Conversations: Alejandro Escovedo

An interview about 'Sad & Dreamy' — a universal song about childhood, written by kids

Alejandro Escovedo’s career has spanned five decades and crossed as many genres, from punk and glam rock to alt-country, string quartets, and Spanish language albums about the immigrant experience.

His latest, “Echo Dancing,” finds the 73-year-old Austin legend looking back and recasting 14 of his songs dating back to his time with the True Believers, a band formed with his brother Javier and Jon Dee Graham in the mid 1980s. “Echo Dancing,” recorded in Italy, is proof that you can breathe new life into old songs by recasting them in a different way.

When I interviewed Escovedo in early 2005, the purpose was to talk about a song — “Sad & Dreamy (The Big 10)” — that already was more than a decade old. In 1992, Escovedo and Michael Fraccasso wrote and recorded the song with a group of fourth and fifth-grade students from Austin’s Zilker Elementary School.

Context for the interview is needed here. At the time I was managing editor of American School Board Journal, a monthly magazine that served local boards and top-level administrators across the U.S. Like many magazines, we had an UpFront section with brief stories on topics that may be of interest to readers, sometimes but not always on the lighter side.

“Sad & Dreamy (The Big 10)” had appeared on Escovedo’s live album, “Por Vida,” a limited-edition fundraiser that had been released in late 2004. (The original recording was on the CD as a bonus track.) Given that I had been a fan of work since his True Believers days — the Troobs were one of Austin’s best, if not the best, bands of the mid 1980s — I wanted to support the cause while reminding our audience of the value of arts education.

Admittedly, writing a 450-word story about “Sad & Dreamy” was a bit of a stretch for our readers, but I managed to convince the editor that it was a worthwhile pursuit. All I needed to do was find Escovedo.

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Escovedo’s version of the song.

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A Short Conversation

That proved easier said than done. At the time, Escovedo was between labels while fighting for his financial and physical life. His acclaimed 2001 album, “A Man Under the Influence,” was his last for Bloodshot Records. While on tour in 2003 for “By the Hand of the Father,” a five-character music theater piece that focused on the conflict between Mexican immigrants of his father’s generation and their Americanized children, he collapsed following a performance.

The diagnosis was bleak: Advanced cirrhosis of the liver, tumors in his abdomen, and lesions on his escophagus. All were complications of hepatitis C. Proceeds from the self-released “Por Vida” — released along with one of my all-time favorite tribute albums (a 2-CD set also, confusingly, named “Por Vida”) —  were helping to pay for his medical costs. Like most musicians, Escovedo had no medical insurance, and he made most of his money by touring.

Finally, I managed to track down Escovedo’s manager and he agreed to a brief interview. We talked over the phone for about 15 minutes, which prevented me from asking about his time in The Nuns, a San Francisco punk band that famously opened the final show of the Sex Pistols doomed U.S. tour. We talked briefly about family — at the time, three of my four kids were in elementary school; he has seven children, four of whom went to Zilker.

We didn’t have time to discuss the True Believers and “Gravity,” “Thirteen Years,” or “With These Hands,” the series of critically acclaimed and still great 1990s solo albums that recently had been reissued as two-CD sets with live shows and bonus tracks. Those three albums, produced by the late guitarist Stephen Bruton, made up the bulk of the songs on the tribute album, which featured artists such as Graham, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, John Cale of the Velvet Underground, Ian Hunter, Son Volt, and the Cowboy Junkies.

Here are edited excerpts from the conversation:

The first question, obviously, is how are you feeling?

Better, but still weak. I was on interferon, and that left me so weak that I couldn’t play guitar for a year. It really took me to a place, and I was so depressed. I just had to give it up. I’m now using acupuncture and Tibetan medicine, and it seems to be working.

I’m grateful. People have been so kind. I started playing again recently, even though I was still very sick, but I wanted to see everyone and say thank you.

The tribute album is fantastic. It’s a real testament to you and your work.

I could not believe it. The outpouring of love from this community of musicians, both here in Austin and around the world, was just amazing. I can’t believe John Cale agreed to do a song (“She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”) and Lenny Kaye (“Sacramento & Polk”) and Ian Hunter (“One More Time”). Those are some of my heroes.

I realize you don’t have much time, so let’s talk about “Sad & Dreamy.” It’s such a lovely, fun song. What was the idea behind it?

Mike and I were leading a songwriting seminar at Zilker, which is in South Austin. We hoped that by writing and recording and releasing a song we could raise some money for an after-school program.

At the same time, we were trying to send the message that you can make a living through art, by expressing yourself, and that songwriting is nothing to be intimidated by. We tried to stress to the kids that everyone has a story to tell.

Tell me about the process. Were the students engaged?

We were going for a time capsule of the students’ feelings, and we were looking for things that were both individual and universal. So we started asking them questions. “What do you like to do” became “Chris and Lee, they play Nintendo / They eat snacks and watch cartoons.” Then “What makes you mad” became “My sister’s beating on my door / Everybody’s in my room.”

We were making progress, but we didn’t have a title and we didn’t have a chorus. Everyone was running out of ideas, and we were running out of time, especially if we were going to record it that day.

How did you end up with those?

Any time you do something like this, you’re always going to have kids who don’t want to participate, for whatever reason. And there were these two boys on opposite sides of the room who just weren’t into it, so we decided to ask them questions. One gave us the title because he had a cast on his arm and said he always felt sad and dreamy.

So we knew we had the title, and then we asked the other little boy if he had anything to add. And he thought deeply for a while, then sighed, and finally said he knew what we could write about. He said, “Ever since I’ve hit the big 1-0, my legs hurt, my back hurts and candy just doesn’t taste as good anymore.”

That was it. (Laughs) We had the chorus.

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The students’ version.

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You have played the song at shows periodically. It’s on a children’s album (2002’s “The Bottle Let Me Down”) and it’s on your live album. But it’s also great to see the kids’ original version on the live CD as well. They finally get their turn in the spotlight.

It really is an amazing song. The kids' version, especially, tells a story that truly captures time. I really think it’s the perfect sentiment for life and for growing up.

It truly is.

Postscript

Since our 2005 interview, Escovedo has continued to record prolifically, releasing seven albums, including “Echo Dancing.” In 2009, Bruce Springsteen released “Always a Friend” — a duet with Escovedo from the preceding year’s “Real Animal”— on a live EP. Springsteen also provided guest vocals on the track “Faith” (not the George Michael version) on Escovedo’s 2010 album “Street Songs of Love.”

Escovedo is still touring as well, and once in a while still throws “Sad & Dreamy” into his sets. This summer, he will open a number of dates for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit.