NO-HEADLINE

Ricky Ross on Randy Newman's "My Life is Good"

I think I first heard the song on TV as a solo piano performance, though on the Trouble in Paradise album he does it with a band. It's so strange to hear a relatively impersonal songwriter like Randy Newman appearing to wash some of his dirty linen in public. I think that's what he's doing in "My Life is Good", though you can never be sure.

The main character in the song goes to school to see his son's teacher. The son has been acting up and the teacher tells his father he's a problem. The father, who is some kind of celebrity, then rambles on to the teacher, justifying his son's behaviour with his own social status - listen teacher, my life is good. He goes on about his top cocaine deals, the loveliness of his wife and how he's just back from Beverly Hills, where he claims he's been hanging out with Bruce Springsteen. In fact, Bruce had even complained to him about the pressures of superstardom: "Rand, I'm tired," he'd said. "How'd you like to be the boss for a while?" The song goes out on a big, Clarence Clemons-style sax solo.