Gabino: Do you ever have gaps in your schedule where you'd spend three days in Winnipeg or something?
Dar Williams: When I was in Austin the last time I spent three days there. I had two nights of show and a day off. And I went to a yoga class, I got flowers for my room. I swam at Barton Springs. I went to Waterloo Records. I ran. I practiced. I watched a lot of TV. And I wrote a song. I had done that no TV thing. I was actually in Edmonton, and I said, "No TV, no radio, no books, no nothing. See what comes out." And I went crazy! And I wrote a song. I wrote "Road Buddy." And then I said, Fuck that. As much TV as I want to watch, and sure enough I got sick of it. And I wrote another song. "If I Wrote You." Which is superior. It's better than "Road Buddy."
later in the same interview..
You've been to Edmonton before. You wrote a song between Edmonton and Calgary...
How did you know that?
Because it's in...
Because it's in my little liner notes.
How? Were you driving? You couldn't have been driving to write the song, or did you stop to write it?
I stopped. I think it was that place that has the big tea pot hanging above it. Called Glenn's or something like that.
Is that in Red Deer?
It might be, it's closer to Red Deer than...
You stopped there and you wrote a song?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was there. And I had started to write it and had come up with this melody and then I took notes at the restaurant. It was all about the mythology of the road.
And you used the word "beautiful highway" to describe the song, and I, having been here...
Ew. I didn't, I didn't call it a beautiful highway. I'm sorry. It was February. I just drove up from Calgary today and it's quite pretty, but in February... I was also going through a thing where I wanted to see what my mind would do if I decided not to watch television or listen to the radio, and so I was kind of stuck with my thoughts, and it just took a yucky, a bad turn. But out of that void came a lot of the melody and the preliminary first material for Road Buddy, so unfortunately, that is the way to be creative, is to kind of find a sensory deprivation tank for yourself.
My thoughts...
This is about going on a road trip with someone. You think you're going to have so much fun with your friend, but you really just get on each other's nerves. I've had this happen to me actually. It sucks and then you're stuck thinking about your friendship with the other person.
From an interview:
Gabino: Do you ever have gaps in your schedule where you'd spend three days in Winnipeg or something? Dar Williams: When I was in Austin the last time I spent three days there. I had two nights of show and a day off. And I went to a yoga class, I got flowers for my room. I swam at Barton Springs. I went to Waterloo Records. I ran. I practiced. I watched a lot of TV. And I wrote a song. I had done that no TV thing. I was actually in Edmonton, and I said, "No TV, no radio, no books, no nothing. See what comes out." And I went crazy! And I wrote a song. I wrote "Road Buddy." And then I said, Fuck that. As much TV as I want to watch, and sure enough I got sick of it. And I wrote another song. "If I Wrote You." Which is superior. It's better than "Road Buddy."
later in the same interview..
You've been to Edmonton before. You wrote a song between Edmonton and Calgary... How did you know that?
Because it's in... Because it's in my little liner notes.
How? Were you driving? You couldn't have been driving to write the song, or did you stop to write it? I stopped. I think it was that place that has the big tea pot hanging above it. Called Glenn's or something like that.
Is that in Red Deer? It might be, it's closer to Red Deer than...
You stopped there and you wrote a song? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was there. And I had started to write it and had come up with this melody and then I took notes at the restaurant. It was all about the mythology of the road.
And you used the word "beautiful highway" to describe the song, and I, having been here... Ew. I didn't, I didn't call it a beautiful highway. I'm sorry. It was February. I just drove up from Calgary today and it's quite pretty, but in February... I was also going through a thing where I wanted to see what my mind would do if I decided not to watch television or listen to the radio, and so I was kind of stuck with my thoughts, and it just took a yucky, a bad turn. But out of that void came a lot of the melody and the preliminary first material for Road Buddy, so unfortunately, that is the way to be creative, is to kind of find a sensory deprivation tank for yourself.
My thoughts...
This is about going on a road trip with someone. You think you're going to have so much fun with your friend, but you really just get on each other's nerves. I've had this happen to me actually. It sucks and then you're stuck thinking about your friendship with the other person.