On Originality, and Nick Lowe

12 Sep

The AV Club just published a great interview with the timeless troubadour Nick Lowe. If you aren’t a fan of Nick Lowe, you should be. He’s one of those artists whose songs you know, but you just didn’t realize they were all by the same guy. He basically is the reason that Elvis Costello is a household name. Anyway, of particular note in the interview is this quote:

You write your heroes’ song catalogues, until one day, if you’re lucky, you write something original, which will probably be an amalgamation of all your heroes’ song catalogues that you’ve absorbed up ’til then. Suddenly, you’ll come up with an idea on your own, but based on something you’ve heard before. Because it’s all been done. There’s nothing original under the sun; it’s just the combination of influences that make it original.

-Nick Lowe

Aside from being a very insightful statement and showcasing his humility (which is impressive considering his achievements), that sentiment is echoed almost exactly in our song “New Theory”.

There’s nothing new under the sun

And you said it’s all been done

I’m inclined to agree

But it wasn’t done by you and me

We’ve had many conversations as a band about whether there is any potential for true originality remaining in the world, particularly in the realm of music. I’ve always come down on the side that Nick Lowe expressed.

If you make something, no matter how referential or indebted it may be to your influences or predecessors, it has still passed through the filter of you, and cannot help but become original, for better or worse. It helps if you are attempting to express something honest, true and deeply felt.

  • http://wilcoworld.net The Experience

    This dialogue reminds me of how Greg would sometimes inadvertently quote titles of other songs while writing lyrics for The Willowbrook (Band). I thought it was a neat fluke, not a rip-off by any means. See, even there I made another reference, but was not intentionally referring to the T. Rex song!

    I believe this happened about five times, though I’ll have to look up some of the others on lyric sheets to get the full list. Greg – can you recall any other embedded song quotes to flesh out the list below?

    Embedded Song Quotes by The Willowbrook (Band):
    “Think for yourself, for once I am gone” (Should I Leave? – Love & Loss)
    “I’ve got a heart of glass” (Occupy – Unreleased)