Joshua Homme

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. This episode is also available as video on YouTube. You can visit Nora Jones channel and be sure to subscribe while you're there. Hey, I'm Nora Jones and today I'm playing along with Joshua Hami. I'm just playing along with you. I'm just playing along with you. Hey there, I'm Nora Jones and with me always, every day in my heart is Sarah Oda. Ooh, we want an intro. I'll take it. OK. Today's episode is amazing. We had the founder and frontman of arguably one of the greatest rock bands of the past nearly three decades, Queens of the Stone Age. We have singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, Joshua Hami. Yay. Oh, this episode was so much fun. Of course, he's also known for kaios, eagles of death metal and them crooked vultures. His latest project, Alive in the Catacombs was recorded and filmed in the Paris Catacombs in 2024, released in 25. Reimagining Queens of the Stone Age songs in a very stripped down way, which is such an insanely cool idea. Oh, with skeletons all around. Yeah, you're going to hear more about that. You're going to hear about his touring. You're going to hear about songwriting and as always, paired back performances from across Joshua's catalog, including one truly classic cover. The funnest part is that he was up for this in a way that I found really fun. He's like, I don't even care if we do any of my songs. Let's just do it. And he started throwing out the first song he threw out to do was a cover song. And I love that that spirit. But of course, we do do some of my favorite songs of his. So it was a fun. He was like up for anything. He's a perfect, yeah, perfect guest, because he it was like a play date, like an actual play date. We just had a we had a great time. I hope you enjoy. Stay tuned. There is some spicy language in this episode. So listen, her discretion is advised. It's not that bad, but just so you know, it's there. You want to try this? Yeah, let's try it. OK, ready? Yeah. One, two, three. You want to know if I know why I can't say that I do. I don't understand. We you like. Oh, how one becomes two. And I just can't recall what started. Oh, how to begin the. Well, I ain't here to break. Just see how far. Again, again, again, again. I want to make it. I want to make it with you. Anytime anywhere. I'll say, baby. I want to make it. I want to make it with you. Sometimes the same is different, but mostly it's the same. These mysteries of life. That just ain't my thing. I told you that I knew about the sun and the moon. I'd be untrue. The only thing I know for sure. What I won't do. Any time. Well, I said, baby. I want to make it. I want to make it with you. Any time. Well, I said, baby. I want to make it. I want to make it with you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna make it But it's time to go I wanna make it with you I wanna make it I wanna make it with you I wanna make it with you I wanna make it I wanna make it with you Any time, anywhere And I'll say, baby I wanna make it I wanna make it with you I wanna make it I wanna make it with you I wanna make it with you I wanna make it I wanna make it with you I wanna make it with you Yeah I wanna make it I wanna make it with you We're gonna only A Oh my god, that's fun. It is fun actually that all my nerves are gone. Oh good. That's just a fun jam. It's just yeah That's a good one. You know, it's funny. That's one of the first times that I was ever able to just outright say that I love someone even though it doesn't say that in there It seems so hard to say I love somebody but it's so easy to say I was upset or sad or something else, you know I don't know why I think it's some punk rock boy beginning Probably You know, but it feels good to be able to say that now It's good that you got there It took a while I get it though. I mean the sentiment of the song is definitely received, you know Yeah Yeah, it's good It's a great one. Super fun Are we wearing sunglasses or are those reading glasses? Oh, these are reading Okay, cool Should I get my shades out? Those are cool I just started wearing readers. I need like cool sunglasses for readers I realized that for years I was like, oh, I'm just tired Yeah, I know For years Really? Years, you know, and then I someone I said, wow, I really can't see it I borrowed someone's readers and said, you know, such a revelation You woke up I saw this little baby online They put these like little headband glasses on and they'll look on this baby's face Oh, yeah, I've seen those videos Yeah, oh my god, so good Like seeing the world for the first time I know Is that how you felt? Well, certainly with a menu Seeing a menu for the first time I've really, I've never seen a menu I know, it's usually too dark Yeah They keep it too dark Oh, I'm supposed to play piano for them, I forgot It must be nice to play, to play like, be able to play like that Like that? Yeah Oh Like do you, every time I watch piano I'm always like, oh, that must be so nice Yeah Is it fun to just, like, how do you feel about your playing? I feel like sometimes I really am happy with it And sometimes I forget how to play Right You know Yeah But I feel good, I feel like I've gotten so much better in the last 10 years Yeah And I'm excited by that Yeah And it's like I forgot that I have all this to play with Room, yeah Yeah, because I used to be a little more contained What time, what time, what time is it when you started? 10 o'clock? What time are you when you started? I was 7, I was 7 o'clock 7 time? Yeah I was 7 o'clock when I started my lesson I was 7 o'clock Then did you want to do it or did it feel, yeah I wanted to do it and I begged for lessons and my mom got an upright piano and gave me lessons and I promptly wanted to quit Right Because I didn't want to practice Right And she said, just take for 5 years and then you can quit And on the dot, 5 years later I quit for about a year When you're 7, 5 years you have no concept of that You're like, what is that, like tonight at 11? Exactly You started at 7 Yeah So you grew up playing guitar just casually, polka style? No, I just, I think, and maybe I'm being mean to my teacher but Tom Polanski, I love you, wherever you are I felt like he wanted to keep a student maybe or something And polka just didn't seem like my thing He was really a polka teacher? Mm-hmm Polka guitar? Yeah Are you serious? Yeah, I didn't know they had that but they're doing it out there somewhere, there's a sub scene Apparently Oh, there's a scene, you know, that, you know It's kind of like country and western picking It really is the same thing, it's all offshoots of coming out of Germany and Ireland and, you know, it's folk music done with umpa, you know, on the anda But I just didn't, it didn't resonate too much with me so I just started playing on my own and I stopped the lessons and that was the last lesson I took Wow You know How long did you take? I was about 18 months Oh, okay From the age of 9 to almost 11 The year you saw George Carlin, you started playing polka guitar Yeah And listening to punk rock music That's pretty cool And I was like, but that realization that it was only three chords away, I didn't know bar chords for the first year Yeah It was just umpa, umpa, you know That's all you need It was the three blind mice Yeah The punk rock anyway Three blind mice, three blind mice Three blind mice It's funny when they translate the beginner songs for little kids to older kids who were starting Right Do you know what I mean? Like my kids started taking lessons and they were learning from this book and learning these old timey 1800s nursery rhymes Oh, I love that stuff though I do too, but they were not interested They're all terrifying like um, you know, row your boat Yeah And it'd be really eerie Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream And I'm always like Is there a second verse? I'm sure there is Where you go with the waterfall? Yeah, I'm sure it is And it's like life is but a dream Life is but a dream It's like sung in the right way It's terrifying It is terrifying But I love that sort of, I love that gently scary vibe of things Yeah You know I can tell Yeah I was drawn to that song of yours, this lullaby, because I just wanted to sing harmonies all over it Yeah, oh yeah Well, we can do that Well, we've led into it You want to do a lullaby? Yeah, let's do a lullaby Quick lullaby, it's easy Wait a second, is the piano good or should we? Yeah Was it the pens? No Depends It was the pens It's your depends I have a funny depends story, I'll tell you later No, now I gotta hear it No It doesn't have to make the final cut, but now I need to hear it It's kind of gross That's okay, I'm here for it And we're cutting this When I was We're cutting this We're cutting this When I was pregnant for the first time, I thought maybe for some reason I would need like extra pads after the baby Yeah And so I bought some depends Right But I accidentally ordered like five cases Wow Depends That's a lot Yeah Well, I guess you're stocked up Well, I don't still have them, I donated them finally because I was like, I don't use these You could be like a doomsday prepper I didn't use them at all I'm like a pee in your pants prepper We got food for six months Water And depends Yeah Because when the end comes, you might shit yourself Yeah, I mean, I had already donated them by the time the pandemic came along, so Dependemic Dependent Dependent Oh god This is fun I love that in the pandemic, you're like somebody else is going to need these right now It's a very uncomfortable time Yeah Okay, shall I? Shall we? Shall us? Woo Woo No pressure We're all counting on you No Where, where have you been, my love? Where, where can you be? Oh yeah It's been so long since the moon has gone Oh, what a wreck you've made me Are you there, over the oceans? Are you there, up in the sky? Until the return of my love, this love of mine My hope is on the rise On every face, it's your eyes I can see I plead and pray in each night And they are embraced, it's only a dream Let me show the states come from moments Each hour becomes a last time Once you're left, I'd only become the slower by Oh Oh Oh Yeah Oh Oh Yeah Oh Oh That's so fun It's a very sweet, I love that harmony It's so sweet, I forgot to come in on it I was having so much fun Oh, that's good Oh, good Yeah, actually I don't even mind little mistakes, I love them Yeah, this is a casual mistake friendly zone Then I'm totally good, because I think Sweet, well have we done? Yeah, but I don't want to go I'm just kidding But I think, I don't know, I also grew up watching like Carol Burnett show and Dean Martin show And those variety shows like that And my favorite part is when somebody broke Oh, yeah You know, in fact I read, when I was reading Dean Martin's book, I read that he, in his contract He said that he would not come to rehearsals He would just come to the taping So everyone else all week is rehearsing And then he would show up and just sort of be like Yeah Babe, it's gonna be alright He would nail it And he would nail it or not and then completely call out the mistake And I just think there's something, I guess it's cute I think it's human Yeah There's not a lot of that anymore in some places Yeah, well I think Of his life Well, I definitely think music Yeah, I was gonna say that, but then I got shy for some reason No, I think it's okay to say that, because I think there's a lot of correcting Yeah, I mean now that you can, it's just so easy to make everything perfect and it doesn't sound human anymore It's, yeah, because perfect is what people aren't And so it's almost setting a bar where no one could ever actually go And I always end up trying to play my mistakes again That's very jazz of you Definitely It's my jazziest part In Queens there's a lot of mistakes or tuning issues or things on a record because It really does end up being the thing that you try to replicate Yeah It's more fun And I think people are quick to go, there's a mistake there, you've got this, you know Because you can without really thinking about it To correct it Yeah There's a moment in a song, Honky Tonk, Woman by the Stones Oh yeah And there's a moment where the guitar goes, bo bo bo bo And it's so out of tune And I'm always pining, I'm waiting like, oh, okay, back up, here it comes Yeah, I mean all those Dylan records had weird, weird Everyone's out from each other, like timing-wise Yeah We're listening to Roland Stone this morning, like a Roland Stone Me and my boy were driving to school and it's so out from each other, they're so out from each other Yeah But it's just cool It's the best, you can just feel it almost, you know Yeah Yeah, I think people just respond to it when it sounds human Yeah You lose that when you perfect things sometimes I think everything gets really linear Yeah Everyone goes left at the same time, everyone goes right at the same time And I just Well, and maybe I'm just making excuses because I know I'm going to blow it at some point No, I think I don't mean today, I just mean all the time I think you're, no, I think you're spot on Yeah And I think, you know, that's the music I love, that's the music you love Yeah I think most people do I like it all over the place Yeah, me too I like a little slop That's what she said Sorry, we were doing jokes earlier No, let's still do them Okay, that's what she said So when you guys go into record as a band, do you like to do things pretty together and live? Oh, yeah Yeah Yeah I mean, if something's brand spanking new, you know, I think when you make your early records, you can tell me if you're the same If you're playing with people, your early records, you have those songs and you're ready to go Oh, yeah And then as the years have gone on, the fun of being in the studio, I'm not trying to rush as much Before I would be so proud, I would say, you know, recorded and mixed in 19 days, you know Oh, okay And I'd put it on the records, like look how fast we can move Like it was a sign of you're awesome Well, and also it was like, we're not second guessing because when you second guess, you guess for two times Yeah, it's more I'd rather guess once Yeah, it's more like a badge of authenticity For sure, you know, because I think you feel the same way as that, you know, you want music to be real And that's some kind of badge Yeah Like a badge, like this is real, see, look, we didn't overdo it That was the demo Well, and I, but I think as the years go on too, it's just fun to be in the studio It is, it's actually too fun Yeah, I mean, you're making the actualizing the sounds you hear in your head, that's the best part You know, I like touring, but it's not nothing close to being in the studio and making stuff like how it should be, how it's meant to be Yeah Do you like to record songs when they're brand new? So you capture that first sort of spirit of it or impression of it? Or do you like to rehearse and think and like, I mean, some, I guess every song is different, some songs are better that way for me Yeah And then some, if I have to think about them, they're very hard Well, I, it feels best when they just come and they have those mistakes and they have the rawness I just need it to be raw too. I don't want it to be sonically polished either And then there's other things that it's like going to Jo-Ann's or Michael's and you're just crafting I did not think we'd be bringing Jo-Ann's into this Oh, I love Jo-Ann's and Michael's Didn't Jo-Ann's close? Yeah, I don't like to talk about that Okay Jo-Ann I just passed to Michael's She's gone She's gone, bitch, you're done But, yeah, so there are some stuff, I think when we're doing stuff now, sometimes we track it as a trio So the other guys can really let the stone sink to the bottom and hear what's happening And it's hard, we have, we're five, it's hard to track with five people that don't know what's going on No, you're right about that Because you're actually accidentally stepping on each other all the time, which is natural We have a rule in Queens that whoever brings the song, that you sort of talk about the personality of it What's its intent, what does it look like, what does it wear, how does it behave You explain that? Yeah, and talk through the imagery, sort of That's cool Because it's fun to not only have this to humanize the song, but to say where it lives and what it does, you know What's a drink for breakfast? Yeah, yeah, tequila Should we do colopsia? Yeah, I wrote this for my daughter, colopsia Yeah, I was going to ask about that title, I had to Google it because I'm not very smart with Greek Is that what it is? Is that not what it is? Well, okay, so Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys and I have this long running habit We just text each other a word Oh, that's fun You know, and because there's so many great, chubby, juicy, colorful words out there That's true You know, words that I try never to use the word it if I can In a song? Yeah Yeah And anyways, he texted me, I texted him a word which I can't remember because it wasn't as good as the word he texted me, which was colopsia Which is the condition where everything appears more beautiful than it really is That's what it is Yeah It's not Greek? It very well could be, I mean, aren't they all in the end? Yeah, I guess so That's such a beautiful sentiment Yeah, and you know, I think when you have little ones, everything is new and so they're experiencing all the joys and all the sort of social difficulties, you know Yeah Where they're, you know, when you walk in a room and there's someone really short in your house and they're hanging their head, but you really can't fix their problems You just can sit with them until they feel better So I think, you know, once I'd cracked the seal on playing love songs, you know, I was like, wow, you can point this notion of love in every direction you've got it, you know After I had kids, I had the same realization Yeah Yeah, it opens up a whole new wing of songwriting It's pretty special because it goes in a different direction Yeah And then the listener doesn't have to realize it Yeah, I mean, traditionally, I don't bother saying those things because their purpose is already done I know what it is And I think sometimes you might rob somebody of what it is for them Yeah And I think that's a shame to pop bubbles I agree, I don't like explaining songs Yeah Or saying what they're about Yeah So I guess I just blew it Take two, cut I don't think you actually explained it, you just kind of said where it came from You said it's possible You said enough But also, there's something very much of a lullaby about this somehow For sure It is a lullaby Yeah Huh Camille will be very happy Ready? Nice Sounds beautiful Wave bye bye Oh, why are you so sad? What have they done? Forget those mother's bubbles They're all playing God Copy cuts and chasers are playing a tape Why can't it box a madness? Consumers parade Yeah Is it wonderful? Yeah Calypso Oh Oh Calypso Yeah, Calypso Far, far from shore The land of nightmares Gone forevermore And I love you more That I can't control I don't even try Why would I? Oh, why the long face Got it all wrong Forget the ride in the race With church and them all Fates, favors the ones Who help themselves The race, the stain of the loss As they rode the boat to hell Here we go My daughter was going to love that, actually Yeah Oh, good Yeah I love the version you did from the live from the catacombs Yeah, yeah Can you explain what the catacombs in Paris are to anyone who doesn't know? The catacombs were a mine that is about 220 kilometers worth of mine shafts underneath the city of Paris as is the case with all these big cities, there's tunnels everywhere And in the late 1700s, the cemeteries were overflowing in Paris and it was becoming a real problem And in the night, they emptied the graves from these mass cemeteries and wheelbarrowed through the streets of Paris That is insane To these cisterns were there to, you know, formally take debris ventilate the mine shafts and pass water up and down and dumped the bodies of thousands and thousands until it became millions of people That's so crazy And at the bottom of these dump sites which sounds like a terrible phrase actually, but Dump sites make it more romantic Yeah, at the bottom of these dump sites these men and women lovingly, respectfully, artistically created a mosaic with millions of bones They did it with everyone? With all the bodies? Or just some? Well, they ran out of steam at some point So there are locations in the catacombs that are simply piles of bones But that has its own sort of... When you experience any part of this you're immediately faced with thoughts and questions you never had ever or that maybe you swept under the rug about this life and the length of it and the depth of it And there's this beautiful mosaic of human beings And you know, when you're in a studio the surfaces are all different surfaces in order to sort of like capture the sound and not let it overly reflect too much And that organic process is happening in the catacombs That's wild It's a very porous nature of bones But you know, when you palms someone's skull and there's the village idiot and great thinkers in the catacombs John Paul Sotras in there, amongst others, right? So no one was spared Everyone was given the same beautiful treatment It's so beautiful and crazy Yeah, it's crazy. We're the first person to play there legally Oh yeah, there's been underground raves There was one cool story actually That's always fascinated me that there are sort of like vaulted areas that open up and get larger, that's the case in any mind, like a central meeting point where it gets bigger And there was a movie screen, a projector and a dinner table for 20 that was completely set with a very small spin-at piano in there And the city worker that discovered it turned around and ran back to get authorities which seems like a real tattletale thing to me personally where it's like, oh thanks a lot, Travis or whoever it was I'm sure his name wasn't Travis Yeah, it was like Pierre, Pierre Pressure, the great French persuasionist Pierre Pressure But he went to get authorities and came back the next morning and it was all gone and there was a note on the floor that said, do not try to find us And I just love, that's again back to this sort of romantic, scary, exclusive little club I mean, Alediasm sucks when I'm not included But this, I can imagine wanting to be desperately part of this movie night Yes In the bowels of the catacombs What movie do you think was shown? Jesus, what do you think it would be? Soilet Green Psycho? Psycho Or maybe it's Amelie or something beautiful Amelie, that would be very whimsical Maybe it's Breakfast at Tiffany's Did they project it onto the bones? Or was there a projector? There was a screen in there There was a screen It was all ready to go It was all ready Yeah And there's cataphiles who roam and there's people that go in there just to make movies Oh yeah That are like, I'm lost But that aren't, it isn't true, it's all a ruse, you know How deep, I mean it must be huge, can you get lost in it? Certainly Yeah, okay And a lot of the, from what I'm told, a lot of the entrances you see that are just simply a manhole Or just a grate over here with a stairwell Unbeknownst to you, they lead straight into the catacombs In Paris Yeah, because if you think about 220 kilometers of, you know, Paris is a large city But you are talking about the entire old city Much larger than that span of that city This is wild Yeah, it's really cool actually How did you think that you wanted to do that? Have you visited it a lot? I never, I saw pictures of it when I was just a boy And just couldn't believe you could do that with death and art could mix And you know, when you're little you don't understand that you won't live forever, you know So I thought, oh my goodness, what does that mean? And no one talks to you about that stuff, or certainly not to me I know And so on tour about 18, 19 years ago, I tried to go and just see it The line was about three hours long Oh, so you couldn't get in And I did this really musician spoiled thing I was like, if we play there, can I cut the line? And but that Back then? Yeah, and it was, you know, and the first answer we got was no Of course And I just made a habit of asking whenever we're going to do a European tour Let's ask again So you've been asking for 18 years? Yeah, yeah, I have That's incredible Well, it doesn't, it didn't take much to ask I'd talk to people at times and not talk to people at times And heard absolutely not, you know, many times That was Irish Yeah, absolutely not Somehow I was asking the wrong person You were in the wrong country Yeah, but I just, I think at times as a joke almost I said, we're coming back Go again And I've had many wild and fantastical events occur for me and my bandmates in Paris And so the time was right and we got our chance, you know And so I think the reason for the version of that song done that way is the simplest, you know, I'm always looking for a green light, you know, to know to progress forward and obviously a red light means turn your direction But the first green light was everything is stripped to bare bones and that's what we should do too Yeah You know It's beautiful and everybody sounds so great Yeah, everyone did a really, really good job, you know It's beautiful and I love listening to the whole thing Yeah, thank you, I'm really happy how it turned out, you know Yeah, and I heard that you were not well during it as well Yeah, but that made it better because I mean what are the chances that after 18 years when the yes finally came that I would be when I walked down to the next level When I walked down in there and facing all these other lives that mine would be that would be hard to be in mine, you know And I just think it made it better because, well, you don't get a chance to show who you really are all the time That's true You know, and when those moments come up, you know, it feels nice because someone told me anxiety is worrying about the future and depression is worrying about the past Hmm And you're just looking, you only live one moment and can add an infinitum, you know, you're only in one, we're only here The rest of this is all dress rehearsal for now Yeah And I really felt the most present that I'd ever felt playing ever So I think of it as like a complete blessing, you know Yeah I gotta go Okay No, I'm just kidding I gotta go And I'm leaving And I'm leaving I'm enjoying myself Good Yeah I am too Yeah, it's fun to do this, right? It's so much fun I watched like 10 of these today Oh, dear Yeah So you know I'm a goober I just think it looks like you're really enjoying yourself, I see why you do this, it's really... It's actually what we're supposed to be doing Kind of is, you should guest host sometime Yeah You get to pick whoever you want Hello, you know, this... Yeah, exactly Well, I also love strange chemistry I think it's very easy for people to say, like, oh, that caught me off guard, it doesn't make sense Yeah Or like a pairing of two people that you wouldn't put together Yeah Yeah But like us, but really it makes total sense This always makes sense to me Yeah Yeah I think the stranger it gets, the more beautiful it gets Yeah, I agree You know, I mean, it's almost like... If you can get someone out of their element Yeah On this tour we're doing, it's... I'm terrified, like I haven't been for 25 years and... Because of Strip Back? Yeah It's so... If you're going to do something uncomfortable and empty to a crowd You have to be empty and uncomfortable yourself Okay And you have to let the silence hang on Just realizing that silence is the loudest quiet we'll ever get That's just... Is that the song idea? That's great No, it's just the understanding of, like, you know And... But we're also playing really deep cuts That we don't play only because they're fucking hard They're actually hard So it's hard, it's a hard show And that's like the end of the show is... The end of the show is deep cuts And so I have no guitar on and I'm... And then I put my guitar on and I'm like, oh my god It's hard Like, do you have... Do you certainly have songs that are just hard? Yeah, I usually don't play them for that reason Because you're like, oh my god, damn, damn Oh my god, I have to practice? Yeah, and I have to practice, practice, practice Yeah I mean, my songs are mostly pretty simple There's a few tricky ones Yeah, I mean, I have things where you're playing guitar lead That's syncopated to what you're singing Oh, that's hard That's a coordination issue Yeah It's like... Yeah, step yourself in the eye And... But I always think it would look so cool if you were in the front row And you saw somebody and they were playing this guitar lead That had nothing to do with the vocal and singing at the same time And they were just doing it And there's a lot of like... Like, at home, just tapping my foot really slowly So that you can do it, yeah You know, where you're just... And going, oh, the next word's on the end You know... Let's hear it Oh, no And it's just... Yeah I want to do a good job I think that's great, that means you're in it You know, you're still in it Yeah, I mean, there's no reason to ever stop pushing hard I just don't understand why I do this I mean, I understand that and you understand that But I don't feel like everybody does that I know, I know But there's room for everybody There's, you know, on the one hand I used to sort of thumb my nose to people that didn't write their own music And then I was like, wait a minute Some of my favorite people didn't write their music Elvis didn't write his music It's like Connie Francis, you know You know, they're singing other people's songs But they... And so I let that go Because that's just a ridiculous notion And there's some people that play because they want to be famous And I understand that That's not what I'm trying to do But there's room for everybody, I don't care I just want to be famous enough to get into the catacombs to do a gig I just want to... I want everyone that could like our music To have a chance to hear it Isn't that the best? You know, and I think something like the catacombs Is just a way to recharge your battery I want to be... I want to reserve the right to be surprised by life And those things, you know It's fun to play festivals, but if you just did that It wouldn't be enough, it's not enough It's funny, I love playing festivals Because that energy is something my normal shows Doesn't... It's more reserved, you know Well, and I like the idea of being thrown up there like everyone else And can you do it or not? So I like that too, but any one thing is not enough I agree with that I need... I have musical schizophrenia You're doing this because you have it too You wouldn't be doing this I need to be where I'm not allowed to go Tell me I'm not supposed to be there So I can go there, you know So... Yeah, but some stuff is hard Yeah It's fine, you know But it's more fun that way For sure It's like... You know, yeah, you could lose... It's like, what are you teaching your kids, right? If it's hard, don't do it? No, that's not what you're teaching them No, not at all, yeah My grandpa was always like, life is hard because it's worth it That's sweet And I think that that's probably good enough to go Yeah, I love that What have you ever sang Frank Sinatra before? I've sung a lot of Dean Martin I haven't sung this Oh, no, I did this once You did? I did this once before With who? I don't want to say Who is she? They're totally unimportant I swear, my God, she meant nothing to me Yeah, but I love your voice It's so creamy It's like just like a glass of buttermilk and then go Hrrrrrr And yeah, this version that I sent you was the version that's Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra I didn't know that was Nancy and Frank I actually didn't know it in a deep way I knew the song very well, but I didn't ever think about it Well, many people have done it, right? Many people have done it, but I didn't think about it being a father and a daughter Yeah, it's sort of like, hey, don't Getting cheeky with each other Well, it's like lyrically Clearly, they're just want to spend time together and sing together, you know? Yeah, which is sweet Yeah, which is really sweet I mean, you know, you can only dream that you would sing with your kids one day or play with music with your kids one day Totally You played with your old man? Not really, once in a room and it was really hilarious Really? Yeah Why? What was it? Because I had already broke out and I had already had two albums, maybe three I think I was going through a breakup and I went to spend time with them and I brought like a little travel guitar which was really crappy and so I sat with him and he was teaching me like a pupil you know, he was a really prolific teacher Right And that music is serious, they take it very seriously Sure And so it was just kind of funny because I was not like trying to be serious Yeah, you were just trying to do it by yourself I just wanted to jam with my dad I just wanted to jam with my dad I just wanted to jam with my dad No, he was super nice It wasn't like he was not into it It was just, it was kind of a disconnect of the intention Yeah Because he was very seriously trying to teach me something I mean, but that's life, isn't it though? It's like it's so hard to understand someone else or to be understood Yeah, and I think I wasn't ready to receive it in the way that he needed to teach it Yeah, it's not a teaching moment I was more just like, I just wanted to play I'm going team Nora, I'm sorry But it was a sweet thing that we tried It was too bad it never really, really happened Yeah But I play with my sister sometimes my half sister who learned from him So she was teaching you too? No, no, she can just jam with me It's really special I think that's the nature of jamming is the much like the spread on toast is just supposed to get all over the place Yeah, exactly Exactly Again, in the imperfection zone I'm really setting myself up to make any mistakes I want It's going to be great, I love it I love that you picked this song and I love that this is the first song you picked because usually you have to coax people to pick a cover Oh, I was like, when you were like, we could play some years I thought my first reaction was, oh Yeah, you said no Yeah, I was like But, you know, it's like a choose your own adventure Yeah It can be whatever we want Okay, if I ever come back here We'll do anything you want Okay Nothing but coves I'll pick two and you pick two That's great, we'll go Okay Yeah, like unnecessary competition even though it's not We'll put them in a box like two, like four turtles Mine are better Four turtles racing All right, well, all right, I'll see you out there Okay, I'll see you there One, two, three I know I stand in line until you think you have the time to spend an evening with me And if we go someplace to dance, I know that there's a chance you won't be leaving with me Oh, yeah Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place and have a drink or two And then we'll order it out And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like I love you I can see in your eyes that you despise the same old lies you had the night before And though it's just a lie to you, I mean it's true and never felt so right before Yeah, it felt just good I practice every day to find some clever lines to say to make the meaning come true Then I think I'll wait until the evening gets late and I'm alone with you The time is right, your perfume fills my head, the stars get red and all the night's so blue And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like I love you Oh The time is right, your perfume fills my head, the stars get red and all the night's so blue Then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like I love you I love you I love you I love you Ah! Oh, that was a lot That was so fun That was so much fun. That one I could just sing over and over and over Me too! You're the best. Thank you Thank you so much for having me This was a blast Aw, thanks for listening. That was so fun That was awesome He's a real personality He's hilarious. He needs to guest host one of our episodes Yeah, I think he should I think we should This was his audition in the past I feel like there's many guests we've had that should be a guest host Oh, we should do that. That'd be fun Yeah, I think it'd be fun And, you know, give us a little break Yes Maybe they can do all the editing and post-production as well Oh, great, yeah Let's go on a vacation. Where are we going to go? Yeah, the first song we did was Make It With You from Queens of the Stone Age from the album Aravulgaris 2007 that was released The second song we played was called This Lullaby from Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf released in 2002 The third song we played was Collapsia from Queens of the Stone Age Like Clockwork released in 2013 It's also on the Alive in the Catacombs live recording which is a pretty special version to check it out Fourth song we did was Something Stupid originally recorded by the great Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra Written by Carson Parks from the album The World We Knew which was a Frank Sinatra album in 1967 that was released Special thanks to Joshua Hami for joining us today Next week we'll be back with Lucius Woo! Nora Jones' Playing Along is a production of iHeart Podcasts Visit Nora Jones' channel and be sure to subscribe while you're there I'm your host, Nora Jones This episode was recorded at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, California by Thomas Moran Assistant engineer was Danforth Webster Backline tech Jason Moser Gaffer Mickey Iniguchi Mixed by Jamie Landry Audio post-production and mastering by Greg Tobler Additional recording by Matt Maranelli Creative consulting by First3 Artwork by Eliza Fry Photography by Shervin Lenez Produced by Nora Jones and Sarah Oda Executive producers Aaron Wong-Coffman and Jordan Runtog Marketing lead Queen Anakie Have a great one! This is an iHeart Podcast Guaranteed human