MARY LOU LORD - Talks!

Mary Lou Talk

As you might know, sometimes the part of a Mary Lou live show is not even the songs, but the in-between song banter. So here are some prime examples.

"Have you guys heard of Elliott Smith? Back in the day old Elliott and me used to tour around together and we played places like Ultrasound in Toronto for like four people. Elliott would literally cry... we'd get drunk and cry. I was like: 'don't worry, one day, you'll be a famous rock star.' Years go by and he calls me up and he tells me about his new friend Gus and Gus is involved in movies. And he's like: 'Yeah, Gus, is gonna stick a bunch of my songs in his movie.' - 'What's the movie called?' - 'Good Will Hunting'. Another year or so goes by and he's like - he talks really slow -: 'If you turn on your TV I'm gonna be on it.' I'm like: 'What are you gonna be on?' - 'The Oscars'! The next song is a song Elliott wrote and I watched him write it and then I watched him play it and he didn't want it and he threw it away. I asked him: What was wrong with it? And he said: It sounded too much like the Eagles!"

(Before "I Figured You Out", London, England, November 17, 1999)

"I did a lot of playing on Newbury Street this summer... Did somebody see me out on Newbury Street? ... This song kinda went over like a lead balloon. This song is about being a non- hippie. I scrambled myself back over to Harvard Square after New Year's, because what happened was a couple of years ago they came up with this new ordinance thing where you couldn't be above 83 db or something and I was 86 db with my Maxi Mouse and they gave me a ticket. So I said 'screw Harvard Square', and I disappeared for a few years, just because I was so upset. They were walking around with meters - how am I supposed to know how loud I am? So I sweated it out on Newbury Street all summer only to find out that I came back and there's like Woodstock going on."

(Before "Aim Low", Cambridge, MA, December 9, 1999)

"This next song was written by my friend Nick Saloman. He lives in England and there's a show on for the kids over there - or it was a few years back - called 'Champion The Wonderhorse'. Is anyone familiar with that at all? - [Audience member...] Oh yeah! - Really? Shock!!! It was kinda like 'The Lone Ranger', 'Lassie' - one of them black-and-white things. 'Champion...' had a theme song and so Nick was sitting there all day and he just began this tune and 'Champion...' comes on. He's watching TV, writing the song at the same time... 'Champion's...' theme song went something like: [starts singing] Like a silver bullet from a gun, an arrow from a bow Like an equine star you'll hear about it Everywhere you go 'Champiooooooon' And he was like [imitates his English accent]: 'Oh, I'll have that!' So if you'll listen closely, you'll hear the theme song to 'Champion The Wonderhorse'. And when I was trying to figure out the words to the song I was always stuck on that 'equine star'.... it's a HORSE!"

(Before "Lights Are Changing", Cambridge, MA, December 9, 1999)

"That was a Magnetic Fields song, by the way and they have this excellent record-thing out called '69 Love Songs' and it's terrific [strums her guitar for a bit]... This is where the theme begins, the love-gone-wrong-theme. I was doing this interview yesterday, and I said: 'Yeah, most of the songs I like and most of the songs I WRITE are songs about love gone wrong'. Because I suppose that when you're in love that last thing you want to do is hole yourself up in a room with a guitar in your lap and waste it. You wanna be out buying puppies and getting ice creams and go to the movies and stuff. You don't wanna be alone in your room writing about it, you wanna be LIVING it. But then - when it all goes to shit [clutches her guitar] it's my best friend in the world. That's when it gets done, I guess."

(Before "I Figured You Out", Olympia, WA, February 26, 2000)

"This next song is a folk song, it's about a river in England called the Lea. And it runs along the Thames - the Thames is like the big, uhmm.. touristy, white bread, major-label river [infectious laughter] and the Lea is definitely the little indie badass, riffraff- collecting, unpopular.... [street cleaning machine passes by] ... I do need some Appalachian dulcimer on this one...."

(Before "Down Along The Lea, Austin, TX, March 18, 2000)

"Uhmm, this song is like - like high school [hah]. Like petty, high school, adolescent... This is a song about an adolescent crush that never came to fruition as a relationship." [Begins guitar intro then stops]"oh, in your best interest, imagine that Crazy Horse is backing me up for this one."

(Before "She Had You", Austin, TX, March 18, 2000)

"This next song could've been written about my sista, we're from Salem and that's the north shore as you know. My sister reminds me a lot of Peg Bundy and loves the mall, so... She loves the Liberty Tree mall, though, not the North Shore Mall. She wouldn't be caught dead at the North Shore Mall. So this is a song that could've been written about her. I love her. She's da bomb. [Starts next song] And her hair is even more ridiculous than mine!"

(Before "Hey Antoinette", Cambridge, MA, July 7, 2000)

"Have any of you guys got to hear Eva Cassidy yet? Yes, Raise your hand, I need it now. Has anyone else heard Eva Cassidy? no? You have. Well, If you are looking for a really good record. Kevin So, my pal, introduced me to her voice and her music, pretty recently, and I have been sort of waffling on giving you all a tip about ... You know how you find yourself in Tower or HMV and you go for that spontaneous buy because of that one song then you heard on the radio. Then you get the thing home and the rest is a load of shit and you're like, I just spent 17 bucks on this load of shit. You know, Spontaneous purchases can be very disasterous. My record I sometimes think is a load of shit too but it's only six bucks .. so I don't care. I am working on a new one and I swear to god it is going to be better than those other ones. ... But any way Eva Cassidy, that's what I was talking about. I swear to god you will not be disappointed She was lovely, she was from D.C. she passed away I guess maybe 3 or 4 years ago? But what a voice. I think she and probably Sandy Denny, and a couple of others are my favorites. You have to, you have to hear her. ... I'll shut up. ... So if you find yourself wandering endlessly around HMV you'll know what to look for. Don't you think she's great?"

(before "Thirteen" Cambridge, MA, July 7, 2000)

"Tonight my hair is by Revlon!"

(During the show in Hollywood, CA, July 26, 2000)

"It's a funny thing, y'know, Elliott Smith and I used to tour back in the day. The buzz was all about me for some reason. So I'd say to the big A&R executive guys: 'Make sure you get there early to see Elliott Smith!' and they wouldn't get it, they were like: 'He's miserable'. It was always like [adopts a voice that would fit very well with a guy in a suit]: 'And does your little friend Elliott want a drink, too?' And I thought: 'That's the way Joan Baez might have felt in 1963... "And does your little friends Bob wants a drink, too?"' - Idiots!"

(Before introducing Kevin So, Baltimore, MD, August 3, 2000)

"I wrote this song travelling the country with my friend Mary. The song was begun in the Red Wood forest and it was finished in the parking lot of the Safeway in Portland, Oregon."

(before "Western Union Desperate", Cambridge, MA, January 20, 2001)

"That was a Richard Thompson song - most men dare not venture into Richard Thompson land; but since I'm a chick, fuck it! [strums guitar] I got nothing to prove... [strums guitar] It ain't all about the wank."

(after "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", Somerville, MA, February 23, 2001)

"This is the stuff that makes young men decide to become rock stars"

(before "Thirteen", Cambridge, MA, July 14, 2001)

"I think this song is like this guy who's on tour with this girl who's got record labels interested in her, and he's the opening act, and all the record people aren't interested in him, they just buy him drinks. And maybe the song is about the girl."