Better Off Alone

Album: Terraplane (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Terraplane Blues was recorded whilst Earle was divorcing his seventh wife - singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. Earle was asked by Jam! Music if this song is about the breakdown of their marriage. He replied: "It's not that they (the new album and his divorce) don't have anything to do with each other, but it also is really not anybody else's business except for what's on the record when it comes right down to it."

    "I don't know whether she's heard it or will hear it," he continued. "I'm not going to listen to her record. I don't read reviews. So I'm probably not going to read what somebody who I lived with for 10 years wrote about me. Why do you need to confirm that because you figured out that song might have something to do with my marriage falling apart, that song in particular, it's so f---ing obvious, the answer's, 'Duh.' (laughs)"

    "This record, (the songs), some of them are exactly the truth," Earle added. "Some of them aren't. Some of them are completely and totally made up by me at this moment in my life. So yes, they have a connection to my divorce."

Comments: 1

  • Wild Bill from AlabamaHe's two up on me.. But I married again.. What a rogue ! let the good times roll..
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.