We thought we knew something about him. With two #1 albums on the country charts, three #1 songs, and 5 more breaking into the Top 20, he's established and successful. He's also a country pin-up, and his fabulous ever-changing hair is the stuff of fairytales. But that's just the surface.
Darryl and his loved ones have been affected by the atrocities of war and the cruelty of cancer. His journey has taken him into the darkness, but it's made him stronger and given him a rare insight into the human condition, including the biological factor most women don't know about. There's also that thing with the snakes, but we'll get to that...
Songfacts: What is Cousin Michael's story? Is he back from Iraq yet?
Darryl: Oh yeah. He's home, he's got three little girls and a little boy, he's a baby-making machine. He's a safety coordinator at a large paper mill, so he's working, and he's taking care of those babies.
Songfacts: Does "I Just Came Back From A War" have anything to do with him?
Songfacts: Does that tie into "Have You Forgotten?" in any way? I don't know why, but they seem kind of at odds with each other somehow.
Darryl: I've had other people say that, but I'm sorry to say this to you, this just makes no sense to me. There are people who felt that "Have You Forgotten?" was encouraging our invasion into Iraq. When I wrote that song, there was no war in Iraq. It was just the war that followed the events of 9/11, in Afghanistan. And I felt then like I do now; that you can't take a punch in the mouth like that and then just sit back and go, "Well, let's be nice to the world. Maybe they won't do that again." I firmly believed that we needed to get our butts over to Afghanistan and get after the people that attacked us on our own turf. And I don't have a problem with expressing that to anyone that would question my motives.
But as far as being a war hawk, someone who's just all gung-ho about fighting, attacking people, that's not who I am at all. I understand the casualties of war probably better than most, because I grew up in a family that has been affected on both sides. Maybe you could explain to me why you think those two songs are at odds, and I'll see if I can defend myself. (laughs)
Darryl: I think it did in everyone at that time. It was sort of a rallying call, to say, "Don't be ashamed if you feel this way, because you should." And I love hearing you say that, because that's what it was all about. That's how we were feeling when we wrote it. We thought, "there's probably a bunch of people that feel this way. Let's find out." (laughs)
Songfacts: (laughing) And it worked.
Darryl: Yeah, it did work.
Songfacts: And then you've got "I Just Came Back From A War," and it's really the human side of it.
Darryl: Yeah, I think you're right on the money, because there's an element of reality in everything I do. And I can't help that. I've tried to write from a different place, and it just don't happen. I've even had my co-writers say, "Golly, we can't even get you to go there." And I try. I really try. But it's not real. So that being said, I'm looking at the fallout from these conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. And the thing that spurred it was the guy up in New Jersey, I think. It may have been a black guy, he was home from Iraq or Afghanistan, he was a Marine Corps guy, and somebody was outside of his window doing a bunch of stuff and making noise. He got frustrated and started screaming at 'em, and he took his pistol and fired a couple of rounds up in the air. They ran off, but he got into all kinds of trouble. They made him look like a criminal, which he wasn't; he just flew off a little bit. And there's no telling what the guy had been through.
You're definitely not off base on your thought process, but I don't understand how that would make those songs be at odds. I think I understand what you're saying, but even though I support us going and taking care of business, that doesn't mean there's not some fallout, and there's not gonna be some negative side effects. One of the first things that comes to people's minds when they hear the word "war" is death. And there's gonna be some of it. There's gonna be lives lost on both sides. That's the harsh reality, and that's the part that makes it tough for presidents and generals to send these young kids into the fight. But that's why we have a military. You have to protect your boundaries, and you have to fight back when people come and kill innocent citizens on a beautiful day; they're just out enjoying what American people do, and all of the sudden we're getting bombed by terrorists on our own home front. You gotta go retaliate. I don't feel like I've compromised my feelings in either of those songs, and I stand by the message in both.
Songfacts: That was perfect, how you just explained that. Okay, onto something a little bit more happy maybe? Tell me the story of "The Best of Both Worlds."
Songfacts: Is that the one that sets her heart on fire? (laughing) I read that you said that that particular song is gonna be the one that all the ladies are gonna melt over.
Darryl: (laughing) I guess. We had it out, and it was doing pretty decent, and the female audience was definitely more into that song than anything I've ever released. Then it kind of bit the dust in the last couple of weeks.
Songfacts: It fell off the charts? Is that what you're saying?
Darryl: Yeah. So it's nothing to celebrate. That's the way the business is. They don't all go to the top.
Songfacts: I'm curious about something else… your album Here and Now, which you recorded under 903 Music, and the single off that, "Living in the Here and Now," was making its way up the charts, but then it all fell because 903 shut down.
Darryl: Yeah. What was funny about that song is it was selling the crap out of records. Everywhere they were playing that song on the radio, the record sales were just through the roof. I mean, everybody was calling me and going, "Wow, we sold out again today," and they were re-ordering, and we were all excited because usually, if the song is selling, you can use that story to get radio on board, and that was our plan. And then in the second or third week, the record label went belly-up. So I've had my share of things like that to deal with.
Songfacts: Regardless of what happens to the label, can't you just take it to somebody else and have them start making copies of it and keep selling it?
Darryl: (laughing… and laughing… and laughing…)

Songfacts: Um…I guess not.
Darryl: (still laughing) No. Because… (trying to catch his breath…) That's funny. (laughing) I can't even… there's like 5,000 copies of that album somewhere, and I can't even get 'em to sell 'em to me. Because it's all contract stuff. The record labels are holding onto what they think of as the only property that they've got when everything goes south. So no, you can't just take the product and make copies of it and sell it. I mean, I could, you know… (laughing) but I'd probably wind up getting in trouble. Because it's just the contractual things. They own the product. I looked on iTunes the other day, and you can't even buy that album, because they've got all the product locked down. Which is stupid to me, because they're not making any money by it sitting in a warehouse somewhere. Isn't that crazy?
You've got a promotion team out there in the field, all over the country, different representatives in different regions. And they're going to all the local radio stations all over the place, pushing and promoting that record. And just as soon as the word is out that the record label is belly-up, and nobody's getting a paycheck anymore, they stop doing their job, and as soon as they stop doing their job, the single disappears off the radio, and then it's just done. It's kinda cold.
Songfacts: Does it make you want to go independent?
Darryl: Well, I was kind of independent then. But yeah, does it make you wanna think about doing your own thing exclusively? Well, every move I've made since I've been in this business has been moving toward that. And this new deal that I'm in is more of that kind of thing than anything I've done, because it's more of a partnership. I love where I'm at, and it looks like if we can just get some small things squared away, we're gonna be rockin' with this new label. But if I do a deal after this, it's probably gonna be my own thing. Yeah, I've been thinking about going independent since Day One.
Songfacts: That must be so frustrating.
Darryl: It is.
Songfacts: Is "Sounds Like Life To Me" patterned after any personal experience?
Darryl: That whole story's just a true story, exactly how it happened.
Songfacts: So these people are real?
Darryl: Oh, yeah. And most of the songs that I've had success with are. If I have any gift, it's probably a knack for timing, and writing songs about real life and things that engage people. That's what radio expects from me, so when we give them that, we have success. But "Sounds Like Life" was written several years ago. It's been recorded by other artists. A lot of people have thought down through the years that it was a hit song. But I knew it was a hit song, and I knew it well enough I could bet the single release on it. And it proved to be a really big boost for my career. We had a major hit, and I couldn't be more happy with it.
Darryl: Who knows? I just think everybody in the world, especially at the time of that release – and now – could totally relate to that. I don't know how many people say, I would have probably just thrown in the towel if it hadn't been for that song. But I realized, hey, I'm not the only one going through this, and I gotta get my butt up and get back in the swing of things. Find a way to make this work.
Songfacts: Sounds like you've had to kind of slap yourself around a little bit.
Darryl: Still doing it, I guarantee you. That's real life, and that's where I come from. So maybe it'll keep on working. (laughs) 'Cause I'm gonna keep givin' 'em more of it.
Songfacts: I'm way curious about "Messed Up In Memphis."
Darryl: (laughing) Well, you've got the story. It's sort of a compilation of different evenings, days and nights spent in that town over there. There's a real cool vibe about Memphis if you know how to go and experience it, with Beale Street and the Blues and the bar-b-que. Marc Cohn had that song "Walking In Memphis." I always loved that. You could smell the bar-b-que taste of the smoke in the air, and you felt like you were there. And we were trying to recreate that atmosphere and give people who had never tasted that Memphis late-night vibe, give them a little flavor of what it is all about. So I took a bunch of my own personal experiences and some others that had been shared with me, and just let it into that crazy song. I love the groove.
Songfacts: What exactly did you mess up?
Darryl: Well, it's sort of a double entendre. He messed up by showing up late again. If you listen close to the lyric, he showed up late for a date, she was already gone. And it sounds like he'd been trying to coax this person to come and see him there. The guy's obviously not at home. He's sort of lost out there in Memphis. And so he proceeds to get a little more messed up in Memphis, messed up in a different way. And then he probably (laughs) takes that "messed up" to a whole 'nother level, before it's all said and done. So this guy's really messed up in Memphis.
Songfacts: Yeah, "love for hire," we all know what that is. (laughs) Got it. Now, about "What Makes A Man Do That?" What does make a man do that, Darryl?
Darryl: Well, it's because he's a dog. It's just what a man is. There's a biological factor in there that women don't take into effect when they start picking their mate. And the other part of that is that some women are affected by it, too. (laughs)
Songfacts: (laughing) Nuh-uh. We're perfect.

I think it was one of the most honest songs I've ever written. I still love that song, but I'm not that guy anymore. I think most people go through that phase in their life, and it's just a difficult time. A lot of the things that I did went against everything I'd ever been taught or believed in. It was that male/man thing, I guess, having to manifest itself and get on out of there. I'm in a much better place. I love my wife, and I would never do anything intentionally to hurt her, but there was a time when I didn't have the kind of control over that that I wish I could have had. It's just crazy. I mean, it's like fighting some kind of a wild beast inside of yourself. And I'm thankful to be old enough and seasoned enough to be past that.
Songfacts: Did this have anything to do with drinking?
Darryl: No, that's not the issue with me. I think with some people it's easier to act out what might be inside of you if you had a few drinks, just because they say it's truth serum - that's when you can let go and be yourself. But no, not in my situation. (laughs) I ain't never needed a drink to be a bad boy. That's not to say I won't have a drink, just those are two separate problems with me.
Songfacts: Now, here's a question that has nothing to do with the songs. Tell me about your experience with water moccasins.

Songfacts: I'll have to listen to this back so I can figure out how to spell that.(laughing) You also have quite a background in chemistry. How do you go from chemistry to music? Isn't that a left-brain/right-brain kind of thing?
Darryl: Oh, no, it's all chemistry. If it lives and moves and breathes and makes noise, it's all chemistry.
"No one is exempt from this disease," Worley says. "Although a cure has not yet been found, we must do what we can to treat cancer patients with the technology available to us." Learn more at darrylworleyfoundation.org
Songfacts: Are there any other songs that you particularly love that have a great story?
And she's not the only person that's ever expressed to me that connection with that song. It's very uplifting, and it was just written in a time in my life when I was really struggling and I needed my own second wind. We tried to write it honest, and it seemed like it worked for some people. So it makes our job feel like we've actually accomplished something other than trying to keep up with the rest of the guys that are racing up the charts.
There's another song that was on the very first album, called "The Way Things Are Going." I wrote it with Martin D. Sanders - he's like 5-time Songwriter of the Year or something like that. And I knew at the time that it would always be one of my favorite songs I'd ever written. I was coming out of the toughest time of my life, been through a lot of tragic things, unfortunately. But I'm proud of that, because I don't think I will encounter anything down the road that I won't be able to handle. And that's important when you've got a baby and you're trying to bring a child up in this world. If you want to hear a piece of a song that was inspired by those classic songwriters and singers like Merle Haggard, and is about as honest as anybody could ever be, you oughta go back and check that one out. I play it now to remind me of how bad things could get. I tell my wife I don't want to ever go back to that place, I don't ever want to be there and be that guy again. Because it was a really tough time. And I also think that sometimes when people hear that stuff, they might change their path a little bit. I did. I mean, Haggard saved me a lot of problems. I listened to that music, I thought, you know what? I don't need to go there. So who knows? It could be affecting someone's life in a positive way, and that's always good.
I don't measure my success by the number of awards that I have hanging on the wall. And I've got a few, but there's not all that many of them that mean a whole lot to me, because a lot of stuff like that comes out of politics, and I'm not into that. And then a lot of it comes from just being at the right place at the right time, and I don't believe in luck. I think our lives are blessed or they're not blessed. And you can sort of position yourself for more blessings if you care to. If not, you can go in and fight the hard one. I had a guy basically tell me the same thing about "Sounds Like Life To Me." He came up to me at the Dairy Queen in my hometown and said, "Man, I swore when I saw you again I was gonna kick your ass." And I said, "Dude, I just had neck surgery two days ago. But if you'll give me about a month to heal up, I'll meet you right back here and we'll get it on." And he said, "No, no, let me finish." He said, "I've had two nervous breakdowns. I was coming out of my second one when I heard that song. And I listened to it every day over and over again, every time they played it on the radio, I thought, Man, when I see him, I'm gonna kick his ass. But I promise you eventually, day after day, it started to mean something different to me. And you're the reason that I'm back out here doing what I do, and I didn't wind up in the mental hospital. I pulled it together and I sucked it up."
I knew there was probably something funny behind it, and he finished the story, I was very cool. But down where I come from, somebody might just walk up and punch you in the mouth, too. So you have to be looking out for it. (laughing) I'm always on guard.
A "beat-up" Darryl talked to us on April 8, 2010; a little cranky at first, which makes us wonder who - or what - had gotten the best of him.
See (much) more Darryl at darrylworley.com
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