Monthly Archives: January 2010

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Song of the Day #544: ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ – Miranda Lambert

OK, so I came back to Miranda Lambert sooner than I thought. I’ve been playing this album a lot lately and I really like the juxtaposition between yesterday’s heartbreaking, vulnerable song and today’s frenzied, boot-to-the-teeth one. This is what’s commonly referred to as range, ladies and gentlemen.

There is a long tradition of country break-up songs, from the cry in your beer stuff to the twisted revenge fantasies. It’s nice to see the new generation picking up that torch and running with it, whether it’s Carrie Underwood slashing her name in her ex’s leather seats or Miranda Lambert having the presence of mind to leave her pistol in the car when confronting her former lover at a bar.

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Song of the Day #543: ‘More Like Her’ – Miranda Lambert

Brad Paisley has turned me country. Seriously, it’s getting out of hand. Next time you see me I’ll probably have a piece of straw between my teeth.

I recently went to Best Buy and spent the remainder of a birthday gift card on five country albums. Before that I’d probably bought a total of five country albums in my whole life. I bought two Brad Paisley CDs (I now own five total with an eye on picking up the other one soon), Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts, Lady Antebellum’s self-titled debut and Miranda Lambert’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

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Song of the Day #542: ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ – The Beatles

My older daughter, on those morning rides to school, invariably requests ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face,’ the band’s first real foray into country music in their own writing. This is one of my favorite Beatles songs as well.

I remember the first time I heard it… not so much the time or place, which are fuzzy, but the actual experience of hearing it. I remember thinking that the melody was so perfect that I must have heard it before (and I probably had without realizing it). Not to compare Plain White T’s to The Beatles, but I had the same reaction to their ‘Hey There Delilah‘ when I first heard that.

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Song of the Day #541: ‘I Need You’ – The Beatles

I’ve really come to appreciate the Help! album over the past several months as I’ve played it on a daily basis for my daughters on our way to school each morning.

I’ve always considered it a good second-tier Beatles album, and I suppose I still do considering how amazing that first tier is… but I now believe it’s closer in quality to Rubber Soul and Revolver than I’d ever given it credit for before.

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Song of the Day #540: ‘Welcome to the Future’ – Brad Paisley

Best Songs of 2009 – #1

Brad Paisley was my most welcome surprise of 2009. I lucked into purchasing his album after reading a discussion among music critics on Slate.com in which the first critic named his album American Saturday Night as her favorite of the year and effusively sang his praises.

This was the rare album that struck me as great the very first time I heard it… the album wasn’t even over before I knew it was rocketing up my own list. Many listens later, it settled into its perch at #1. I picked up another of Paisley’s celebrated discs, Time Well Wasted, a week later and I find it equally good.

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