Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers' Rumble. [July 8 - August 8]
In the book, Songs Without Rhyme: Prose By Celebrated Songwriters, Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash gathers a select group of songwriters and creates a unique volume of work.
Convinced that songwriting is a literary form unto itself and that those who dedicate their careers to this endeavor are unappreciated as writers, Cash asked thirteen writers, including David Byrne, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, and Jules Shear, to join her in compiling this book. With the premise that songs are an accomplished form of storytelling, Cash requested that each author use one of his or her own songs, characters, or themes as the basis for a new prose piece.
Excerpts from the book: Jules Shear and "If We Never Meet Again."
(On the origins of the song from a movie script)
"...I felt like I knew the music part before I even wrote it. Before it escaped, I captured it on my Walkman, singing the only words I had. “If we never meet again/if goodbyes remain unspoken.” I sat on the floor of my apartment, stared out of the window at a tree on East 11th Street, and tried to become this kid (in the script).
...A record producer whose taste I respected heard it and said, “I’d jump out of a plane holding onto just that song.” He wanted to record it with a newly signed act from Philadelphia with high hopes and lots of money behind it. I said sure."
…this song wasn’t meant to be the big song in a movie. It wasn’t destined to be a huge hit on the radio, either…Tommy Conwell from Philly [and others] would do a version of “If We Never Meet Again”…listened to intently by a small group who found their relationship to the song all the more special for its privacy.”
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