Song of the Day #493: ‘I’m a Loser’ – The Beatles
After ‘What You’re Doing,’ my favorite song on Beatles For Sale is John Lennon’s ‘I’m a Loser.’ Lennon dressed up his famously low self esteem in a song about a failed relationship but really about his own insecurities.
Lennon was paying a lot of attention to Bob Dylan at the time, and this is the first of his songs that makes that influence clear (it would become more clear with ‘You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away’ on the band’s next album).
Song of the Day #492: ‘Eight Days a Week’ – The Beatles
The Beatles’ fourth album, Beatles For Sale, has the dubious honor of being my least favorite of the band’s releases. Nestled between A Hard Day’s Night and Help! with half of its tracklist dedicated to covers, it never really stood a chance.
But, as the saying goes, the worst Beatles album is still better than most of what’s out there. And Beatles For Sale certainly has its share of great songs.
Song of the Day #491: ‘Medicine Wheel’ – Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann’s sixth album of original material, 2008’s @#%&*! Smilers, is her best work yet. It’s the first since Bachelor No. 2 to work as a simple collection of songs and not a concept album and perhaps it was that freedom that allowed her to produce such a consistently great record.
This is one of those albums that feels like it’s always one step ahead of you, taking unexpected turns that seem perfectly obvious in retrospect. It’s the rare album about which you can say “There isn’t a moment on this record I don’t love.”
Song of the Day #490: ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ – Aimee Mann
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It’s appropriate, I suppose, that Aimee Mann’s discography positions her Christmas album, One More Drifter in the Snow, on this neighboring holiday.
Mann and Christmas might seem like an odd mix, but hearing her versions of the classics on this album it’s clear that both share an underlying mood of lovely melancholy. Songs such as ‘Christmas Song,’ ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ and ‘White Christmas’ are far from merry but they’re certainly evocative of the season. And so too is this album.
Song of the Day #489: ‘Little Bombs’ – Aimee Mann
While Lost in Space was an unofficial concept album, Aimee Mann’s next release, 2005’s The Forgotten Arm, was the real deal. Set in the 1970s, it’s the story of an alcoholic boxer and Vietnam vet, John, and the woman he loves, Caroline. The songs track their ups and downs and explore the destructive nature of alcoholism on a relationship.
The album’s packaging is particularly lovely, the song lyrics presented in chapter form alongside beautiful colored sketches of John and Caroline. And though the songs are traditionally structured, the lyrics are written out as prose. Regardless of sound, this is one of the best looking CDs in my collection.
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