One day country music artist Deric Ruttan thought of six words that on July 27 earned him a Single of the Year nomination in the 2011 Canadian Country Music Association awards (CCMA).
That’s How I Wanna Go Out, from the album Sunshine, is a song that has connected with the hearts of many Canadians with its depiction of an old man reflecting at the end of his life.
The song stayed in the Top 10 on Canada’s BDS and Mediabase country charts for 14 weeks in 2010.
Ruttan, who garnered five CCMA nominations, says many of his fans could see their own grandfathers and parents in the song—a common response he received via mail, Twitter, and Facebook.
The Epoch Times chatted with Ruttan recently about the success of That’s How I Wanna Go Out.
Ruttan: I always wanted to quote an old Willie Nelson phrase, which is “when you write a song you start with the truth and go from there.”
What that line interprets to me is drawing on your own experiences and also experiences of others, witnessing the world around you and channelling that through your mind, through your heart and song. That’s kind of what I did with “That’s How I Wanna go Out.” It’s not based on a specific person, but when I was writing the song—I wrote it with my friend Miller—I was sort of thinking about my grandparents who did not spend very much time apart from each other and never got very far from home. So that’s sort of the type of love that I was thinking about when I was writing the song.
ET: It’s not every day that you hear a song on the radio that mentions WWII. It certainly made me think about my grandparents.
Ruttan: Exactly. When Lee and I wrote the song, that was kind of the thought. We wanted to write a second verse that would work to show the character of this old man, the character in the song and the guys of his generation.
It says in the song, “I was fortunate I lived to see an angel at the altar,” meaning his bride, whom he’s still married to all these years later. I think the guy in the song is thinking, “You know what, I was lucky enough to live through all of this calamity and all of this catastrophe, I finally made it through to a point where I can die on my terms in the arms of a woman who loves me.”
ET: What came first, the lyrics or the music?
Ruttan: Well on that particular song, the title came first. I can still remember I was walking up the stairs in my home in Nashville, probably carrying a load of laundry or something. And the title literally fell out of the heavens and into my head somewhere between the bottom step and the top step.
It’s quite mysterious to me even still. I’ve been a quote-unquote professional writer for 15 years and have been writing songs for probably 25 years. And it’s still a mystery to me—the process. Like where the thoughts come from, where the lines come from. I think a lot of it is from God, that’s my own personal belief. I think He was in the room with us that day for sure.
ET: Was the music video your idea?
Ruttan: Well, I hadn’t worked with Warren Sonoda, who was the director of That’s How I Wanna Go Out. I was excited to work with Warren because he’s done some fabulous videos. He did the Johnny Reid Thank You video, which was a great moving piece. What Warren does in video is what I think That’s How I Wanna Go Out does in the lyrics, which is paint great pictures. He’s a great storyteller in video.
ET: In the video we see a photo album with old, black and white photographs. Did any of those belong to you?
Ruttan: There are several specific photos that we show in the album and in several of those shots [there are] a few special things. My grandparent’s wedding picture is in the album. On my other side of the family, my grandmother on the other side—her brother, who fought in World War II—we show him in his uniform. Another cool thing is, there are letters that two of my great uncles wrote home to my great grandfather during World War II.
ET: Are you excited about the awards?
Ruttan: I am. It’s always nice to be nominated for the work that you do—especially the work that you’re quite serious about and that you put a lot of energy into, which I do.
The funny thing is, Canadian country music—it’s certainly small. I’ve written with every one of the people who I am in the category with for Male Artist [of the Year]. The day when all those nominations came out, 15 minutes later I got a text from Johnny Reid [saying], “Hey man, congrats on your nominations.”
I don’t think there’s a time in any other genre where the people who are nominated for an award actually call each other to congratulate each other on their nominations.
The CCMA awards will take place on September 12 in Hamilton, ON, during Country Music Week.
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