Postscript: Farewell to Lee Hazlewood

In 1966 Lee Hazlewood -- who died at 78 of kidney cancer at his Las Vegas home this Saturday -- instructed a teenage Nancy Sinatra to sing his composition "These Boots Are Made For Walking" like a "sixteen-year-old girl who fucks truck drivers." The result was the most successful work of Hazlewood's career, but was hardly alone among the man's many accomplishments. Hazlewood started his career in the early 1950s as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona. Shortly afterwards he became interested in producing records and hooked up with guitar legend Duane Eddy, with whom he crafted the 1958 hit "Rebel Rouser." In the mid-1960s he began producing Nancy Sinatra records, including her number-one hit "Somethin' Stupid." His commercial career waned in the 1970s, but by the 1990s he had become a cult hero. In recent years his songs have been covered by Primal Scream, Megadeath and Nick Cave. Recently, Sonic Youth reissued many of his early albums. In 2003 Hazlewood teamed up again with Nancy Sinatra again for the album Nancy & Lee 3, which they supported with a tour. His final album, Cake or Death, was released last December.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

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