview: Singer/songwriter Nick Lowe performs songs from his
new album "At My Age" and discusses writing them
TERRY GROSS, host:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross.

Happy New Year. Today we conclude our holiday retrospective of some of our
more entertaining interviews from 2007. We have an interview with and
performance by the great singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer
Nick Lowe. He's probably best known for writing the songs "Cruel to Be Kind,"
which made the American top 20 in 1979, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love
and Understanding?" which Elvis Costello recorded and "The Beast in Me," which
Johnny Cash recorded.

In the '70s, as a member of the band Brinsley Schwarz, Lowe helped start the
pub rock movement in England. He also produced Elvis Costello's first few
albums. Our rock critic, Ken Tucker, wrote about Lowe's latest CD, "At My
Age," in Entertainment Weekly. Ken described it as a beautiful and
provocative album with fine original and cover songs that showcased Lowe's
enduring knack for rousing melodies and wry wordplay. Nick Lowe performed
some songs from "At My Age" when he came to the FRESH AIR studio with his
guitar last July.

Nick Lowe, welcome back to FRESH AIR. It is really great to have you back on
our show. I'd like to ask you to start by performing a song that leads off
your new CD, "At My Age," and the song is called "A Better Man." It's an
original song. Do you want to introduce it for us?

Mr. NICK LOWE: Yeah, sure. This is a simple country and western song, my
favorite kind.

(Soundbite of "A Better Man")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) In my life I've done things I'm not proud of
And too often watched my dreams turn to sand
But it looks like I might have turned a corner
You make me want to be a better man

There's no new leaves left on me to turn over
I'm in a prison built by my own hand
I pray at last I've found salvation
You make me want to be a better man

I can't go on living this way
And that's a fact I know you understand
I don't know much, but one thing's for certain
You make me want to be a better man

(End of soundbite)

GROSS: Wow, that's such a great song. Thank you for doing that. You
introduced that as a country and western song. What makes it country western?

Mr. LOWE: Well, it's just got that lilt, I suppose. I can hear that little
lilt. And it's very simple. It's got a direct lyric. They're surprisingly
hard to write, really, those songs.

GROSS: Why?

Mr. LOWE: Well, to get--in order to keep the message really direct, it's
very hard not to waffle and--what's the word?--obfuscate.

GROSS: One thing about country songs is that the title is often a catch
phrase, like in this, like, "A Better Man."

Mr. LOWE: Yeah. I got it from a Jack Nicholson movie I was watching one
night. He goes out with Helen Hunt, who's the waitress that he sort of falls
in love with and he makes a complete idiot of himself on a date they go on,
and she says, `Why are doing this? Why do you bother with me?' And he says,
`Because you make me feel like a better man. You make me want to be a better
man,' is what he said. And it just, you know, I was watching it one night,
doing something else at the same time, but you know, a line like that came out
of the TV, you know, and that's, hey, presto, you know you've got an idea for
a song.

GROSS: While we're on the subject of titles, the title of your album is "At
My Age."

Mr. LOWE: Mm.

GROSS: Why did you give it that title?

Mr. LOWE: Well, it was just a snappy title, you know? It was suggested by
my other half's mother, who was reading an article about people who have
retired but don't really want to just put their feet up anymore. You know,
they might want to do something that's quite adventurous. And the article was
called "At Your Age?" you know, with a question mark. And it was suggested
"At My Age" might be a good title. So there's no more than that to it. It's
amazing, the album titles. After a while you could really call them anything,
you know, one, two, three, four, and five, like Chicago used to do it.

GROSS: And what is your age now?

Mr. LOWE: I'm 58 now.

GROSS: Well, a lot has happened in your life since you were last on the show
in 2001. Both your parents died. You have a son now? You have a young son.
You've become a father.

Mr. LOWE: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: Do you feel like your life is in a completely different place than it
was a few years ago?

Mr. LOWE: Oh, I'll say. It certainly is, yeah. Especially with a son and
heir coming along. I mean, I never thought I'd ever have children, and he
suddenly turned up and, it's--well, he's absolutely delightful. You know, I
think he's great, but he is a blooming nuisance, there is no doubt about it.
I'm misquoting somebody here, but somebody said, `When the pram's in the hall,
inspiration's out of the window' or something like that. And it's quite true.
It's very, very difficult. I find that in order to write songs the way I did,
I have to have an unlimited amount of time just to stare out of the window, to
go and do, you know, whatever I needed to do. That is but a distant memory
now.

GROSS: Is there's something that's compensating for that in terms of
inspiration?

Mr. LOWE: Well, the boy is so great, you know. I mean, I can remember so
clearly what it was like before I had children and how, you know, when my
friends had kids, how my eyes would glaze over, you know, when they would talk
about them. And I'm absolutely terrified of being one of those sort of, you
know, doting parents, you know, especially at my age. But they are so--I
mean, I never understood the word "delight," you know, really, until I had a
child because you really do delight in your children. And thank goodness you
do, that nature has it like that, that you fall in love with them more and
more. Because if you didn't, you would ring somebody up and get them to come
and take them away.

GROSS: Is it taking you into any different musical directions because, you
know, because you might want to put your child to sleep with a song or
introduce him to songs that you want to be in his kind of genetic material?

Mr. LOWE: Yes.

GROSS: You know, like his basic musical vocabulary when he grows up?

Mr. LOWE: Yes. I suppose so. I mean, I make up little silly songs with him
in the bath, you know. But he likes--a game, you know. You meet parents who
say, `Oh, my kid loves The Clash.' You know. No, they don't. You know, the
parents are trying to force feed their kids this, you know, the poor little
devils. But he does seem to like rockabilly music, which is quite handy,
because it's got that chugging beat. I mean, I play him this...

(Soundbite of music)

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) Well, a country boy named Shorty
And a city boy named Dan
Decided they were going to race
To win Miss Lucy's hand
Now, Dan had all the money
He also had the looks
But Shorty must have had something, boy
That can't be found in books

Well, cut across Shorty,
Shorty, cut across,
That's what Miss Lucy said
Cut across Shorty,
Shorty, cut across
It's you I'm going to wed

(End of soundbite)

Mr. LOWE: He loves that thing. I can play that all day and night
and...(unintelligible)...he likes as well and I play that one, too. But it's
that beat. That...

(Soundbite of guitar)

Mr. LOWE: He just goes crazy for that beat, really.

GROSS: So that's just going to be embedded in him from here on in?

Mr. LOWE: Well, I'll...

GROSS: Not a bad thing.

Mr. LOWE: I'm going to try not to embed anything in him, really, but it's
hard not to. And he does like it, but he's a little boy. And he might, you
know, reject it completely.

GROSS: So you've found it hard to write songs since becoming a father because
there's no like uninterrupted time?

Mr. LOWE: Yeah. It is very, very hard indeed. But I've just got to find a,
you know, find a way around it. I mean, I can feel now that there's something
about to go. It's going to be different from how it's been in the past.

GROSS: Yeah.

Mr. LOWE: But I can feel that there's something is going to happen, and I
don't know what it is, but you just have to find a way around it.

GROSS: He's what? Two or three?

Mr. LOWE: He's two and some now, two and a half, yeah.

GROSS: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

My guest is Nick Lowe. More after a break. This is FRESH AIR.

(Announcements)

GROSS: My guest is singer, songwriter and guitarist Nick Lowe. His latest CD
is called "At My Age."

I'm going to ask you to do another song from the CD.

Mr. LOWE: Sure.

GROSS: And this is called "I Trained Her to Love Me," and it's a really funny
song. I'd like you to introduce the song and tell us about writing it.

Mr. LOWE: I'm so glad you think it's funny, Terry, because you're right. It
is, of course, a funny song. A funny song about misogyny. You know, that's
just what the world needs, another one. But it's funny. When I wrote this
song, I started doing it on tour in the United States. I just thought I'd put
it in the set, and usually people like to hear a song on record a few times
before--they'll give you a nice clap, you know, when they hear something they
don't recognize. But usually you don't get any reaction. But this song
immediately sort of galvanized the audience, and a lot of women knew what I
was sort of getting at, that it wasn't me talking. You know, it's just a
character that I've made up. But it's amazing how many--and some men get it
as well--but it's amazing how many of the male members of the audience were
sort of jumping to the feet and punching their air, you know, going, `Yeah,
Nick, way to go, man!'

GROSS: Not the reaction you wanted?

Mr. LOWE: Well, any reaction is great, you know. But anyway. So I'll play
it, then.

GROSS: Great.

(Soundbite of "I Trained Her to Love Me")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) Do you see the way she lights up
When I walk in the room
That's good
And the skip in her step
When we're both out walking in the neighborhood
This one's almost done
Now to watch her fall apart
I trained her to love me
So I can go ahead and break her heart

If you think that it's depraved
And I should be ashamed
So what?
I'm only paying back womankind
For all the grief I got
I've got the latest believing
Forever I'll be true
I trained her to love me
Now excuse me, I've got work to do

I trained her to love me
And I'm going to start working on another after this
And when I get that one in a state of bliss
Betray her with a kiss

Well, one time one cut up rough
Told me I only do this 'cause I can
Hm
And I'm bound to wind up
One lonely, twisted old man
But look out, look out
Here comes a prime contender
For my agenda
If ever there was one
And I'm going to train her to love me
Until it's time to do what must be done

Train her to love me
And I'm going to start working on another
After this
And when I get that one in a state of bliss
Betray her with a kiss

I trained her to love me
Too late to stop now

(End of soundbite)

GROSS: That's Nick Lowe performing the song "I Trained Her to Love Me." He
wrote the song, and it's also featured on his new CD, "At My Age."

I remember once when you were on our show, you were talking about how when you
write songs, you often think of a character and then basically write a song
for that character to sing, and this strikes me as an example of that.

Mr. LOWE: Yes.

GROSS: Let's hope.

Mr. LOWE: Yes, of course. Of course. Well, it's a provocative title. I
mean, I don't know where the title came from. I thought it up one day and you
don't, you know, you can't just say, `Oh, I don't want to write a song about
that, you know, it will upset too many people.' You know, if something like
that comes along, you think, `Fantastic. You know, I've got a live one here.'
But, yes, it's quite fun to write a song about someone who is so unrepentant
and, as I say, when I was doing it on the tour, it was great fun to see
people, you know, get so--well, some people would laugh, and some people got
quite upset, and other people, as I say, the air-punchers, you know, were
doing something else.

GROSS: Now, just to show, like, your versatility in taking different points
of view, you have a song on the same CD, "At My Age," that's written from the
point of view of somebody who's patiently trying to woo the woman...

Mr. LOWE: Yes.

GROSS: ...he loves. Would you just do a few lines of "Rome Wasn't Built in a
Day"?

Mr. LOWE: Yeah. Sure, sure.

(Soundbite of "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) You don't know it, but I've made my mind up
You'll wind up in my arms
First I have to break down your resistance
To my charms, yes, darling,
I know it won't be easy
But I won't rest until I find a way
Everybody knows that Rome wasn't built in a day

(End of soundbite)

Mr. LOWE: That's...

GROSS: Yeah, that's great. You know, one of the things I really love about
you is when I listen to your songs, I hear influences. Like on your new CD I
hear some Sam Cooke, I hear Memphis, I hear a little Arthur Alexander. But
whatever I'm hearing, it's all you. I mean, it never sounds like anything but
Nick Lowe. Do you know what I mean? And I just think that that's so great
that, you know, there's so many influences that have gone into making you but
you never sound like you're imitating anybody.

Mr. LOWE: Oh, well, that's wonderful to hear. Yes. I think when you start
out writing songs, you copy your favorite artists, you know, slavishly,
really, just rewrite their stuff. And then when you've done them, you move on
to somebody else and do somebody else, and then the day comes when you'll be
working on rewriting your latest, you know, favorite songwriter and you will
add a little bit of the first guy that you did. You know, you'll put that in.
And then as you go on, you'll put a bit of the second bloke in as well, and
the fourth, you know, and so, it is--I mean, because it's all been done
before. There isn't anything original under the sun, only the way you tell
it, you know, in the way you put it together.

GROSS: You know, early in your career, you did a lot of covers.

Mr. LOWE: Yes, of course. Yeah.

GROSS: Was that helpful to you as a songwriter because you got so deep into
the architecture of other people's songs?

Mr. LOWE: Well, I think so, yes. I was, also--well, I think of it as being
lucky enough to--when I started out, the situation was still prevalent of
being--you could go to Germany and play in these clubs. Everyone knows The
Beatles did that, you know, went to Hamburg...

GROSS: Mm-hmm.

Mr. LOWE: Well, it was dying off, really, then but you could still do that,
and you went to these clubs in Germany and France, and you had a residency for
a month in these places. And you'd play all night, or at least until 2 or 3
in the morning, and then weekends, you'd play all day and all night, and in
those days, we used to do two 45-minute sets. That's what all the bands did,
so it didn't take very long for our puny little hour and a half that we had,
even though we larded it up with drum solos and things, guitar solos and
things, we'd try to make a go of it further, it was driving us mad to have to
play all of those hours. So we'd go in in the afternoons and get in the
deejay's booth and learn up all the songs that the punters, you know, the
clients in the club were dancing to. At that time, it was mainly soul and R&B
music. "Who's Making Love?" I remember that one. Johnny Taylor. That was a
very, very big one. Because I'd never heard that one. It always reminds me
of Paris, actually, in 1969, that song.

GROSS: Can you name a couple of songs that you used to cover back then that
were so, like, perfectly made that you almost like studied how they were put
together just to see like what makes a really good song?

Mr. LOWE: Oh, yes. One was...

(Soundbite of music)

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) If you need a little loving
Call on me
And if you want some kissing
Call on me
I'll be there
Right there at home
All you got to do is pick your telephone
And dial it
Six-three-four-five-seven-eight-nine
That's my number
Four-five-seven-eight-nine...

(End of soundbite)

Mr. LOWE: All that sort of stuff we used to do.

GROSS: Now, what makes that a great song?

Mr. LOWE: Well, it's just an extremely easy song to sing. "If you need a
little loving, call on me. Six-three-four-five-seven-eight-nine." What pure
genius.

GROSS: Nick Lowe, recorded last July. We'll hear more of his interview and
performance in the second half of the show. His latest CD is called "At My
Age." In February, his first solo CD, "Jesus of Cool," will be re-issued in a
30th anniversary edition. Here's a track from it. I'm Terry Gross, and this
is FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of "Tonight")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) What a fabulous night
Look at the moon and stars are shining bright
It's a wonderful night all right
Oh, it's so heavenly

(End of soundbite)

(Announcements)

GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. We're concluding our holiday
retrospective series by listening back to the interview and performance that
Nick Lowe recorded on our show last July after the release of his CD "At My
Age." But before we get back to that, we're going to take a brief detour to
Lowe's 1995 FRESH AIR performance when he played what is probably his
best-known song, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" He
first recorded it in 1974. Elvis Costello recorded it in '78.

(Soundbite of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) As I walk this wicked world
Searching for light in the darkness of insanity
Oh, yes, I ask myself
Is all hope gone?
Is there only pain, hatred and misery?
Oh, yes, and each time I feel like this inside
There's one thing I want to know:
What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?
Hoo, what's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?

(End of soundbite)

GROSS: That's a great song. Elvis Costello recorded that, too.

Mr. LOWE: Well, he really brought it to the public's attention. You know, I
recorded it with Brinsley Schwarz that I wrote this song for back in '73, '74.
And Elvis recorded it and brought it to everyone's attention. I've had a lot
of people really think of it as being Elvis' song.

GROSS: Well, what was the original tone that you meant that song to have?
Irony, serious?

Mr. LOWE: Yeah, it was meant to be a sort of joke, really. I thought it was
really pompous, you know, "as I walk this wicked world," you know. Here I
was, 22 you know, 22 years old and seen it all. And I thought it was a sort
of a joke, you know, what's so--except I thought the title was good. I
thought that was good. But when Elvis cut it, he really sounded like he meant
it and thought it was, you know, he made it sort of anthemic and he really
gave it some soul and charged it up.

GROSS: So did you find yourself singing it differently after hearing him
singing it?

Mr. LOWE: Well, I certainly saw it differently. Yeah, I certainly did see
it differently, and because it turned people on so much, you see how much
people really identify with it and liked it. And you can't knock that when
that happens. Because there's no rhyme or reason to it, why people will grab
onto something. And when it happens, it really is a wonderful thing.

GROSS: That was Nick Lowe on FRESH AIR in 1995. Let's get back to his
performance and interview from last July.

Did you ever have like a songwriting mentor who sat down with you and went
over your songs with you and said, `This works and this doesn't'? Or, you
know, who you could like ask questions to about songwriting.

Mr. LOWE: No, but I met a guy called Jim Ford when I was very young who I've
been extremely influenced by, an extraordinary man who came to London to make
a record, and the band I was in was hired to back him up, and he was way, way
better than we were. Not apparently, you know, when you saw him, he could
barely play the guitar, but he had soul, really, that's what he had, and he
also had this blues timing, which we didn't know anything about. We were just
kids, you know?

GROSS: Uh-huh.

Mr. LOWE: But he would play sixteen and a half bars or 17 bars and you know,
wouldn't even know he was doing it and we, of course, we'd say, `Jim, how long
do we stay on that before we change chords?' and he'd show us, and then the
red light would go on and he'd do it a different way. And we were too green,
you know, to understand, that you just watch, you just watch and keep your
ears open and everything will be fine. But we didn't know that. But we got
fired from the session eventually...

GROSS: Why?

Mr. LOWE: Well, because we just weren't cutting it.

GROSS: Oh.

Mr. LOWE: And we weren't good enough. And in fact, they wheeled in The
Grease band after us, you know, Joe Cocker's group, who were much better
musicians than us and even they couldn't actually do it. But he was an
extraordinary man. He wrote lots of songs for Bobby Womack. And he also, he
claimed to have written "Ode to Billie Joe." You know this song?

GROSS: Yeah, sure.

Mr. LOWE: And really in the light of what Bobbie Gentry has done, I mean,
such an extraordinary song and it's so typical of a Jim Ford song, and Bobbie
Gentry's really never done anything that's remotely like that, I think that,
you know, it might be possible.

GROSS: Well, my guest is Nick Lowe and he has a new CD called "At My Age,"
and since we've been talking about covers, you do a really good Charlie
Feather song on your new CD...

Mr. LOWE: Oh, yes.

GROSS: ...called "The Man in Love," and I'd like you to play it for us, but
could you tell us why you chose this..

Mr. LOWE: Well...

GROSS: ...for the CD?

Mr. LOWE: Actually it was my friend Jake Guralnick sent this song to me and
it coincided with me--I'd bought myself a 12-string guitar for some
unaccountable reason, and I was trying to--well, apart from the fact that it
takes ages to tune them, you know, they're very difficult to tune. But I was
trying to play some sort of Leadbelly-Big Bill Broonzy sort of stuff. And it
makes you wonder how they used to get it in tune, in fact. But when this song
turned up, I sort of adapted it, you know, into a Big Bill Broonzy song. And
then I used to play it as a party piece, you know, really, at parties, I'd get
this thing out. And then one day I was playing it in the studio when we were
recording the record, and all these, you know, people I was playing with said,
`Oh, that's good. Why don't we do that?' and so we just knocked it out.
Anyway. I'll have a go anyway.

(Soundbite of "The Man in Love")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) Like a man in love
I'm walking around
Trying to figure out why you put me down
I've traveled over mountains
Valleys, too
Trying to find a way to get to you

Everyone says you're just a flirt
But I know you love to see me hurt
There's not enough glow in the moon above
To shine down on a man in love

Well, if you get lonesome and you're blue,
Call me up and I'll come to you
I won't come a-running, I'll be flying
I'll be laughing, and I won't be crying

Everyone says you're just a flirt
But I know you love to see me hurt
There's not enough glow in the moon above
To shine down on a man in love

Everyone says you're just a flirt
Maybe you just love to see me hurt
There's not enough glow in the moon above
To shine down on a man in love
To shine down on a man in love
To shine down on a man in love
I said, there's not enough glow
To shine down on a man in love

(End of soundbite)

GROSS: Oh, that's just great. And that's a song Nick Lowe also does on his
new CD, and the CD is called "At My Age." You know, we had mentioned earlier
that both of your parents died in the past few years, and you also became a
father a couple of years ago, so it's one of those odd coincidences that seems
to happen an awful lot that, at just more or less the same period, that a
parent dies, a child is born someplace in the immediate or extended family. I
don't know...

Mr. LOWE: Hm.

GROSS: ...that there's any accounting it but I've seen that happen like so
much. So, in your life, you lost parents and became a parent within a short
distance, and I'm not sure what my question is, I guess, but that certainly
changes the way you see yourself, doesn't it?

Mr. LOWE: Yeah. It does. Yes. My mother, when she heard that I was going
to be a father, she rolled her eyes, you know, and said, `Oh dear, oh dear.
You know, this is not a good idea.' But she came 'round to it, you know, and
she absolutely loves the boy, you know, and...

GROSS: So she was alive when he was born?

Mr. LOWE: Yeah, she was. For about a year, yes. But she was sad, you know,
because she was, you know, quite ancient herself, you know, and so she
couldn't really do her gig, you know, her granny gig, which upset her quite a
lot. You know, obviously, really. But there you are, you know, there you
are.

GROSS: And what about your father? Was he alive when your son was born?

Mr. LOWE: No, he wasn't. No. That is a great pity, because I think he
would have really gone for him.

GROSS: Did you spend a lot of time with your parents when they were sick
toward the end?

Mr. LOWE: Mm. Well, yes, of course I did. Yes, I was a dutiful son. But
my mother, actually, she just sort of made her mind up that she was going to
go. She practically sort of danced into the crematorium, really. She was
very--she just saw the writing on the wall that she was going to be in
hospital for, you know, they were going to have her in and out, that was it.
She was in a nursing home which she loved, but she had a fall and she realized
that she was going to be in and out of hospitals and she said, `Oh, this isn't
for me.' You know, she was very bright and sparky woman...

GROSS: Did she break her hip?

Mr. LOWE: Yeah, and her arm, yes, which was quite nasty. But then she
went--they put her on oxygen, you know, and she started hallucinating. It was
a bit like being back in one of my old bands, actually when I used
to...(unintelligible). But quite funny as well. It was quite funny, and she
saw the funny side of it, but she said, `Oh, I don't want this, you know.
It's time for me to go.'

But when the old man went that wasn't very pretty because he was a very
dignified old boy and he came from that generation where you don't complain,
you know, and you don't make a fuss. And it was awful to go in, see him in
this terrible hospital that he was in, you know, lying there next to the
television. It was blaring some ghastly soap, you know, people shouting. You
know, so it was heartbreaking, actually. That was horrible. But when my mama
went, you know, it was actually quite cheerful.

But I'm being sort of flippant about it. It's not much fun. You know, as
most people know, it's not much fun when they go. But we were a close family
but not actually in each other's pockets. We rather prided ourselves on that,
you know, that we really liked each other, but we didn't, you know, phone each
other all the time, for instance. You know?

GROSS: So do you have that feeling now that you don't have parents anymore
that, like, you are that generation now, you know what I mean? Like, there's
nothing--there's no generation separating you now...

Mr. LOWE: Hm, I suppose I do really, yes, yes. I suppose it's inevitable,
yes. And I was always used to being the youngest, you know. Seems a bit rum
now. But yes, yes indeed.

GROSS: My guest is Nick Lowe. His new CD is called "At My Age." He'll be
back with his guitar after a break. This is FRESH AIR.

(Announcements)

GROSS: My guest is songwriter, singer, guitarist and record producer Nick
Lowe. His latest CD is called "At My Age." Lowe brought his guitar to our
studio and is performing some songs for us.

I want you to end with another song for us, and this is a song called "Hope
for Us All."

Mr. LOWE: Yeah.

GROSS: And I'd like you to talk about writing it. And I know a lot of your
songs really are about characters and they're not autobiographical at all, but
since you are in a relationship and do have a child now, is this song related
to that?

Mr. LOWE: Well, it could well be. It certainly wasn't conscious, but if you
get in a groove and you open, you know, open yourself up, suddenly you're
singing just, as far as I'm concerned, just a pop song, really. But you're
singing it with sincerity and heart, so I suppose it has got, you know, some
sort of autobiographical thing to it.

GROSS: Well, it has been just absolutely great to have you back on the show
and to hear some of your new songs. I really appreciate your performing for
us.

Mr. LOWE: Not at all, Terry. Thank you.

GROSS: And could you leave us with "Hope for Us All"? Could you play that
for us?

Mr. LOWE: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: And this is one of the songs on Nick Lowe's new CD "At My Age."

(Soundbite of "Hope for Us All")

Mr. LOWE: (Singing) People are remarking on the change that's come over me
It can be explained very easily
Out of the blue someone's come into my lonely world and now I'm walking tall
And if even I can find someone
There's hope for us all

I had a reputation as a stay-at-home so-and-so
'Cause when my friends would call me up and say, `Let's hit a club'
I'd tell them, `No, no, no, no'
I must admit there were times when all I ever did was climb the wall
But if even I can find someone
There's hope for us all
Whoa,
If even I can find someone
There's hope for us all

Even in my darkest hour
There was still a light somewhere
Letting me know by its glow
That I'd find comfort there

I walked a lonely street
Waiting for love to call
And if even I can find someone
There's hope for us all

Da da, da da da da da
Da da, da da da da dum, da da dum

I must admit there were times when all I ever did was climb the wall
But if even I, a feckless man
Who's thrown away every chance he's ever had
Who...(unintelligible)...to check his fall
There must be hope for us all
Whoa, yeah,
If even I can find someone
There's hope, hope for us all

(End of soundbite)

GROSS: Oh, I love that. Thank you so much. And one more thing I have to ask
you. I feel like I said goodbye to you before the song, but I have to ask you
this. The first time I heard the song, I was listening to the CD in my car
and when you got to the part when `Even I, a feckless man,' I thought,
feckless? Wow, what a great word to put in a song. And I realized, although
I've heard that word 1,000 times and I've read it thousands of time, I didn't
really know exactly what the word meant, so I figured like I'd look it up in a
dictionary. So you sent me to the dictionary and I wrote down all the words
that it means. It's feeble, futile, ineffective, aimless, irresponsible.

Mr. LOWE: Excellent.

GROSS: Is that a word you would typically use in conversation or did it just
come to you for the song?

Mr. LOWE: I think I would use it in conversation, yes, because it is sort of
an old-fashioned word, and sometimes it's quite fun to, you know, to shove in,
you know. It's just showing off, I suppose. But yeah, it is. It's a great
word.

GROSS: And it's so parenthetical in the song. It's like, `and even I, a
feckless man.' It's so great. That's a beautiful song. Thank you so much.
And I just want to compliment you. You know, like on the CD, like there are
some songs that are really moving like that one, and some songs that are
really kind of like funny and ironic. And you have such range. I just really
thank you for that.

Mr. LOWE: It's very kind of you. Thank you, Terry.

GROSS: Thanks a lot.

Nick Lowe recorded in July 2007.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Review: Ken Tucker on the Sarah Johns album "Bil Love in a Small
Town"
TERRY GROSS, host:

At the end of each year, rock critic Ken Tucker finds one or two albums he
feels didn't get enough attention from a bigger audience. From 2007 that
album is Sarah Johns' debut, "Big Love in a Small Town." Ken says it's the
showcase for what could be a major country music talent.

(Soundbite of "Big Love in a Small Town")

Ms. SARAH JOHNS: (Singing) Never moved to the big ole city
Like a lot of friends I know
Had my eye on something closer
Not far down the road
Bucking hay on a flatbed Chevy
Green eyes and a working tan
Just a few short years together
And we ain't doing bad

We got a diesel Dooley
Twenty acres out in the boonies
Smack dab in the middle is a little house
Raising beans and babies
What more could you want for once you've found
Big love in a small town

(End of soundbite)

Mr. KEN TUCKER: Sarah Johns hails from rural Kentucky and she co-wrote every
song on her first album "Big Love in a Small Town." If that thumbnail sketch
seems to puts Johns in the same company as Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, I
should also thrown in the detail that Sarah Johns is also a fan of Faith Hill.
All of which means, on the evidence of this music, that Johns feels most
secure when a fiddle and a steel guitar are helping her into the honky tonk.
But she also knows the value, both commercially and for the nourishment of
one's soul, of a grand ballad. The result on Johns' album isn't a mishmash of
influences but a combination of consistency and eclecticism that's mighty
impressive for a major label debut.

(Soundbite of "A Lot to Let Go Of")

Ms. JOHNS: (Singing) I wish I could blame it on him
But I know it's my pride
That led to his taillights
I had to have the last word
Me and my big mouth
My life just walked out

And that's a lot to let go of
That's a tough one to take
Maybe someone should grow up
We all make mistakes
Looks like Miss Know-It-All
Just might be wrong
Because here I am missing his love
And that's a lot to let go of

(End of soundbite)

Mr. TUCKER: That's Sarah Johns suggesting why it's sometimes a mistake to
bail out of a relationship too hastily, not a sentiment you hear too much of
in pop music of any sort. Johns' album was released in early 2007. It's
first single, "The One in the Middle" only cracked the top 40 on the country
charts. It should have been a much bigger hit. This is one reason country
songs were invented. "The One in the Middle" takes a mildly risque image,
applies some clever wordplay and doesn't shy away from the emotions behind
someone joking furiously but bitterly about being treated badly.

(Soundbite of "The One in the Middle")

Ms. JOHNS: (Singing) I can't believe you'd do that to me
Use me
You've fooled around and a-wrecked my heart
She's just a skank, rode hard and put up
Well, good luck
I would've given you the finger on my left hand
The one that you use for a wedding band

But now I'm givin' you
The one in the middle
The one that's a little bit longer
And I got another one
On my other hand
So I can say it even stronger
If you're askin'

(End of soundbite)

Mr. TUCKER: Oh, and I forgot to mention that that song is not only clever,
it's really catchy. For those of you with a memory, I'd say that's a song
Roger Miller would have been happy to have written. It's always an
achievement when you can unite low-down humor with high-flown sentiments.

She does it again on a song called "He Hates Me." This too takes a classic
country songwriting approach. The verses begin with Johns exulting over a
crush she has on a new guy. And by the time we reach the chorus and the
second verse, she's coming on like the nicest stalker you'd ever take out a
restraining order for.

(Soundbite of "He Hates Me")

Ms. JOHNS (Singing): I met a guy last night and, girl, I felt the earth move
If you'd'a been there I swear you would've felt it, too
But I spilled red wine on his white shirt
I stuttered and stumbled over all my words

'Cause he's got these brown eyes that drive me crazy
And oh my God that smile of his just slays me
Yeah, I love him, wanna have his babies
The only problem is he hates me

(End of soundbite)

Mr. TUCKER: I don't know what the only-middling success of Sarah Johns'
album means in a Nashville where these days you frequently get one shot at the
big time and then you're out. I do know that she has a big voice that's also
capable of intimacy and ambivalence, and she's got a songwriting talent that
needs a second album, if only to prove whether or not she's got the goods to
go the distance. Here's hoping her a very productive new year for Sarah
Johns' sake and our potential pleasure.

GROSS: Ken Tucker is editor at large for Entertainment Weekly. He reviewed
Sarah Johns' debut album "Big Love in a Small Town."

(Soundbite of "If You Could Hold Your Woman")

Ms. JOHNS (Singing): If you could hold your woman like you hold your whiskey
I'd still be in your arms

(End of soundbite)

(Credits)

GROSS: I'm Terry Gross. All of us at FRESH AIR wish you a happy New Year.
Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.