Q 13

PLAYBOY: You have described the classic Randy Newman song as being "a real pretty song with nasty intent." Does that still apply?

Randy Newman: Sometimes I've written real pretty songs, you know. I've never thought of my songs as particularly nasty. I've always thought that the audience is better than the people in my songs. Almost everyone is, in fact.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: One theme that has pervaded your music, from Sail Away and Good Old Boys to Trouble in Paradise, is racism. Do you remember when you first became aware of it?

Randy Newman: I remember it very well. I was five or six, walking in New Orleans with my mother, and I saw a water fountain that said COLORED and one that said WHITE. I asked my mother what that meant. It was a shock. I didn't cry, but I couldn't understand it. I saw the same thing on an ice-cream truck that had two doors on the back. One said WHITE and one said COLORED. Such a strange idea did not jibe with ice cream.

That is why it is so surprising to me that some change has come about. It's still awful for blacks in this country. I don't think it will ever be the way it should be really, but the South has improved. You can see it. And that's something.

People in the North think they are so superior, while their cities are racist as ever. It hits me when I am touring. I go into a town and, invariably, you know who is going to live in the worst neighborhood. It's naive to think that it's going to get better, but in this country, it just shouldn't be. It hurts. You know, when you go to Germany and you look for the slums, you can't find them. It's getting a little worse there now, but nothing compared with here. As an American, that hurts. I'm always happy when I see some slums outside Paris. I can't help it. I still tend to think that everything should somehow be better here. Because Americans are the nicest people in the world. [Laughs]

Q 15

PLAYBOY: Are you the pessimistic and depressed artist your songs suggest?

Randy Newman: I don't like to write. I feel great when I get something going. I feel terrible when I don't have something going. But my subject matter is not all depressing, and I'm not depressed when I write about it. I'm happier than most people I see. I have every reason to be. I live in a nice place. I have a nice family. I don't have to work nine to five for a bad boss. I don't have a lot of the problems that regular people have. The big problem with what I do is that I can't guarantee I can do it. If you sell insurance, you sort of know how to sell insurance. But I don't know how I write songs. I can't go out and say, "I'll write you a song" and then just do it. But my life is pretty good, actually. And I never forget it. This is not as bad as working.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: How can you write songs about regular people if you don't live like one?

Randy Newman: Good question. Some people end up writing songs about being on the road and the taxman. But I watch it. I'm isolated. I don't have friends in this business, particularly. I see the rest of the world. I see it in neighbors and I read and I go to the laundry. I watch for it.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: What kinds of things do you worry about?

Randy Newman: My work. My kids. What kind of father I am. And that's it. I don't worry too much about getting bombed or nuked or the economy or Reagan. They sure do in Europe, man. I mean, they are really scared. I think he's crazy, but I found myself defending him over there. I couldn't believe it. I'd say, "Ah, don't worry, he's all right."

"What do you mean he's all right! He's going to blow everybody up! He wants to put nukes in my back yard!"

I said, "Naah. He'll be gone soon. Don't worry about it."

It's like I said: We believe our country is the best place in the world, and so we defend it even when it's ridiculous. For me, it's hard enough dealing with three kids who are different and a wife and people.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: What is your family like?

Randy Newman: I've got three kids. A 15-year-old, a 12-year-old and a five-year-old. And a wife I've been married to for 16 years. Mexican maids. Stableboys. Three butlers. No, really, just the five of us. The oldest kid is into punk music. He plays the drums, wears an earring, has all his hair cut off. Nice boy, though. He's probably the best-looking person who ever did that to himself. It's usually an excuse to be ugly, but he's real good-looking. So he plays drums and used to sing in a band that fell apart. It was called Smashed Infant. He's against the Army and the police. I asked him, "Why go after such an easy target?" And he hates hippies. How can you hate such nice, friendly people? He and the band did have some good songs. At least, they were genuinely angry. I always thought the name was a little too obvious. They changed their name to Armed Response. Now it's Civil Defense or something.

I had to punish him for something the other day. I had to tell him, "You can't get your hair cut." Honest. I couldn't believe it. That was punishment for him. He thinks Woodstock is a million laughs. I knew it would happen. It's a reaction. It just happened so fast. It seems to me that I was just 14 and I was in the Sixties and had long hair and purple curtains everywhere and dope. Like San Francisco still is. He thinks I'm all right, though, 'cause I say fuck occasionally in a song.

The middle kid does very well in school. He likes Men at Work. The youngest one will sit through a whole opera if I tell him the story.

Being a parent is a tough job. There is no training for it. I think we're doing a better job with this last one than we did the first time around. We believed in all that let-him-do-his-own-thing stuff and sent him to a free school and all, which was current at the time. But there has to be some sort of structure, I've discovered. It seemed like the right thing to do. We were really trying all the time. But love and good intentions aren't enough. You have to know what you're doing. We jerked him around all the time.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: What is it like for your family living with Randy Newman?

Randy Newman: It's all right. He's sort of a remote figure in his room, reading. I'm not bad, a little selfish. Like, I'll eat too much for dinner and want to read or lie down or something and they'll say, "Daddy, let's play chess." Now, playing chess with a five-year-old is an experience all its own. But I try to do it. So all in all, he's not a bad guy.

Q 20

PLAYBOY: What do you think when people call you one of the best living American songwriters?

Randy Newman: It's not going to buy me a cup of coffee anywhere. When I was a kid, boy, I wanted that. I thought it would be great if people who knew music would really think I was great. And I got that. And sometimes you get your dream and you ask, "What do I have now?" But I'm grateful. And they're probably right. I'm probably one of the best--but what do I know?