He's the Maker of Nothing

The lavishly underappreciated Chrissie Hynde has a song on the new Pretenders' recording called "The Nothing Maker." It's a song about [and I deliberately did not use the words "ode to", "tribute" or "paean"] her "man" or "guy".

The song is a "Nowhere Man" but without the editorializing that marred so many songs from the 1960s. Instead, her man makes nothing and expects little. Instead of being crassly judged, he is portrayed as a man who is neither vain nor outwardly successful. But is he a failure? Hynde states that "he lives by a code known only to him." He does not succeed for successes' sake. He does not make, or take, or do anything of permanence. He's the nothing maker.

So, instead of being a song that catalogs the lack of things this guy does as failures, she lists them and lets the listener judge. Is making nothing perhaps better? If anything, Hynde makes it clear that his choice to make nothing is a volitional act, as volitional and deliberate [and as well-crafted] as the decision some make to create. In essence, the Maker of Nothing is indeed a maker after all.

I was so devastated when I heard the song. Her best songs have that ability. Songs like "Kid" or "Middle of the Road" or "Talk of the Town" have certain lines, delivered in that peerless Hynde fashion that utterly destroy the listener. And unlike so many of her peers, Hynde has lost nothing off her fastball as she has grown numerically older. "The Nothing Maker" proves that. Here are the lyrics:

He doesn't make shoes
or design a new shirt
or take photographs
But no one gets hurt

And he doesn't look trendy
like guys in magazines
You won't see him at parties
he's not the face behind the scene

He Makes Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker
He's the Maker of Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker

And he doesn't paint pictures
or write poetry
or act on a stage
for others to see

And he don't expect much
Santa Claus knows
Cause he doesn't make lists
Of toys and new clothes

He Makes Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker
He's the Maker of Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker

Everyone's chasing
A reason to live
Mostly they take more than they give
The succeeder justifies
Why he needs more than the rest
believes his own lies
And thinks he's the best

but my guy doesn't make movies
to suit an audience's whim
He lives by a code
known only to him
And he doesn't make money
to buy watches and cars
cause there's no time and no place to go
for a man who has nothing to show

He makes nothing
He's the Nothing Maker
He's the maker of nothing
He's the Nothing Maker