On what makes a Kenny Rogers song

“All the songs I record fall into one of two categories, as a rule. One is ballads that say what every man would like to say and every woman would like to hear. The other is story-songs that have social significance. ‘Reuben James’ was about a black man who raised a white child. ‘Coward of the County’ was about a rape. ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town’ was about a guy who came home from war. That’s really what I love to do: songs that you love before you realize what they’re about, but you get the message vicariously.”

On choosing to be a vocalist, rather than a songwriter

“I take great pride in not writing hits. I write from time to time, but I think great writers have a need to write, and I don’t really have that need. I can write if someone sits me down and says, ‘Hey let’s write a song about this.’ I can contribute, and I can carry my weight.”

- Kenny Rogers: ‘I Take Great Pride In Not Writing Hits’, NPR.org, October 08, 2017.

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

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