Recording - April 2020 - 65

APRIL 2020
TAXI Road Rally 2018

Jonathan Cain, Lifetime Achievement Award
Keynote Interview, Part 3
Interviewed by Michael Laskow
So many people talk about you being gifted with
melody, but few ever talk about your lyric chops.
How are they?
Well, I've gotten more confident. I am the guy
who wrote "Faithfully," by the way. That is my
song, 100%. It's a road song, but that's all me. So
I really got my confidence coming out of The
Babys with Steve [Perry]. And Steve had such an
instinct. And the one thing that I learned about
writing is the character of a singer. John [Waite]
had a character. He was sort of like the Vampire
Lestat, you know. He was very sexual, sensual-
"I want you baby," "Oooh, oooh, baby." So it
was easy to write because John wasn't afraid to
sing about lovey, sexy things. [He sings] "Every
time I think of you, it always turns out good."
Beautiful stuff. Steve Perry was the boy next
door. Steve Perry never really got the girl. It
was, "Love and touch 'em, and she was squeezing another." Remember? And, "Hopelessly in
love with you, but you never call me up." So he
was the guy that never got the girl. And even in
"When You Love a Woman," the Grammy-nominated ballad, he doesn't get the girl. He just
doesn't get the girl. She's waiting out there,
somewhere. Rod Stewart had that character; he
picks songs that suit his persona. And I think
it's very important to pin the tail on the right
place when you're trying to...
Coming from The Babys to Journey, he [Steve
Perry] already had a formula. He had this sort of
safe sex, if you will. Journey never really sang a
really sexy girl-song. We stayed away from it,
because that wasn't who we were-especially
Steve. His character was an innocent guy from
the San Joaquin Valley that loved the country.
He loved God, he loved hopes and dreams. He
was a dreamer. But he wasn't overtly [sexy in
what he sang]. So we never did that with him.
So that's what I learned about character. Cyndi
Lauper was a great example of somebody who is
bubbly-"Girls just want to have fun." It works,

Jonathan Cain and TAXI's Michael Laskow admire the Lifetime Achievement Award Cain received.

and she very seldom strays from that character,
that persona of who she is.
I think it's writers. We have a voice. We need to
tune into that voice. I've been writing the same
song since 1981. When you hear it, it's a
Jonathan Cain song. You can tell it's me. When
you hear it, you're like, "Aha, that's Jonathan
Cain." [He sings the melody.]
Some of the songs you sent me in that folder didn't
sound dated at all. And I fully expect it, because
we do get people who've had a big career, then
they join TAXI and they are that thing that they
were, and they continue to be that. I had a big
smile on my face when I listened, because it
sounded like you, but it didn't sound like you 25
years ago.
And lately I have been into contemporary Christian music. I've dropped three Christian albums
on iTunes. Those of you believers out there
want to hear a little something different, check
out what I do for the Kingdom of God. I found
that my persona continues to stay true. So once
you find your voice, stay with your voice, man. If
it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know.

Do songs start with an idea or a concept for you? Or
do you noodle until you hit a little melodic thing
and then develop from there? What's the root?
It's different. What happens with Journey, for
example, we'll just go in and jam, because that's
an ensemble. We are just progressively working
with each other. So then the lyric and the
melody has to be found. But then, when I'm sitting at home and I get an idea like "Faithfully,"
for example, I didn't know what the title was
gonna be, I just started writing: "Highway run
into the midnight sun. Wheels going around
and you're on my mind..." So it didn't get a title
until I got to, "Oh girl, you stand by me. I'm forever yours." And that's got to be "Faithfully"
right there. So I didn't have the title until I got
to the title, and those words just flowed in half
an hour on a napkin. I had my Casio on my bed,
and I plunked, plunked, plunked. I swear. And
then I went to soundcheck and played it on a
real piano, and I went, "It's a very good song."
What percentage of the songs that you brought to
the band ended up getting cut?
Every one of them.
Continued on page 66
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