Of course, the time she comes in to hang out for a little while, one of the twins starts crying for what seemed like no reason. Wouldn’t stop. I don’t remember if it was Susana or Maria but Billy took her and held her and tried to shush her and she would not calm down. I took her, Karen took her. It didn’t matter what we all did.
Camila ended up taking both of the twins outside.
Camila: Babies and rock ’n’ roll don’t really go hand in hand.
Karen: I went for a walk with Camila and the girls one day at the studio. I said, “How are things going?”
And she just … opened up. Talking and talking like the words were tumbling out of her. The twins weren’t sleeping and Julia was going through a jealous period and Billy was never home. And then she stopped in place, as she was pushing the girls along with the stroller, and she said, “Why am I complaining? I love my life.”
Camila: What is it they say? The days are long but the years are short? Whoever said that was a mom with three kids under the age of three. Tired and cranky on an hourly basis, bursting with joy when you put your head on the pillow. Raising kids is hard work. It was work I was happy to do, though.
Everybody is good at something. I was good at motherhood.
Karen: Camila had said to me that day, something like “I’m living the life I want to live.” And there was an ease about her, as she said it.
Graham: While Camila and the twins were outside, Billy set Julia up in the control booth. She was there hanging out with Artie and Teddy and everybody while we all laid something down.
She had such a fun time in there. She was so cute with the cans on her ears and her tiny little dress. Her hair was still blond then. Her legs were so short, they didn’t even bend at the knee when she sat, just stuck straight out.
Karen: I decided to tell Camila about Graham. I needed her help figuring out what to do.
I had … I never told him this, but I saw a letter from his mom on his nightstand one morning. And I hadn’t meant to pry but it was right there and a few lines stood out. His mom was telling him that if he really loved this girl he was with than he should make it official. And that freaked me out.
Graham: I wanted a family. Not right then. But sure, I wanted what my brother had.
Karen: I said to Camila, “What would you think if I was sleeping with Graham?”
She took off her sunglasses and looked me right in the eye. She said, “If you were sleeping with Graham?”
I said, “Yeah, if.”
Camila: He’d been in love with her since God only knows how long.
Karen: We kept talking in hypotheticals. Camila said I would have to be taking into account the fact that Graham had had feelings for me for quite a while. Which … I knew but I didn’t know, I guess.
Camila: I told her that if she was sleeping with Graham and wasn’t feeling about him the way I knew he felt about her … well, I think I told her to stop.
Karen: I believe she said, “Don’t hurt Graham or I’ll kill you.”
I said, “Aren’t you worried about Graham hurting me?”
And she said, “If Graham broke your heart, I’d kill him, too. You know that. But we both know Graham’s not going to break your heart. We both know which way this is going to go.”
I got a little defensive but Camila never really backed down from too much. She was very good at knowing what everybody else should do and she had no problem telling you. It was really annoying. How right she always was. And she would tell you “I told you so.” You’d do something she told you not to do and it wouldn’t work out and you’d find yourself bristling around her, just waiting for that “I told you so” to come. And she’d always land it right when your defenses were down.
Camila: If you come to me and ask me for advice, and then you don’t take my advice, and it blows up in your face exactly like I told you it would, what do you expect me to say?
Karen: I told her, “Graham’s an adult. He can handle whatever he gets himself into. It’s not my job to make his decisions.”
Camila said, “Yes, it is.”
And I said, “No, it’s not.”
Camila: I told her, “Yes, it is.”
Karen: And we just kept going on like that until I gave up.
Daisy: We were recording and Julia was in the booth. They had all come to visit Billy that day. And there was something wrong with my mike so I was sitting it out while everyone tried to fix it.
I went into the control booth and asked Julia if she wanted to get a cookie. She took her headphones off her head and said, “Does my dad say it’s okay?” It was so sweet.
Teddy leaned on the talkback button and said, “Julia would like to know if she may have a cookie.”
Billy leaned in and said, “Yes, she may.” And then he added, “Just make sure it’s a … normal one.”
I took Julia by the hand and we went to the kitchen and we split a peanut butter cookie. She told me she liked pineapples. I remember that because I love pineapples and I told her that. She got really excited, that we had that in common. I told her we should split a pineapple sometime. And then Karen came into the kitchen and Camila was calling out for Julia and I brought her to her. Julia waved goodbye to me and Camila thanked me for watching her.
Camila: The whole way home, [Julia was] saying, “Can Daisy Jones be my best friend?”
Daisy: As soon as they left, Eddie called me and Karen back into the booth. And somebody, I don’t remember who, said I was good with kids. And then Eddie said, “I bet you’d make a great aunt.”
You don’t think to tell someone they will be a good aunt if you think they will be a good mom. But I knew as well as anybody, I wouldn’t be a good mom. I had no place thinking of being anybody’s mom.
I wrote “A Hope Like You” soon after that.
Billy: When Daisy showed me “A Hope Like You,” I thought, This could work as a piano ballad. It was such a sad love song. About wanting somebody you can’t have and knowing you’re going to want them anyway.
I said, “How do you hear it?”
She sang a tiny little bit of it and I just … I heard it. I heard what it should be.
Daisy: Billy said, “This is your song. It should be just you and the piano on the track, that’s it.”
Karen: That was a great song to record. I was really proud of it. Just Daisy singing and me on the keys. That’s it. Just two bitches playing rock ’n’ roll.
Billy: Daisy and I wrote a lot of good stuff after that. We’d be working in the lounge at the studio or back at Teddy’s pool house if we needed some peace and quiet.
I would come in with something I was working on and Daisy would help me refine it. Or vice versa. We’d work on one of Daisy’s ideas.
Rod: It seemed like there was a period of time where Daisy and Billy were coming in with new stuff every day.
Graham: It’s really exciting, when you’re constantly creating. We’d be working on tracks for “Midnights” or adding some layers to “Impossible Woman” and then Daisy and Billy would come in with a new one we were all excited about.
Karen: It felt a little manic, that period of time. So many people in the studio. So many songs coming in and out. Recording and recording and recording. Playing things a thousand times, always trying to improve upon the last one.