Diner

A Conversation with David Schools at O.B. And Jack's House (04/01/1995)

DS: "Diner" is funny because we wrote that song, and we were recording it in the studio, and then "Harvest Moon," Neil Young's record, came out. And there's a song that's... of a similar nature, about watching a waitress in a diner. JB carries the metaphor a lot further in that not only can she serve you food, [but] just with a smile and a nod, or just the company of her presence you can feed your soul. And it's about being in love. Actually, Todd [Nance, Widespread Panic's drummer] wrote the guitar part...

R&R: Really! DS: Yeah. He has a guitar that he likes to strum and he wrote the chord progression, and we all liked it. It's a good song to do "The Swim" to.

R&R: Did he bring the music after the song had been already presented to the band? DS: No, that one came together in the usual way. We had some musical ideas, JB had some lyrical ideas, and we just hammered it out.

R&R: Harry Chapin had a really great song in the same vein. What's the name of it? It's called like "Watertown Diner" or something like that. About a sort of Alfred Prufrock type fellow, a night watchman, and he has a dalliance with the waitress at the town diner. DS: Yup, that's similar. JB's is mostly about feeding your soul just by... interacting with another person, the kind of satisfaction you can get.

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