Six Quotes From “Dreaming Out Loud”

Garth on his appearance: “I’ve always been one of those guys that if I could change one thing about me it would be everything. I’m kind of squatty. I don’t have long legs. The word round keeps coming to mind.” On clothes: I always wear my jeans too small. When I was 190 I was wearing 29 Wranglers. Even now my sizes will vary four or five sizes from what I wear offstage to what I wear on.”

Garth on being a cowboy: “I sing about cowboys. I try to get as true as I can. But I ain’t trying to hang out with those guys in Wyoming who make a living cowboying, because I can’t. I’m a guy who owns some acreage, enjoys planting his hay, enjoys horseback riding even though he’s got a horse that protects him because he’s not any good, enjoys roping, though he’s not worth a shit at it.”

Garth’s mother on Garth: “When I talk to Garth I say, ‘I’m so proud of you. You’re such a good man.’ And this means all the world to him. What Garth needs to do is stop and say, ‘It’s not what I’ve done, but who I am.’ I don’t care who you are, John Wayne or anyone, life only offers you a certain level. Garth’s reached it. He just doesn’t realize it yet. If I could give him any advice it would be, ‘Son, you’re there. Be happy, and enjoy it.'”

Wynonna on her childhood: “Mom always felt toward me that she had to make up for something. She had to give me more, babysit me more, spoonfeed me more, hold me more, love me more. I was very high need. I was born into chaos. My family was always fighting. I was very sensitive. I was the kind of person who would get up into somebody’s lap I didn’t know. I was just hungering for love. I wanted desperately to be held.”

Wynonna on trying to kill herself: “I was coming home on a long, deserted stretch of highway. I was so wasted I don’t even remember what happened, but I do remember attempting to run off the road. The car spun around 360 degrees, at least twice, and I ended up in the middle of the road facing the other way.” Why? “I was being forced to go to college. To me that was prison. My Dad had me get my hair cut. He took my guitar away from me. He made me get up and read everyday and listen to classical music. That was very different from what I wanted. I wanted to be Elvis and play guitar and put on my lipstick and go out there and jam.”

Wynonna on learning who her father was: “I think everyone was terrified about what would happened. Would it mean that Mom and I wouldn’t speak for ten year? Would it mean the end of our relationship? I don’t want to sound like Mother Teresa here, but after a while I got up and I went over and hugged Ashley and Mom. I was so caught up in their pain. Ashley wept in my arms and said, ‘I love you and you are my sister. It doesn’t matter how much of your blood is running through my veins.'”