As one quarter of the most influential band of all time, Ringo Starr has little left to prove at this stage in life, but the 77 year old is gearing up to release his 19th (!) solo album on September 15, titled Give More Love.
A simple, familiar sentiment that echoes what we’ve come to expect of the man who gave us tracks like ‘Octopus’s Garden’ during his time with The Beatles, and it turns out that the fairly unassuming musician has a pretty straightforward method of finding inspiration when it comes to writing his tracks, including his new song ‘So Wrong For So Long’.
“What usually happens is with the writers I write with, one of us will have a line,” he tells Billboard in a new interview. “I usually have a whole list of lines, and then we sort of just think what we’re gonna do.
“The best [new track] to talk about is ‘So Wrong for So Long.’ Somebody said that to me in 2008, and I just thought, ‘that’s a great line,’ and finally turned it into a record, into a track.”
So for Ringo, it seems, it really is all in the name, and he just works from there, taking whichever lyric or “line” grabs his attention and shifting it towards the themes he’s most comfortable with.
“I was making this new record this year, and I decided to use that song,” he says. “I’d like to say I do this, I do that, and we get a song, but it depends on who’s got the line,” Starr says. “What usually happens is — it doesn’t matter what people are doing. I direct it to the place I want it to be. Which is usually peace and love.”
It seems to be that particular sentiment that keeps him coming back to the studio time and time again.
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“I love joy,” he says. “I love the light. I’m still doing what was my dream at 13, and that’s playing. I think that helps. I promise you this, though — I’m not this happy-go-lucky every day. But overall, my general demeanor is peace and love and joy.”
“I still do my best for Give More Love just like I did for Sgt. Pepper. I just do the best I can. I’m just getting through today, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
