Between Music And Motherhood: Parallel Lives In 'The Original 1982'

The sacrifices we make -- or don’t make -- for music and art is the subject of a new book from Lori Carson, a singer and songwriter and onetime member of The Golden Palominos. In her debut novel, The Original 1982, the main character, named Lisa Nelson, faces an important choice in her life -- whether to become a mother. But because it's fiction, she gets to live parallel life stories: in one, she stays childless and follows a musical path -- in the other her muse is motherhood itself. It’s a story that’s close to Lori Carson's heart, and she joins us to discuss.

Lori Carson, on how closely the book reflects her own life:

Every part of the story is actually a rewrite of my own history. The musical stuff didn’t happen the way it happens in the book. Obviously, I never had a child. In this story, Lisa [Nelson], my alter ego, is very distraught over the fact that she has not had a child. I’m more ambivalent. In choosing to tell this specific story, it becomes fictionalized in my mind, even if some of the things are close to my literal history.

On making her song “Still True” into a big hit for her protagonist Lisa Nelson:

I always thought that it could be a big song, but I never recorded it the way that it should have been recorded. The only way it’s ever been recorded was on a sloppy record of demos that I put out called House in the Weeds, which has this awful bridge in it. But I was able to fictionalize it in my story, and it becomes Lisa Nelson’s big hit song…. It was fun to play with that.

On music, motherhood and the parallel lives explored in the book:

If I could somehow live two lives, as Lisa Nelson does, I would also have a child. It’s such a rich thing — regret. Because yes, I really regret not having a child. At the same time, I know it was probably the right choice for me.