With apologies to Duran Duran, whose ‘The Wild Boys‘ would have been today’s Throwback Weekend selection, I’m suspending my usual programming to acknowledge another milestone for the blog.
Today is my 6,000th post, a number that frankly feels a little obscene. Have I really been doing this every day for 16 1/2 years? Apparently so.
To mark the occasion, I’m looking back to my 1,000th post, when I shared Fiona Apple’s live cover of Elvis Costello’s ‘I Want You.’ That performance remains one of my all-time favorites.
It was part of a VH1 series called Decades Rock Live! in which well-established artists performed with newer acts they’d inspired. Only seven episodes were broadcast, but fortunately one of those featured Elvis Costello.
The other guests on Costello’s episode were Death Can for Cutie and Green Day’s Billy Joe Armstrong, but Apple was the major draw for me. And in addition to seeing her extraordinary rendition of Costello’s epic jealous screed, I got to see Costello perform my favorite song of hers.
‘I Know,’ from Apple’s sophomore album When the Pawn…, is not just my favorite Fiona Apple song but one of my all-time favorite songs by anybody. In fact, ‘I Know’ and A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ are the only two songs cemented on my list of the best songs ever.
Much of my love for this song is due to Apple’s heartbreaking delivery, but Costello is no slouch, and it was special to see him tackle this. Special enough to earn the performance its status as my 6,000th Song of the Day.
So be it, I’m your crowbar
If that’s what I am so far
Until you get out of this mess
And I will pretend
That I don’t know of your sins
Until you are ready to confess
But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know
[Verse 2]
And you can use my skin
To bury secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background
But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know
Baby
I can’t help you out
While she is still around
[Verse 3]
So for the time being, I’m being patient
And amidst this bitterness
If you’ll just consider this
Even if it don’t make sense all the time
Give it time
And when the crowd becomes your burden
And you’ve early closed your curtain
I’ll wait by the backstage door
[Verse 4]
While you try to find
The lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late, for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so
It’s okay, don’t need to say it
Meet Me In Montauk 
If 6000 posts seems obscene, how about 6000 comments from your most loyal follower (though it’s possible I missed a day along the way🤪)! Anyway, congratulations on this achievement!
And, thank you, by the way, for posting this song rather than “Wild Boys.” Just a few weeks ago as we were walking into Another Broken Egg, Duran Duran was playing on the restaurant speakers, and I commented to Daniel that, while I really liked “Rio” and to a lesser extent “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Wild Boys” was one of the worst, annoying songs ever recorded. Glad it took a milestone to shelve it in favor of one of your favorite artists covering another of your favorite artist’s great songs.
I would say “Here’s to the next 6000 posts,” but what may be truly obscene is either of us doing this in our late 60s/early 70s!
You are nothing if not tenacious! Quite the achievement indeed. Congratulations 🎉
I used to really like these sorts of VH1 specials; does VH1 even exist anymore? Or opportunities like these for musical artists? There should be a “Musicians on Musicians” addition to the Variety series where they add instruments to the otherwise stark set. I’d watch.
Here’s to however many more of these you feel like writing!
Congratulations on this achievement of 6000 posts 👏👏👏 It’s truly amazing ❤️