This Crazy Town Called Publication

One of my favorite country songs (for now) is Crazy Town by Jason Aldean. I love this song for two reasons.

1. Because it's awesome.

2. Because it reminds me of the journey that writers go on to become published. Let me show you what I mean. (Italicized bits are the actual lyrics of the song. I do not own these lyrics in any way, shape or form.)

Roll into town - step off the bus.
Shake off that where you came from dust.
Grab your guitar - walk down the street.
Signs say Nashville, Tennessee.
But I have found...

[Chorus]
It's a crazy town - full of neon dreams.
Everybody plays - everybody sings.
Hollywood with a touch of twang - to be a star you gotta bang-bang-bang.
Bend those strings till the Hank comes out.
Make all the drunk girls scream and shout.
We love it - we hate it - we're all just trying to make it.
In this crazy town.

You pay your dues - and you play for free.
And you pray for a honkytonk destiny.
You cut your teeth in the smoky bars.
And live off the tips from a pickle jar.
Til you find a cool new sound.
And you smile when the record man shoots you down...

This entire verse is the one that resonates most strongly with me. All of you pre-published out there, me included, we're all writing for free. Those last two bolded lines are the ones I love the most. We're all looking for that one novel that's just right to break us out of the pack. We all smile when the agents/editors say no and shoot us down.

[Chorus]
It's a crazy town - full of neon dreams.
Everybody plays - everybody sings.
Hollywood with a touch of twang - to be a star you gotta bang-bang-bang.
Bend those strings till the Hank comes out.
Make all the drunk girls scream and shout.
We love it - we hate it - we're all just trying to make it.
In this crazy town.

One year they repossess your truck.
And the next you make a couple million bucks.

[Chorus]
It's a crazy town - full of neon dreams.
Everybody plays - everybody sings.
Hollywood with a touch of twang - to be a star you gotta bang-bang-bang.
Bend those strings till the Hank comes out.
Make all the drunk girls scream and shout.
We love it - we hate it - we're all just trying to make it.
In this crazy town.

It's a crazy world, the world of publication. We're all like the person in the song, walking into town and playing for free. Everyone here can write, we're just hoping that someday we'll find that one song (or book) that puts us on the map. We all love it and we all hate it. But we all strive to make it.

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