The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #422 Message #2709427
Posted By: Dan Schatz
26-Aug-09 - 07:15 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Rock Salt and Nails (Utah Phillips)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rock Salt and Nails (Utah Phillips)
Bruce (who went by "U. Utah Phillips" as a parody of T. Texas Tyler) wrote the song in Korea after receiving a dear John letter from his wife. He didn't like to sing it, partially because the person it was written about was still alive (and remains so). It was one thing for other folks to sing it (he knew a good song when he wrote one) but it felt too personal to sing it himself. He also felt it was an angry, bitter song, and he didn't feel that way any more.
He told me that after he received that Dear John letter, he wrote two songs - one was Rock Salt and Nails, and the other "I Think of You" - one of the sweetest love songs I know. I had never thought of that song as being about a breakup before, and it added new depths to hear him say that.
Dan