Sometimes, when singer/songwriter Aaron Watson is in the writing room and his pen is moving faster than his brain, he stops to read what he wrote…and he laughs.
Videos by American Songwriter
Heck, the guy cracks himself up.
“I actually wrote the words ‘girl I need your kiss, like a cooler needs cans, like your body needs my two hands’ and yes, it just might be the shallowest but awesome lyric ever,” Watson chuckles, citing the light-hearted verses of his current single “Silverado Saturday Night,” a song he co-wrote alongside songwriters Monty Criswell and Phil O’Donnell. “It’s cool, and it’s provocative and it’s so darn simple. It’s just about being in the truck with the girl I love and enjoying life. That’s it. That’s the song.”
And while Watson is the first to admit that he will be soon showing more of his ‘Guy-Clark-ish songwriting chops’ on his upcoming album set for release early next year, the Texas native says the time isn’t right for those kinds of songs or those kinds of lyrics right now.
At least, that’s his take on it all.
“There is enough heavy in the world,” says Watson, whose previous single “Whisper My Name” snagged an impressive 300,000 streams in its first week. “I don’t want to hear anyone else’s opinions on anything. I don’t want to watch the news, and I don’t want to hear about politics. I just want to make music that makes people happy.”
Indeed, Watson says that, with “Silverado Saturday Night,” he just wanted to put out a song that would be fun and crazy and sweet and simple and light hearted, and far from profound.
Because, why the heck not?
“Take The Beatles for example,” Watson begins. “One second, they are writing a song like ‘Blackbird.’ And the next, they are writing the lyrics, ‘baby you can drive my car, beep beep, yeah.’ (Laughs.) The greatest songwriters of the millennium actually sat down and wrote the words ‘beep beep, yeah.’ The fact is that sometimes you need ‘Blackbird’ and sometimes you need a little ‘beep beep, yeah.’”
Damn right.
The backstory of the writing of “Silverado Saturday Night” is an interesting one, not only because Watson says he tried to keep a light hearted feel to the song, but because the actual music track for the song had originally been meant to back the lyrics of another of Watson’s songs titled “Stay.”
“When we went in to record ‘Stay,’ I just didn’t really feel like the music matched the mood of the lyrics, so we created a melody that was more in line of what I was shooting for,” remembers Watson. “We then ended up using that leftover track and I literally wrote lyrics to it.”
And thus, “Silverado Saturday Night.”
“If you ask me, there are too many songwriters and too many artists from too many genres who just take themselves way too seriously,” Watson says suddenly. “At the end of the day, they are getting to make music and do what they love and that’s a blessing.”
And then, he laughs.
“We live in a world where I pretty much want to tell everyone to chill out,” Watson chuckles. “Last year, ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ was deemed offensive. People said they thought that the guy was trying to provoke her to stay. Well, yeah, that exactly right! And then you listen to Taylor Swift’s new album and the girlfriend drops the F-bomb and people chuckle. She’s brilliant and that album is brilliant, but I guarantee that there is always stuff out there that is way more offensive than ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
He takes a deep breath, admitting he’s getting a little worked up.
“People can’t apply the same principles to themselves as they apply to others,” he says, his voice trailing off into the distance. “America has been through hard times, and we have pushed through. Maybe we need to redefine who we are. Let’s love each other, and let’s make sure we never forget the blessings we have been given.”
And yes, it’s the blessings that Watson is hanging onto these days. The ongoing pandemic has allowed him to spend time with his family and catch up with his life in general. And yes, he’s been writing “like crazy,” claiming to have written a ton of songs, with six projects “just waiting to be recorded.”
“You just get to this point that you can’t wake up to bad news anymore,” he says. “Sometimes, you have to listen to something else. Listen to the birds singing outside your window. The birds don’t care. The birds keep singing.”
And then, listen to a song like “Silverado Saturday Night.”
“Get in the car and enjoy the breeze and turn the music up and be thankful you woke up today.”
Get it on your favorite digital service.
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.