Margo Price on the Bob Dylan Classic She Wishes She Wrote – Pitchfork

Thats when I watched [the 1967 Dylan documentary] Dont Look Back for the first time, too. I was just hoping for that moment: to be burned out on the road, as tired as he was in 65 after touring England. At that point, I hadnt really traveled anywhere. Through the decade that I struggled to get my foot in the door, I had a lot of free time to immerse myself in every phase of his life. He could have just fizzled out after the folk period, like a lot of other people did at that time. The fact that he was always reinventing himself was important to me.

Is there a line or verse in this song that stands out to you?

The last verse is where it really hits home for me: When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose/Youre invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal. Hes writing to Miss Lonely, and it could have been Edie Sedgwick or Joan Baez. He always has a way to protect himself and wear this armor, but that verse feels very freeing. I think he was writing about himself.

I heard that it was 20 pages of word vomit, as he liked to call it. I cant imagine what the entire thing looked like. Even getting it down to six minutes seems like a feat. But you can feel that energy in the room. Everybodys just playing it from their gut. Youve got Al Kooper on the organhes not even an organ player!

Like a Rolling Stone also represents a turning point when Dylans writing became more imagistic and surreal. Ive noticed a shift in your work toward more open-ended songs. Is that a conscious evolution?

For sure. The first album ended up being a concept record about me, so I felt like I had to keep it all in the first-person. It was a good exercise in being honest with myself and getting things off my chest that I had been lying about to my family and friends. With this record, I wanted to find different ways to convey my thoughts. I found that Id be writing one song but directing it at three different people, because different people can make you feel the same emotion. I see songwriters make the same album over and over, and Im like, This is boring for me to listen to, so I know youve got to be bored. In the end, youre going to be more proud of your work if you keep things fresh.

Other than Bob Dylan, do you have other role models for maintaining longevity as an artist?

Linda Ronstadt did such a good job of following what was right in her heart and not what was going to be a commercial success. She was a massive pop star but then she put out an all-Spanish mariachi record. People told her, Dont do it. Its going to ruin your career. But it just made people love her more. Joni Mitchell is also highly underrated. She found a way to keep herself inspired, and thats important too. Reading all the time, writing, discovering new music, and watching filmsall those things are tied together in being turned on to the muse.

Have you ever run into Bob on the road?

Yes, I have! We were on the Outlaw Tour with Willie Nelson, and Bob was playing the Milwaukee show. It was amazing to see my name next to theirs, even though it was way down. Ive made it! When Bob came onto the premises, we were told that no one could be backstage. So we all hid inside our tour bus and looked out the window, like Santa Claus was coming. We were so excited. He pulls up with a motorcade of maybe 25 police officers on motorcycles. He was wearing a white suit coat and black pants and really cool shoes. We just watched him walk to the back of the stage as he was fixing his hair and his pant leg. We went out and watched the whole performance from the front of the house, which I never do. It was pretty incredible. I heard a story that day that Bob walked onto Willies bus wearing a towel over his head like a boxer and carrying an apple pie. He goes, Wheres the king? Take me to the king.

Go here to see the original:
Margo Price on the Bob Dylan Classic She Wishes She Wrote - Pitchfork