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Song of the Day #4,097: ‘Hiroshima (Japanese Version)’ – Ben Folds

Ben Folds wrote a song called ‘Hiroshima’ for his 2008 album Way To Normal. The lyrics describe a time he was performing in Japan and fell off the stage, suffering a semi-serious head injury. He continued playing as blood poured down his face.

Apparently he later returned to Japan and performed that song in Japanese, which is the version presented here. It appeared on an alternate version of Way To Normal called Stems and Seeds, which included different mixes of the original album’s tracks plus other odds and ends.

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Song of the Day #4,096: ‘Stay Up Late’ – Talking Heads

Here’s a fun track from Talking Heads 1985 album Little Creatures, the band’s most commercially successful effort. After the exploration of world music on 1980’s Remain in Light and 1983’s Speaking in Tongues, found its influences back in America.

Pop, funk and country sounds dominate a song cycle about relationships and Americana. Songs ‘And She Was,’ ‘The Lady Don’t Mind’ and ‘Road to Nowhere’ found modest success on the charts.

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Song of the Day #4,095: ‘Cornelia Street’ – Taylor Swift

Concluding my countdown of the songs on Taylor Swift’s Lover.

3. ‘False God’ – I wrote a little bit about this one a few weeks ago, calling it my early favorite after a couple of listens to the album. I still love it enough to have it at #3, though the two tracks below have crept their way to the top spots. This is the sexiest song on the album and a whole new sound for Swift that she pulls off beautifully.

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Song of the Day #4,094: ‘Paper Rings’ – Taylor Swift

Continuing my countdown of the songs on Taylor Swift’s Lover.

6. ‘Soon You’ll Get Better’ – This is a devastating song about Swift’s mother’s cancer, performed with the Dixie Chicks (her mom’s favorite band). It’s nice to see Swift use her star power to give the Dixie Chicks some high-profile exposure, years after they were run out of country music for daring to speak out against then-President Bush. The lesson of their blacklisting is likely one Swift took to heart, partly explaining her own political silence. I’d like to think country music has changed since then, but the truth is Swift is a full-blown pop star now so she is no longer bound by those constraints. Meanwhile, women — politically outspoken or not — continue to have a hard time getting airplay on country radio.

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Song of the Day #4,093: ‘The Archer’ – Taylor Swift

Continuing my countdown of the songs on Taylor Swift’s Lover.

9. ‘Daylight’ – The album’s delicate closing track looks back at the rocky road — romantically and professionally — Swift has taken to arrive at a place where she finally feels fulfilled. On Lover, Swift seems more self-aware and more at peace than ever, and this song does a lovely job of describing how she got there.

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