Ron Sexsmith often writes about music. Not about the industry, but about the songwriting process, the power of songs to move people, music as a metaphor for life.
One of my favorite of his songs about music is the Time Being track ‘Jazz at the Bookstore,’ in which he bemoans the Starbucks culture that turns the work of classic jazz and blues musicians into a shrink-wrapped commodity.
Ron Sexsmith’s 2006 album Time Being seems to get lost in the shuffle. It’s the one album of his nine studio releases that, for me, doesn’t have a distinct identity.
All the rest have some distinguishing factor, whether it’s the production values (or lack thereof), choice of instrumentation, chronological placement in his discography, cover photo, you name it. You name an album and I’ll say, “yeah, that’s the one with…”
But Time Being is generic in all of the ways the rest are distinct.
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances – Season 2
#1 – ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ – Kurt
I knew this performance would be #1 on this list the minute it aired, way back in the third episode of ‘Glee’s second season. Nothing else ever really stood a chance.
For me, the relationship between Kurt and his father has always been the highlight of the show. Mike O’Malley surfaces only a few times each season but he always brings compassion and realism to the role of Burt, a blue-collar single father of a gay son.
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances – Season 2
#2 – ‘My Man’ – Rachel
My first ‘Glee’ countdown featured four solos or duets by Lea Michele. This marks just the second from Season Two.
I don’t know if her character, Rachel, was given less to do this season or if others just stepped up more, but I was surprised when compiling candidates for this list to see how seldom her name came up.
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances – Season 2
#3 – ‘Teenage Dream’ – Blaine & The Warblers
At times Darren Criss threatened to completely take over Season Two of ‘Glee.’ The show was already suffering from too little Kurt with him leaving New Directions, and when we followed him to the Dalton Academy, it wasn’t him but Blaine who got all the solos. We got Blaine and The Pips, as Kurt put it.
I can understand the show runners’ desire to put Blaine front and center. He’s a dynamic performer, charismatic as hell and catnip to girls and boys alike. But he was also a guest star on a show with too many stars to feature already.
