Spinner

Snow Patrol's Lightbody Believes in Joanna Newsom, Not God

Snow Patrol's Irish frontman Gary Lightbody swears he can still roam the streets anywhere in the world unrecognized, but that would surely change the minute he opened his mouth. The platinum-plus group has become one of the top-selling acts in the world with its last two albums, 'Final Straw' and 'Eyes Open.' 'Chasing Cars,' the band's ultra-romantic ballad, was named the best song of all time by listeners of Virgin Radio. The new album, 'A Hundred Million Suns,' which came out Oct. 28, continues the lush, arena-sized sounds of the band that has been compared to such acts at U2 and Coldplay.

Calling from London, Lightbody is friendly and voluble, whether discussing how a good song has the power to shift our molecular makeup, the overwhelming, perhaps undeserved, success of 'Chasing Cars' and how his friends regularly remind him of his "a--hole" status.

From the optimistic album title through the songs, you seem to be in a better place than you were on 'Eyes Open.' Are albums snapshots of where you are in that moment?

Yeah. Very much so. Every song that we have written [includes] things that have happened to me. Sometimes [there's a] sense of relationships in the songs; I just decided to focus on the good in the relationship whereas the times before, it was a postmortem of sorts -- trying to figure out what went wrong. This time around, it's more sort of everything's going right, so let's take a bite out of the world and the universe instead. It's more outwards looking than inward looking.


That's clear with the first single, 'Take Back the City,' which is about growing up in Belfast. What made you want to write about your hometown?

I'm just at that stage in my life where I'm completely comfortable with who I am and where I'm from. It wasn't always the case, you know. Also, Belfast at this point in time is an incredible place to live in contrast to maybe the way it was when I was growing up there. It wasn't such a fun place to live. It's dear to my heart and it was dear to my heart back then. I always talked about politics and religion from an early age, I'm getting a lot more political these days, but I'm certainly not religious in any way. When you grow up in Northern Ireland ... you grow up in a place where there were some religious-based conflict going on and you become either very religious or very atheist very fast, and I'm afraid I went the latter.

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You've said that it wasn't so long ago that you had to sell your record collection to pay your rent. As you become more successful, is it increasingly harder to remember the struggle?

We struggled for years; that's not something that you just forget or allow yourself to forget. Our closest friends know the hard time that we went through. To have people around who will keep our feet on the ground and remind us if we ever get too big for our boots ... you need people around you that say the word "No" from time and time, and tell you when you're being an a--hole.

When's the last time someone told you you're being an a--hole?

Oh, I get told I'm being an a--hole all the time [laughs]. But there's a big difference from being told it and not reacting to it or not caring. I do care; I do care greatly about it. I don't want to be an a--hole.



Over the years, you've really grown as a live performer. What changed?

I've really changed my whole perception of how I play shows. I didn't really care so much when I was on stage. I used to go on stage drunk and thought, "this is rock 'n' roll, that's the way it's supposed to be." You go on stage and play your blood and guts; you don't get too caught up in the technicalities in it. There's a fine line between blood and guts, and heart and soul. And it's a little shift, but it makes a whole lot of difference. I play with my heart and soul now, and I think people relate better than to blood and guts. I was just going out there and dying, and I was exhausted after five songs. Now I feel connected to everybody and I hope that's what people feel when they come to see us play live.

Your blog entries are great plugs for music you're enjoying. Recently you called Joanna Newsom's 'Emily' one of the best songs ever written. As a songwriter, how do you feel when you hear a song that may surpass your best efforts?

A) You don't feel jealous ... it's inspirational. When I hear a song like 'Emily' or I hear a band like Miracle Fortress or Bon Iver, you know, it just makes me feel like more complete. Like I have more atoms. Like I have more of something. I feel bigger as a person. A song like 'Re: Stacks' on Bon Iver's 'For Emma' record, that's just an exemplary piece of something sliced off the very inside of someone. It feels like it's an honor to be in its presence. It's something that people share with you. Thank God they do.

'Chasing Cars' was voted the best song of all time by listeners of Virgin Radio in England in 2006. What was your reaction to that news?

First of all, it's not. Second of all, 'Chasing Cars' was being heard seven or eight times a day on the radio station at the time it was voted best song of all time. If you did a poll of the very same radio station right now, today, and the song that's being played [the most] would be much higher than 'Chasing Cars.' I was more embarrassed than anything else because I could hear every great rock fan and critic going, "What the f---?" God bless the people who voted for us, but they were listening to that song an awful lot at that song and it's not a true reflection of how 'Chasing Cars' will go down in history.

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Beatriz

I'm sorry for so many comments there under. I had some difficulties with the computer!

January 26 2012 at 10:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Beatriz

Someone noticed that Gary said: "... you grow up in a place where there were some religious-based conflict going on and you become either very religious or very atheist very fast, and I'm afraid I went the latter." and in the SAME interview, he also said: " It's something that people share with you. Thank God they do." and said: " God bless the people who voted for us.." I think he is contradicting himself. Don't to think so?!

January 26 2012 at 9:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Beatriz

Someone noticed that Gary said: "... you grow up in a place where there were some religious-based conflict going on and you become either very religious or very atheist very fast, and I'm afraid I went the latter." and in the SAME interview, he also said: " It's something that people share with you. Thank God they do." and said: " God bless the people who voted for us.." I think he is contradicting himself. Don't to think so?!

January 26 2012 at 9:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Biazusk

Someone noticed that Gary said: "... you grow up in a place where there were some religious-based conflict going on and you become either very religious or very atheist very fast, and I'm afraid I went the latter." and in the SAME interview, he also said: " It's something that people share with you. Thank God they do." and said: " God bless the people who voted for us.." I think he is contradicting himself. Don't to think so?!

January 26 2012 at 9:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Heather

I think that is awesome, he is humble. That is so much more refreshing than some singers/bands/rappers that think they DESERVE the ______ award or get so mad when someone else wins something. I do think it is a great song...greatest ever, of all time, in the whole world..not so much. I absolutely applaud his grace and class though.

November 22 2008 at 10:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply