Questions + Answers

Alex M.

This is perhaps an odd question…

A comment from Elvis Costello years ago struck a chord with me. He said he sometimes wonders what happens to the people in songs after the song is finished.

I’d love to know, for example, if Johnny Cash’s protagonist in “A Boy Named Sue” ever had a son and, if so, just what did he call him? 😊 Did the couple in “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” laugh off the incident and manage to work out their relationship, or did it create mutual distrust and they’ve since divorced? 😊

Anyway, to my question…Have you ever thought about your own old characters?

Take the couple in “The Hardest Part” album, for example (if those songs weren’t too autobiographical). In “No Next Time”, did she actually leave him? Or did hearing it “once more for old time’s sake” make her change her mind?

Or perhaps once the song fades, the people just fade, too?

All the best,

Cheers,

Alex (Glasgow, Scotland

---

Dear Alex,

Thank you for question.

I like to think that the characters in the Piña Colada song realized they were being idiots and that what they’d been looking for was right under their noses. Contentment comes from wanting what you have, not longing for what you don’t. You drag one thing — yourself — into every relationship, and once you realize that, you see that you are at least half the problem. So I hope that couple got over themselves and matured nicely.

As far as my characters, I think Jezebel, from Miss Fortune, probably grew out of her hot girl summer period and started figuring out how to give herself the love she was looking for, and Louise from that same album left the Blue Room long, long ago. The atheist in The Duel found God and looks back on his dark period with interest but more than a tinge of regret. The couple from The Hardest Part destroyed each other, as we knew they would.

And I think Sue probably named his son Sue too because we are usually destined to become like our parents despite our best efforts.

Art doesn’t fade, I don’t think, so the characters in it don’t either. They flow through the artist, are brought to life through the work, and are then released into the atmosphere and energy of the universe. Even if they only cause the slightest ripple, it is a ripple still the same, and ripples change things.

I hope y’all have a glorious weekend.

Peace. Love.

Allison

---

---

Paid subscriber benefits:

• Access to the chat on the Substack app

• Subscriber Saturdays — exclusive paid subscriber-only posts on Saturdays

• Special discounts - every time I put paintings in the shop, paid subscribers will receive a discount code to use for 24 hours.