Dulcinea – Toad the Wet Sprocket (1994)
I recently named Toad the Wet Sprocket as my favorite 90s band so it should come as no surprise that their best album shows up on this list.
Dulcinea, released in 1994, is so good that today’s SOTD marks the sixth song I’ve featured from it, and I featured one of those twice.
This is about as perfect a collection of alternative pop music as I own. Only one track, the bizarre closing tune ‘Reincarnation Song,’ falls short of greatness. And even that one is noteworthy for lead singer Glen Phillips’ eerie vocal resemblance to the Muppet Gonzo.
‘Crowing’ is a beauty from the album’s middle section. I remember Hootie & the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker saying this was one of his favorite songs (back when he was selling so many albums that people valued his opinion).
In looking for that quote, I stumbled upon a live performance of Rucker singing this song with Toad, who opened for Hootie during a 2011 benefit concert. That must have been one hell of a blast from the past.
To find
You could’ve been happier
Given the time
If he’d make up his mind
You’d give yourself to anybody
Who would cross that line
And it was never a question
He was crowing for repair
You’d give him love and affection
But you couldn’t keep him there
Get over regrets
While you were sleeping with the angels
He was under the bed
And the more skin
That you shed
The more that the air in your throat will linger
When you call him your friend
Staring at a cold little hand
Reading fault lines
Of a shell of a man
You were waiting for a word from above
Wouldn’t you know it
No answer ever did come
And it was never question
You were crowing for repair
You’d give him love and affection
But you couldn’t keep him there
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard this album from beginning to end, but I have enjoyed those tracks I have heard, including this one, which received a fair amount of radio play at the time.
I’m not sure this live performance with Darius does the song justice, but it is neat to see the two bands performing together.
I remember seeing Darius Rucker perform this with Toad back in 1995, when Hootie & TB opened for Toad. Was pretty cool, actually.