Trisha Yearwood‘s new album Every Girl is out August 30, and it includes her gorgeous version of “The Matador”, a song originally released in 2012 on my album Hello Cruel World. In this interview with Rolling Stone, she talks about why she was moved to record the song, and her own interpretation of the lyrics:

“The Matador” creates such an intriguing, cinematic picture. What is it about this song that haunted you and made you want to record it?
Everybody has their own interpretation, but for me, the whole metaphor of “The Matador” is about music. And I kept thinking of Garth and myself with lines in the song — “He’s only alive when he’s in the ring.” You take your own life, and you always dramatize it for music, you know? And for me, it was like, “Man, I could make the story fit. I can make this work in a very dramatic fashion.” But I love the mysterious melody and the weirdness of some of the lyrics where you’re like, “I don’t even understand what that means. I don’t know what ‘snakes and snails and alcohol’ refers to, but it makes me scared and I like it.”

Great stuff. I love it when a song has room for the singer and the listener to put themselves in it. You can read the entire interview here.