I initially skipped Indigo Girls’ ‘Closer to Fine’ when picking which songs to blog about during this exploration of my readers’ favorite songs, despite it showing up on both Amy and Dana’s lists.
I simply assumed I had chosen it as a Song of the Day at some point during the past 12 1/2 years. But alas, this fan favorite and college radio hit has yet to receive its moment in the spotlight. Until today.
A few week’s after Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license’ was released, becoming an international hit and shining a spotlight on the love affair between Joshua Bassett and Sabrina Carpenter, Carpenter released her own song, ‘Skin.’
Several lyrics in this track suggest it’s a direct response to ‘drivers license.’ “Maybe you didn’t mean it, maybe ‘blonde’ was the only rhyme,” Carpenter sings, recalling this line from Rodrigo’s song: “And you’re probably with that blonde girl who always made me doubt.”
I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled Random Weekend in order to feature a pair of songs blowing up in the cultural conversation, at least among the TikTok generation.
First up is the song that really matters, Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license.’ Written by the 17-year-old star of a Disney+ show with the incredible title High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, this heartbreak ballad has exploded over the past few weeks, debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and becoming the top-selling single in the entire world.
A couple of years ago I posted a Gotye song during a theme week on future one-hit wonders. I predicted that his ‘Somebody That I Used to Know‘ will stand the test of time but he’ll otherwise be forgotten.
Madison jumped to his defense on that post, calling him one of her favorite artists and calling out the song ‘Eyes Wide Open’ as worthy of hit status. She called it “a painfully relevant song” and said “It’ll never become a hit because people don’t like to think about our flaws as a humanity.”
This selection from Dana’s list of favorite songs stood out to me. I’m very curious to hear what it is about Squeeze’s ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ that earned it a spot in the elite 25.
Not that I don’t like this song myself. On the contrary, I love it. I just don’t love it any more or less that a dozen other wonderful Squeeze songs. Why ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ and not ‘Another Nail in My Heart,’ ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),’ ‘Tempted,’ ‘Is That Love,’ ‘Someone Else’s Heart’ or ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ for example?
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