Monthly Archives: November 2009

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Song of the Day #487: ‘Red Vines’ – Aimee Mann

bachelorno2The Magnolia soundtrack changed Aimee Mann’s career. Saddled by a record company that refused to release her third solo album because it wasn’t commercial enough, she was suddenly in a position to buy back the rights to that album and release it herself.

So that’s what she did, forming Superego Records and selling that album, Bachelor No. 2, through her own Web site. Critical reception was very strong and sales were brisk enough that she eventually was able to get distribution in record stores. She’s released every album since through her label, becoming a poster child for successful self-distribution.

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Song of the Day #486: ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ – The Beatles

strawberryHere’s the other half of the one-two punch I alluded to yesterday.

John Lennon’s ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ is also rooted in nostalgia, though not as overtly as McCartney’s ‘Penny Lane.’ Strawberry Field is the name of a Salvation Army house near Lennon’s childhood home, but the song isn’t really an exploration of that period of his life.

What it is is one of the band’s very best songs.

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Song of the Day #485: ‘Penny Lane’ – The Beatles

pennylaneThis weekend I’m highlighting one of the best one-two punches in music history, a pair of songs released on a “double-A-sided” single that are among the best The Beatles ever recorded.

Today’s track comes courtesy of Paul McCartney. ‘Penny Lane’ is his remembrance of a street in Liverpool, where he and John grew up. I don’t know if the fireman, banker, barber and nurse were actual people Paul encountered as a lad or inventions for this song, but he certainly paints a lovely picture.

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Lyrically speaking

I like to think of myself as a lyrics guy — somebody who values the text of a song as much as the music. And I definitely gravitate toward songwriters who have a way with the written word — Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan come immediately to mind as favorite artists valued as much for their lyrics as their tunes.

On the other hand, I’m a huge R.E.M. fan who doesn’t know what the hell Michael Stipe is saying on half of their records and doesn’t care. It’s not as if I apply a litmus test to an artist that requires them to excel at both music and lyrics before I consider them a favorite.

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Song of the Day #484: ‘Wise Up’ – Aimee Mann

magnoliaAimee Mann’s record studio problems went from bad to worse as she worked on her third solo album. She turned her material in to Geffen and heard the classic line: “We don’t hear a single.” In fact, the studio shelved the album until she could produce something more commercial. She wound up writing a track called ‘Nothing is Good Enough’ about, you guessed it, evil record studio heads.

But then a funny thing happened. Mann’s close friend, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, was inspired by a line in one of her songs (‘Deathly’) to write and shoot the film Magnolia. And he intertwined Mann’s music into the film as well, using several existing cuts and asking her to pen a new one for the film.

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