Cy Curnin of The Fixx

[Carl]

You think you know a guy, then he moves to France and becomes an organic farmer.

There's poetry in The Fixx lead singer Cy Curnin's decision to live off the land - so many of his songs are warning bells: "Red Skies" and "Stand Or Fall" among them. When he goes off the grid, we know that he was pure in his motives.

Some songwriters get a little punchy when you ask them to revisit their hits, but Cy was very agreeable when Dan asked him about songs like "One Thing Leads to Another" and "Saved By Zero." We not only found out what they meant to him when he wrote them, but what they mean to him today. Songs can change meanings just as the moon might look a little more blue today than it did 10 years ago.

This one got going with a discussion about 9/11, which led to Cy's decision to simplify. From there, he explained his career arc through the mileposts of his songs, how the despair of "Red Skies" was offset by the hope of "Saved By Zero," and how MTV made them a video band with an American following.

Near the end of the interview, Cy mentions that he climbed Mount Everest with the drummer for the Stray Cats, and they performed in Nepal. Perhaps if we had another hour we could have heard that story.

Cy Curnin interview