By Christina Radish
Since exploding onto the music scene in 1993, with the multi-platinum Tuesday Night Music Club, nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow has become one of the finest female singer/songwriters of her generation. The one-time music teacher and studio vocalist from Kennett, Missouri has spawned countless classic hit songs, both as a solo artist, and as a collaborator.
After overcoming her early 2006 diagnosis of Stage I breast cancer, for which she underwent radiation therapy, Crow has discovered a reinforced zest for life. Upon having the new MGM film Home of the Brave, screened for her by its director, Irwin Winkler, Crow knew that she had to write the song that would be played during the end credits, “Try Not To Remember.” With very strong viewpoints on the war in Iraq, the 44-year-old, who has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, hopes that people will go see the film and start taking responsibility for what has become a very unpopular war.
MediaBlvd Magazine> How did Irwin Winkler approach you to do this?
Sheryl Crow> Actually, we were over at the house of a friend of ours, to screen a movie. We were just eating dinner and he said, “I'm working on this movie, and I would love for you to write the end title for it.” You never really know if those things are serious, but sure enough, the next day, he called me. I went to see it the next day, and then it was done. It was a nice, easy, natural process. He's as lovely a person as I've ever met. He's just a very elegant man, and I really enjoy him. I think his film has a lot of integrity.
MediaBlvd> After you watched the movie, how long did it take for you to decide on the song and how you wanted it to sound? Was it pretty quick?
Sheryl> It actually was pretty quick, and that’s not generally how it works for me. But, the thing about it was that it was a very emotional movie with big themes. I screened it, and then Irwin came in to talk to me about it, and I said, “Irwin, I’ve got to go straight home because, if I think about it or talk about it, or if I turn the radio on or anything, I’m going to get off of how I feel right now.” And so, I went home with that feeling. I think the main thing, with this movie and the song, was to not reiterate what was going on in the movie because the movie had such strong themes, and I think Irwin did a really fine job of imparting exactly what he wanted you to leave thinking about. So, my job was to try to get people moving out of the theater without losing that, and not distract them away from what they’ve just seen and felt. And then, thematically, I didn’t want to be literal about it because I did think that he pointed out all the angles of the war -- all the different sides that people stand on -- whether they support the war, whether the war is right, whether they support the troops but don’t support the war, whether they support this administration, as well as what happens when these soldiers come back home. I didn’t want to restate that because he’d already done that so beautifully. My idea for the movie was to talk about, “How did we get here?,” which we’ve been asking throughout history. I think what I came up with was, when you don’t revisit your past and learn from your mistakes, you wind up repeating them. So, here we are in a war that feels very much like the Vietnam War, which is a war we have swept under the rug and not really healed the pain of, and here we are again, in the same situation, with these people coming home, not feeling the support of their government, not feeling the support of the health care system, and trying to integrate back into society. That’s really what the song is. If we try not to remember, we’re going to wind up right where we are, again.
MediaBlvd> Was there something in particular with the film that struck you and gave you the basic idea for the song?
Sheryl> Part of it was my own experience of having had breast cancer. It’s not the same thing, but I think the pivotal experience -- when you realize your life's never gonna be the same, and you're going to have to integrate back into your life -- is the story of these four people, just trying to figure out how they go from there. I’d been on tour and this kid came to one of my shows -- we were in Texas -- and he came backstage afterwards, and he had lost both of his arms in the war. He’s 19, and a very articulate kid, and just hearing him talk about his life and what he was going to be doing now. He wants to try to really talk to people in the administration about getting this thing turned around, and about trying to get support for these people who are coming home injured and maimed. And then, I saw the movie and I think the thing that really struck me is that everybody gets dealt these pivotal moments in their lives, whether it’s a war or breast cancer or losing your home in Katrina, or whatever. It determines what you do with the rest of your life. It’s how you integrate. It’s how you define the rest of your life. For me, watching the girl who had lost her arm, or the guy who had clearly experienced mental duress and just could not really come back and live life as if nothing had ever happened, or the kid who goes and volunteers for service again -- those are the scenes that really got to me. I think we get into trouble when we try not to remember because life just winds up being a lie. If you really deal with it, and you really experience it and embrace it, you're able to move on. I think that we're kind of in the same place we were in Vietnam, and yet, instead of really looking at that and learning, we've not remembered the lesson, and so, here we are.
MediaBlvd> Do you have friends who have kids in Iraq?
Sheryl> A really dear friend of mine went over, and he's lost both of his hands and most of his arms. He's quite an inspiration. He's a lot younger. He's the son of a friend of mine, and he's from my hometown, and he feels like the characters in the film. He feels like he hasn't been supported as a vet. He is now very involved in trying to lead a movement to get troops out and stop the war, and he also feels like there's so many questions as to why we're there. I love the fact that the film at least touches on the political aspects and the fact that people are on all sides of the issue. It's not heavy-handed, but it really does portray what it must be like to come home.
MediaBlvd> Do you think this movie might be a hard sell, since the Iraq war is so unpopular?
Sheryl> Yeah, I do, and it’s one of the reasons I’m talking about it a lot because I think it is an important film. It points out that we, as a nation, have really gone to sleep. We’re not holding our government responsible for giving us the truth. They are failing our troops. It’s not light entertainment, but it is a good story and it’s well done. It’s not going to be a movie that you go to and escape the news from.
MediaBlvd> Do you understand why anybody who has seen what happened to the veterans of the last unpopular war in Vietnam would even go in to Iraq, knowing they were walking into an unpopular war where they were going to be treated poorly coming out again?
Sheryl> When we went into this war, I think that people had really bought into the idea that this was the right thing and that there were weapons of mass destruction. When you’re a kid in the army, or in the service, you really believe that you have an important job, which they clearly do, and they’re dedicated to it and committed. They go into it with the knowingness that they’re doing the right thing, and then they’re over there and they start questioning and thinking, “Wait a minute, they weren’t telling the truth?” And then, more and more incriminating evidence comes out to make these kids start feeling like, “What am I doing here?” I don’t think they’re in the wrong. I think they go into it feeling like they have the opportunity to really serve a higher purpose. I have a really great friend who was in the Vietnam War. He started the Vietnam Veterans Association. He’s a quadriplegic. And, he was saying, “I’m watching it happen all over again.” These kids sign up for a mission. They want to contribute and be on a higher mission, and they get sold this idea by a bunch of powerful guys in Washington whose ambition it is to imperialize, to conquer, to pre-emptively strike, and to gain power, and they’re just used as pawns in the game. And, I think this movie does tell that story. I hope people go see this movie. It’s not a light-hearted movie that’s going to help you escape from what’s going on in the world, but the story is right and we haven’t seen this story since Coming Home or Born on the 4th of July. I think one of the reasons that people won’t go see the film is that it tells us about us. We’re letting this happen. We have gone to sleep at the wheel, and now it’s dictating that we start to really examine what our responsibility is in this. People are standing up and saying, “Wait a minute, I’m getting hip to your whole campaign thing here.” And, I’m hoping we’re going to ease into a different period now, of trying to correct the situation.
MediaBlvd> You’ve only done songs for films a couple times before, even though you must get tons of offers, right?Sheryl> I’ve had songs used in movies, but I actually sat down and wrote for K-Pax, and then I did the James Bond movie theme, and that was really a lot of fun. And, I wrote a song for Cars, too. I get more requests for songs that have already become popular, and not as many requests to write for a movie. But, I enjoy looking at cinematic content and figuring out how I feel about it and figuring out what’s going to work. With an end title, I find it to be easier than writing for a scene because a scene is limiting. You’re trying not to retell the story, but you’re also trying to be pertinent. Writing the end theme is a really inspiring process, and it’s also freeing because you have these boundaries. You have these pre-set requirements and, for me, there’s freedom in that. It’s not like you have a blank canvas where you’re going, “Am I going to write something that anybody cares about?”
MediaBlvd> Are you concerned that most people will get up and leave before the credits start rolling and your song comes on?
Sheryl> Yeah, that’s out of my control. That’s the kind of thing I just have to let go of. They’ll hear it as they walk out. But, you won’t hear it on the radio, I promise. Radio doesn’t play songs unless they’ve got a groove.
MediaBlvd> What is your songwriting process? Do you start with the words, or a tune? Sheryl> With movies, it's different. I did the James Bond theme, and that's very specific because there's a whole legacy there. It's thematic and torchy. This felt like it needed to be more dramatic. I didn't want to restate what had already happened in the film because the film really gives you a clear depiction of what it's saying. I wanted to just ease people out of the theater. I started with the music first. Piano is my main instrument, so I started with that. And then, I sang an ethereal melody.
MediaBlvd> Is that your usual process?
Sheryl> No. When I'm working on my own stuff, I generally write the words, or at least part of the words first, so that I have some idea of where I'm going. I think I'm most successful in finishing something if I have the lyrics first, and then write the music to the lyrics. Otherwise, I get bogged down with the lyrics.
MediaBlvd> When you write a song for a film, do you have to connect with the material?
Sheryl> I've had that experience where people will ask for something, and I just say, “Sorry, I can't do that. That's not what I do.” But, for the most part, I've been really lucky in that I've been approached to do projects that had integrity, and that were things that I could see myself doing.
MediaBlvd> When you’re writing on your own, are you ever inspired by films?
Sheryl> Absolutely. Inspiration comes from all different places. It can be a line that I've heard somebody say. I'm constantly writing stuff in a notebook because I can't remember anything. I can watch something on the news, or read a story in the newspaper. Movies are great fodder for inspiration for me. Dreams are great. But, I am also like a pack rat. I store stuff up, and then I'll sit down and write a bunch of stuff, and then I won't write for a long time.
MediaBlvd> How is life right now?
Sheryl> Life's great! I'm healthy. I had my six months check-up about a month ago, and so far so good. And, I just finished a tour a couple months ago, and I'm really happy. Things are good.
MediaBlvd> Did you always tell yourself that you were going to overcome your breast cancer diagnosis?
Sheryl> It's an odd experience. When you're a person who thinks that they have a lot of control over things, and then this happens, and you go from having everything mapped out to having none of that, and to having your life be threatened by getting a diagnosis like cancer, I think you do what your spirit tells you to do, which is to just hunker down and start investigating what you're made of. For me, I really met myself, in a way that I had never done before. And, I'm older now, so I handled it in a different way than I would have if I’d been 30, or in my 20's. You figure out what you're made of and you look at your life differently and decide, from this moment on, who you're gonna be. There were things about my life that were not functional before, that I'm so much more keyed in on now, like taking care of everybody else and making sure everybody's happy with me, and I'm good with everybody. I don't do that anymore. And, I practice saying the word no, even though it's real hard for me to say. This year really dictated that I show up for myself, and really put myself first.
MediaBlvd> Why have you decided to try to raise awareness about breast cancer?
Sheryl> I was in a really rarified position, in that my cancer was caught very early and, until there's a cure, early detection is going to be the only prevention that we can hope for. And, because I have a large audience of young women, as well as women who are my age and older, I feel like my experience is worth talking about, as far as encouraging people to get mammograms and do self-examinations. With younger people, it's a different beast to treat, so therein lies the urgency. Also, I think we're in an age now where people want to talk about these things, they don't want to be at home in the embarrassment of having had something go wrong with a very personal aspect of their health. With women, you hear the same story, over and over, about what breasts mean, physically. I'm in a daily dialogue about it because people in the breast cancer community flock to each other, even though my main job is as a musician, and that's where I feel I am who I really am.
MediaBlvd> What was your schedule like, once you found out that you were sick? Did you just jump right back in?
Sheryl> I got diagnosed about a month before I was supposed to go out on the road on a tour. The schedule was all set up and it was the Wildflower tour, for that record. I loved the record, so I really wanted that record to do well. I was really disappointed about it and all the promoters started calling and saying, “Look, we’re going to have to start refunding tickets, if you’re not going to reschedule.” So, we figured out when I would be done with radiation, and we gave me a little time after radiation to recoup, and it just wasn’t enough time. When I went out, it was very emotional for me, and I had a lot of people explain to me that, when you do radiation, you’re just left wide open, emotionally. You go out and face all these people who really love you and are supporting you, and that is really hard. I was really tired all the time, and emotional. I came back in the summer and toured with John Mayer, and that was the best tour I ever had. It was really fun and I could really feel the audience wanting to go there, and wanting to be transported away from the war in Iraq, and away from everything else. It was a great, celebratory summer. It was nice because, now that I’m not touring, I’m leaving on that note, until I make a new record.
MediaBlvd> Looking back at your career, how do you approach music differently now than you did in the beginning?
Sheryl> I grew up in a very musical family. I studied piano, and got my college degree in that. For me, to be an artist, a singer/songwriter, the fame thing was always a weird distraction. I always wanted to be a great musician and a great songwriter, and I wanted to write music that was compelling. So, every time I’ve made a record, I’ve just driven myself to become a better musician and a better songwriter. There are certain instruments I go, that I’m comfortable on, so I don’t find that I really do anything different. I always switch up what instruments I write on. My second record, I wasn’t a very good guitar player, so I wrote on guitar. For my third record, I wrote it all on bass, just so I would write melody. I would sing the melody and find the bass note, and that was the demo. Now, I just write prose and poetry all day long, and I don’t go to anything else until I have it. It’s a process for me. I do whatever I can to make it interesting, so I’m not just repeating myself.
MediaBlvd> You’ve done a lot of collaborations in the past. Are there any musicians that you hope to work with?Sheryl> I’m really lucky. I’ve worked with people that I really loved. I would actually like to work with Jack White, who lives in Nashville now, where I’m living. I think he’s interesting. He’s a kid, but he’s very well-versed in what I feel are the important references to American music. I would really love to see what the two of us might do together.
MediaBlvd> Do you see yourself going back on camera like you did in De-Lovely?
Sheryl> I don’t know. De-Lovely was not a stretch because I got to play a singer. And, also, as a kid, I grew up just absorbed by song and dance films. I loved everything from that period, like Brigadoon. In fact, I loved Gene Kelly so much, when I was eight, I wrote him a letter because I really wanted to marry him, and he did write me back.
MediaBlvd> What did he say?
Sheryl> He just said, “Good luck.” I’m sure some press person wrote it. So, when Irwin asked me to do that film, it was easy for me to step into that crooner role as a torch singer, like Rosemary Clooney or Judy Garland. But, as an actress, I don’t know. I’m not very confident, when it comes to stuff like that.
MediaBlvd> You’ve had a triumphant year. How are you going to look back at 2006?
Sheryl> I am going to look at 2006 as being my transformational year. I was forced, but also had the opportunity, to redefine myself and my life. I met myself this year. I changed the way I look at my life, my body, my health, my family, my friends, and the way I treat myself. It’s definitely been a year of redefining and refining. After I got diagnosed [with breast cancer], and after my relationship [with Lance Armstrong] fell apart, I said, “Well, the rest of the year’s just got to be amazing because it can’t go anywhere but up.” But, it has, ultimately, been a triumphant year because I’ve come out of it more healthy and, certainly, the happiest I’ve been, in years.
