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Song of the Day #4,931: ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ – The Smiths

What better way to kick off 2022 than by going back in time nearly 40 years to 1984 for the latest installment of my Decades series?

First, let me recover from the stunning realization that 1984, the year I turned 12, was nearly 40 years ago. Wowza.

I wasn’t very invested in popular music back then, so none of the year’s notable albums meant much to me at the time. But I have come to know and love a few of them. Over the next four weeks, I will cover those as well as a sampling of celebrated records I haven’t heard much or at all.

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Song of the Day #4,930: ‘New Monkey’ – Elliott Smith

Here’s a track from 2004’s New Moon, the second posthumous Elliott Smith release following his death in 2003.

While the album released prior to this one (2004’s From a Basement on the Hill) was in the works but unfinished when Smith died, this one is a collection of unreleased tracks mostly recorded a decade earlier in his career. A lot of newer fans name this as their favorite Smith album, which bugs me because it’s the one Smith release with which he had zero involvement.

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