Sheryl Crow: Fighting for artists' rights, making soundtracks for hot summer nights

Interview, May, 2002

India.Arie

"I ain't taking shit off no one," sings Sheryl Crow in the opening moments of her new album C'mon, C'mon (A&M/Interscope). She may have started her career seated on a piano bench, but Crow definitely doesn't take matters sitting down. Just ask California state legislators, with whom the rocker recently met in support of a bill that would give artists more freedom in relationships with record labels. In 2000, Crow and former Eagle Don Henley founded the Recording Artists Coalition to lobby for the cause, and she's been battling for it--and a host of others--while recording C'mon, C'mon over the past two years. It's an album that showcases Crow's gift for harnessing crunching, feel-good grooves to lyrics that smolder long after the music stops playing. Here, she gives rising R&B star India.Arie a guided tour through the songs, which should have arenas full of fans swaying when Crow tours America later this summer. Dimitri Ehrlich

INDIA.ARIE: Hi. How are you?

SHERYL CROW: India! I'm fine. How are you?

IA: I'm fine. I have to tell you something. When I was recording my album. I was trying to put together an acoustic song, and I didn't know what kind of production I wanted. I couldn't figure it out. But I would listen to your song, "My Favorite Mistake" [from 1998's The Globe Sessions] and say. "I want something kind of like this." I listened to that song a lot.

SC: Oh. That really means a lot to me. It's funny. People will ask, "What's your favorite song you've ever written?" and, for me, just playing that song makes my heart feel like a load's been taken off of it. Every time I get to sing it, I'm happy.

IA: Ah. The healing power of music at work. But your masterpiece on the new album. in my opinion, is "Safe and Sound."

SC: Oh, thank you. It took me about two and a half years to make this record. I was really tired, and I didn't feel like working--I was making myself do it, and that song came out of nowhere. It gave the project sort of a focus. All of a sudden it was like the neon sign in the middle of the road saying which direction to go, so that was a real blessing for me. Some of the best moments happen when you finally give up and you're not even trying to get something done. If you're really pushing the process, when you finally let go of it, then your ego gets out of the way and you're kind of shown the path. The best songs I've ever written have come out of struggling over something else that I was just hell-bent on getting finished--and as soon as I would let go of it, then something else beautiful would come along. And I think that's kind of the lesson in life. You can't control everything, and you just have to get out of your own way.

IA: I totally know what you're talking about.

SC: But it's hard, isn't it? Because you're trained to think you can make anything happen, that you can control your destiny, but I think that sometimes it's good to be shown that you can't.

IA: Tell me about the song "You're an Original." What's that about?

SC: Well, I worked with this female rock star, of sort of a different generation, and when the whole thing was finished I was struck by how difficult it is to be original now. In the past it wasn't nearly as competitive, imaging and marketing wise, and now, what happens is you have one or two people that really stick out and then you'll have a whole slew of people that come out right behind them that are kind of in that vein, that capitalize on that wave. And she had said something to me about, "You know, we are really good-looking women, we need to use our sexuality to sell our product." And I was like, 'Wow. That is so scary to me," because part of my enjoyment in what I do is in not doing that, is just kind of being the guitar player. So the song was inspired by that. It's a real gift to be given something that is original, the way you stick out and draw attention to yourself for what you do, and the way you--

IA: --shine. When's your birthday?

SC: February 11th.

IS. I knew you were an Aquarius.

SC: Yeah. Are you an Aquarius?

IA: No, I'm a Libra, but we're both air signs.

SC: So tell me, are you enjoying all the attention you're getting? Is it a freak out, or does it feel OK?

IA: Hmm. I'm pretty centered and grounded. However, to be honest, I'm also disappointed and a little disillusioned. I realize that the music industry is not based on good music all the time, and that's just the way it is, but it irritates me.

SC: When I look at you--I mean, obviously I don't know you at all, I'm merely a fan--I think that you're gonna keep rising. It's just a gut feeling that I have. And I think it's all about our intentions. What we say, what we do, how we back up our words; so I can totally relate to what you're talking about, and I am really excited to see what's ahead for you.

IA: I'm excited too because I'm growing really fast and it feels good and it's an interesting time but it's not always good. Fortunately, I'm much more mature than when I was 21 and 22.

SC: You're 26, is that right?