Beautiful Madness

Album: Sinematic (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • While Robbie Robertson was working on his Sinematic album, he was also composing the score for Martin Scorsese's crime epic The Irishman. "Beautiful Madness" touches on his time living with Martin Scorsese in the late 1970s. During that period, Robertson and Scorsese were bachelor coke fiends living in an unfurnished apartment with blacked-out windows.
  • The lyric references Nick Ray's 1956 film Bigger than Life, which is about a man whose life spins out of control after becoming addicted to cortisone. Uncut magazine asked Robertson whether James Mason's character in the film was someone he identified with back then. He agreed, saying: "It probably was me saying, 'I know how he feels!' In the 1960s and '70s there was a definite madness in the air. At the same time, Martin Scorsese and I would watch movies all the time. Bigger than Life was one of them. I thought, I like riding close to the edge. But I don't want to go over."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket

Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet SprocketSongwriter Interviews

The "All I Want" singer went through a long depression, playing some shows when he didn't want to be alive.

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up Musicians

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up MusiciansSong Writing

Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.