American Slang Commentary

We're glad to have you listening to Big Machine Radio, and if you are anxious to hear The Cadillac Three's new album, you're gonna be glad You're listening, 'cause this is their album release Special for Legacy. Talking to the guys about all the songs on The album. The next one is called American Slang, And the first thing that came to mind when I heard this song... Man, this is a very Observant song, because I mean, you kinda had to Sort of look around and see these things that Happen in American culture and, and, Uh, was there one thing in particular that sort Of sparked the idea and then you started thinking Like, "Let's come up with other examples of American Slang," sort thing? Two words. Laurie McKenna. McKenna. She had had this title, And she came to see us with FGL or Something, I can't remember. Her and Gene, her Husband, they come to see us whenever we're in Boston and very good friends of ours. And she goes, "I got this idea. It's American slang" and it had Cadillac Three Written by it, you know? And we were like, okay, she was saving it For us. I go... And then she sent me The lyric on like a text note, and I Read it and I was like, "Hell yeah, definitely Keep that." You know, and so like a week Or two went by, and I, we got home Off the road and I just kinda took it Into my studio and started looking at it and I was just like, "Good Lord, this is so Cool." But it was written more like a poem And didn't really have like-Rhymes and all the Stuff. Yeah. It didn't have this thing in the... Like, the thing I put in the chorus that Really tied it together I think was the, "Back Roads, muddy water, sure thing. From the city to the..." So the, didn't have the, "From the city to The country doing our thing. Our way, we say things how we're gonna say." I kinda did that to make it more, I Think, us, and to give it like a chant Thing, more than like this really cool, poetic, Vague thing. Um, but I'm telling you, Man, most of that Meat and those, uh, like the-Verse lyrics verse Lyrics was a, was a lot of her. And, and you know she did that, "It was Marilyn then Daisy Duke. It was Dean then DiCaprio. The neon turned to LED and the Lost Boys All came home" singing. And I was like, "Yeah, that..." I mean, that's lyric, you know what I mean? Yeah. So that's why she sung right of year Two years in a row. Yeah. Right? But we, you know, we really related to the Lyric and, and, and honestly, I, I remember thinking, "This lyric and story is so Cool and out there, it needs music that is Just as big-Yeah just as... And-and also puts us in a vulnerable place That we ha-might not have done this chord Progression yet, we might not have done this feel Yet, and it was something very new for us. And it really came alive when we got in The studio. Oh, yeah, man. It was one of those where I remember just, We cut that song kinda on its own on A random day that we had off, and we Went in and did it. And I just remember 4:00 came around and we had kinda gotten done With everything and we were all in there high-fiving And-Playing it for our manager goosebumps, and yeah, We-she was like-We never do that. Yeah. And then we pulled our manager in and We're like, "Hey, you gotta hear this real fast" And she was really excited, and no, it was A special song, special day. You know, it's sort of interesting to me, I Mean, because if you would think of any songwriter That would be co-writing with The Cadillac Three, Laurie McKenna, I, I guess I just wouldn't picture Her being a mesh and a match with you Guys, but I mean, this was such a great Collaboration. Laurie's a drinker, let me tell you. Oh, okay. Okay. Well, yeah, we've been lucky. We've gotten to know her and write with her, Just kinda co-write in general around town over the Last few years, and so... But it was very cool, you know, to have Her show up, and normally we write on those Days when she comes to a show, but that Day I don't think she could get there until Right when we played, and, but she showed up With that lyric idea and just kinda, You know-I'm glad she-casually threw it at Us glad we didn't write. Because it probably wouldn't have come out the same. No. I'm glad it happened like it happened. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's a fantastic song. Because it does focus on so many sort of Idiosyncrasies here in the US, I mean, you guys Are really big in Europe, are there certain things About American culture that you find either you're, The people over there are fascinated by or just Confused by that we as Americans enjoy or do? I think they're, over there, they're a little bit More obsessed with American culture than we all Knew. I, than I knew before we went over There. I remember having a conversation with a Bartender when we played that White Trash place in- It was actually called White Trash. Yeah. Uh, called, uh, in Berlin. The owner was from Detroit, and so one of The bartenders was from Germany, And he spoke really good English. And we started just chatting over a beer or Whatever, and I was like, "Man, this place is Like exactly what you would have in America Anywhere, you know what I mean?" He goes, "Yeah, The owner's from Detroit." And I go, "Oh, that makes a lot of Sense. And is it a famous place here or Is it packed?" And he goes, "Man, every night, All day, people are here trying to get the Burger and the Budweiser beer," You know what I mean? Right. Um, I think Our movies and music and stuff like that affect Them just as much as The Beatles coming over Here affected us, or The Stones, you know, Stuff like that. I've noticed that at least. Mm-hmm. That is very cool. Well, here's the song, American Slang. You'll find it on Legacy, the new album from The Cadillac Three, which is available now.