Missy Higgins: ‘Some people thought that line in The Special Two was about women syncing periods'

The Guardian

5 hours ago

What's the most memorable, wrong explanation that you've heard for the meaning behind one of your songs?
Some people thought that the line 'we'll bleed together' in my song The Special Two was about two women syncing periods. I always thought that was a quite funny and very, very literal metaphor. And probably the first time somebody had written a song about syncing periods.
What's the best piece of advice you have ever received?
My dad once said to me, 'You've done enough, you don't have to keep proving yourself.' I was in my 30s, I had kids, and I was trying really hard to keep my career going. I felt like if I didn't come up with any more music, I wasn't going to be able to respect myself any more. I hadn't proved myself worthy yet, whatever the hell that means. And dad said, 'You've done enough.'
That made me really think about who it was that I was trying to prove something to – at what point I would be able to stop pushing so hard. It's OK to just live and release what you release. You're not going to be a failure if you stop releasing music.
What's been your most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity?
My friend dragged me backstage once to meet Patty Griffin. I had specifically said to my friend that I really didn't want to meet her, because I don't like meeting my idols. But she just ambushed me at the end and said, 'Come back. She's expecting to meet you!' So she dragged me backstage and I just stood there. I was completely mute. I think I just mumbled something like, 'Nice to meet you.' I couldn't even look her in the eyes. Patty was lovely. She probably thought, 'What is this woman doing?' I swear I was the biggest fan ever.
Your song Where I Stood was used in a bunch of big US TV shows in the 2000s. What does having your song in a Grey's Anatomy episode do to your career?
That was back in the day when it was very, very exciting to get your song on an American TV show. There were all these artists that broke out that way – it was either from Grey's Anatomy or an Apple commercial. So my song got on Grey's Anatomy, but just as that was starting to become a little bit passé. [laugh] No one was that excited about it any more. It definitely did something – that song went gold in America, so it was very successful and I toured that album for like two and a half years.
What are you secretly really good at?
I've become very good at waking up very late and getting my kids fed, dressed and to school within about 45 minutes. Every morning, I'm really not sure how we manage it. Every morning, I say, 'I have got to wake us all up earlier.' Every morning, I get them there by nine o'clock.
What is the strangest thing you have done for love?
When I was in my early 20s, I sent my boyfriend at the time my song Ten Days. I wrote it for him, recorded it on CD and sent it because I was in the US and it was his birthday. But I also put an electric razor in there. When I think about that, I think it's just the most odd decision to put an electric razor in with a love song. I think a love song was probably enough. But he had a beard and I wanted him to get rid of it. It's completely contrasting levels of sentimentality.
If you had a sandwich named after you, what would be in it?
I'm pescatarian, but I love a vegan Reuben. I want the Thousand Island dressing, sauerkraut and the big rolls of fake meat. I'm often trying to find the best vegan Reuben in Melbourne. So I'd be that, with a cute little radicchio side salad.
What's been your most memorable interaction with a fan?
When I was living in Broome, I frequented this cafe where one of the waitresses came up to me and said, 'Oh my God. I'm such a big fan.' We got chatting and it turned out we knew all these people in common, and we were in the same friendship group in Broome. And I wouldn't usually start hanging out with someone who just told me they're a massive fan, but there was just something about her. Maybe it was because we were in Broome, and that's just kind of what you do. Anyway, we became great friends and we just went to the Maldives together.
What book, album or film do you find yourself returning to, and why?
I find myself returning a lot to Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I tend to give that book to a lot of people too. It was given to me by a journalist in San Francisco. I was touring America at the time, and he said to me, this book will change your life. I didn't believe him but I didn't have anything else to read, so I read it. And it did change my life. It completely changed the way that I thought about western culture and modern society, the agricultural revolution and the Bible. It's one of those books that just blows open everything you thought you knew.
What's been your biggest fashion crime to date?
I wear slippers to drop my kids off – I'm committing my biggest crime every school day.
Missy Higgins is performing at Wanderer festival at Pambula Beach, New South Wales, 4-5 October