Singer-songwriter Michael Stipe has known Elton John for over 35 years. During that time, he never gave Stipe’s personal phone number to anyone, especially musicians. Then he decided to break the rules. “He gave Andrew Watt my phone number. He texted me and said, ‘I have an idea,'” Stipe recalled.
The idea was for the opening title song of the HBO drama “Rooster,” in which Steve Carell plays a college writer-in-training who relapses into the restlessness of his college days. The series, created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, required approximately 30 to 45 seconds of music to play between episodes. Watt and Stipe wrote the entire song anyway. Thus the theme “I Played the Fool” was born.
The two have won eight Grammy Awards so far. Stipe has won three Grammys as the frontman of the band REM, while Watt has won five Grammys for his collaborations with Ozzy Osbourne, the Rolling Stones and, most recently, Lady Gaga on “Mayhem.” “That’s what we know how to do,” Watt told Variety. “We could have said, ‘Okay, we need 30 seconds, let’s do it with that,’ but we didn’t. We wrote a song that had a beginning, a middle, an end, and an arc. It was incredible to watch Michael weave that together.”
Michael Stipe Lunchbox Foundation Benefit Dinner Presented by Prada, New York, USA – October 15, 2018
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The proposal was both a leap and an honor for Stipe, who had carefully considered how he would re-enter the world of recorded music since REM disbanded in 2011. He had never continued as a solo artist, and writing the voices of characters for other people’s shows meant accepting notes from collaborators. “I almost jumped off a cliff,” Stipe said. “Andrew and I barely knew each other, and I felt like this was something I’d never done before, as a solo artist, of course. And writing songs in other people’s voices and taking notes from people like Steve Carell, Andrew Watt, Bill Lawrence was a real challenge for me. And I took notes.”
It was the chorus that unlocked this song. “The moment I realized, ‘Oh, I played the fool,’ that opened me up,” Stipe says, singing the line briefly a cappella. “If you think about it, what’s going on in this guy’s head? How can we get inside that, and how can we express this character and his story through a pop song?”
Watt had previously worked on the title song for the Oscar-nominated Elton John documentary “Never Too Late,” but initially brought “a little more detailed” musical work to Stipe. Stipe had it returned to a piano sketch so that the chords themselves could have more weight. “When you watch the show, you feel very upbeat, but there’s also pain and sadness and emotion,” Watt says. “The idea was to create music that was upbeat, but also had minor chords and was emotional.”
Photo: Adari Shell
The collaboration subsequently opened new doors for Stipe, who says his experience working with Watt made headlines regardless of subsequent awards. “There are so many doors open to me, and if this film can even open the door to an Emmy, I’m really looking forward to walking through it,” Stipe said. “I love the challenge, I love the show, and I’m really proud of this song.”
For Watt, the topic of awards was never important. “It’s always nice to be recognized by the people and communities that make art, but that’s not why I made this song.”
I think Elton John chose the right time to break the rules.
Stipe and Watt are on the Emmy ballot for Main Title Theme. Emmy nomination voting will continue until June 22nd.
