My Guitar is Better than Prozac
1:50
Viki Merrick
Playing guitar is better than drugs.
Broadcast: Jan 26 2004 on NPR Day to DaySeries: WCAI/WNAN Sonic IDs Subjects: Music, Health
Profile: Painter finds therapeutic value in playing the guitar
January 26, 2004 from Day to Day
MADELEINE BRAND, host: OK, let's take a break now from the issues of the day and spend a brief moment with an interesting individual. Maynard Silva from Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard paints signs and plays the guitar. We can't show you what his signs look like, but as you'll hear, he sure knows his way around a six-string.
Mr. MAYNARD SILVA (Guitarist and Sign Painter): I got a guitar that I bought down here at Island Music for Med(ph). It's a little Seagull, it's a little guitar made in Canada. My kid calls it Prozac. He says, `Why don't you go out in the summer when life gets really, really stressful?' I take this silly little guitar, which I never played a show with, it's never been anywhere... (Soundbite of Silver playing guitar) Mr. SILVA: You look down, you hypnotize yourself. That's why he calls it Prozac. (Soundbite of Silver playing guitar) Mr. SILVA: And he also knows it's small enough that if I started swinging it around and hit him on the head, he'd survive, whereas if I hit him with an electric guitar, knock the poor guy out cold. (Soundbite of Silver playing guitar) BRAND: That was produced by Viki Merrick of public radio stations WCAI and WNAN on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. (Soundbite of song) Unidentified Man: (Singing) If you got to cry, baby... BRAND: This is DAY TO DAY. I'm Madeleine Brand.
