Photo courtesy of Shorefire Media

In what might be one of the most sincere play-by-plays ever in a rock song, Marshall Burns, vocalist-guitarist for Canadian indie rockers Rah Rah, begins his band’s new single, “Art and a Wife” by singing about getting a guitar and playing along with country music. He’s at a crossroads, wanting that elusive thing called “a life.” For as straightforward and earnest as it all sounds, his bandmates — who play everything from violin to keyboards to accordion — make it sound grandiose. It turns out, that’s just the sort of duality Burns was going for.

“The song is about the two main forces in my life,” he says. “There is the emotional side, symbolized by love for one’s family and friends, and then there is the intellectual half as exemplified by dedication to one’s music and the mysterious impulse to create art.”

Following that impulse, he wrote the lyrics in one sitting, poring over the things that have made him who he is. “I was trying to remember the important moments, like hearing old country tunes for the first time, playing along to Crazy Horse on my first electric, going on tour at a young age,” he says. “The verses are reflections on the most meaningful changes I have undergone musically and personally while the chorus expresses my current state of mind. The song concludes that as long as I have ‘Art and a Wife’ or rather, music and love, I will be all right.” Here’s to hoping he will.

Rah Rah’s new album The Poet’s Dead is due out October 2 digitally and October 23 physically on Hidden Pony Records.