My Morning Jacket’s Jim James on What You Can Learn From a Tortoise
“Music is like food. Nothing is sustainably raised, everything is ground out in horrible factories.”
What book did you like as a kid?
The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf. It’s from 1936, and it’s about a bull that doesn’t wanna fight in bullfights ’cause he’d rather sit and smell the flowers. It’s got such a beautiful way of telling you to follow your heart, even though there is constant pressure to do what other people think you should do. We’re scared to gamble, but I think most people should be bigger gamblers.
My Morning Jacket have a devoted following, but mainstream success has always eluded you.
We’ve never had a hit single or sold millions of records, but we’ve had enough success. So much of music is a product. People don’t realize what goes on behind the scenes. It’s like some big evil computer spitting all this shit out. Music is like food. Nothing is sustainably raised, everything is ground out in horrible factories. Why can’t record companies reference Dark Side of the Moon or the Beatles? We could grow organic music again that would feed people forever.
Bob Dylan invited you onstage when you toured together in 2013. What did you get out of the experience?
People think that he’s phoning it in sometimes. But to be that close to him and see how lost he was in the music was pretty fucking amazing. You could see him going to his place. He wasn’t in the room; he was some place millions of miles away. To me, that’s the idea of transcending, or the idea of what God might be.
You’ve fronted My Morning Jacket for almost 20 years. What have you learned about leading a band?
The biggest part, as cliché as it sounds, is just being honest and never carrying a debt with anybody. If someone makes you mad, tell them. Work it out. Don’t carry it around like a burden. The same with love. If someone makes you happy, let them know how awesome they are. You can never say “I love you” enough.
