A nice Random Weekend selection today from Bob Dylan’s album The Basement Tapes, which was released in 1975 but largely recorded in 1966. Dylan was backed by members of The Band on many of these songs, which were recorded in various homes in Woodstock, New York.
‘Tears of Rage,’ the closing track of Disc One, was written by Dylan and Richard Manuel. It is widely interpreted as an indictment of American materialism in the aftermath of the Vietnam war.
Today’s Random Weekend selection is the best-known song from one of the best albums of the 90s, Sarah McLachlan’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. This is a bonus track, a piano and vocals version of lead single ‘Possession.’ It strips away the glorious production of the original but is no less powerful. Maybe more so.
McLachlan wrote this song in the voice of an obsessed fan, something she unfortunately had plenty of back in the day.
After trotting out the songs that make us happy yesterday, you might have predicted that today’s installment of the 30 Day Music Challenge would call for ‘A Song That Makes You Sad.’
As a self-professed lover of melancholy music, I have no shortage of songs to choose from today. Many of my favorite artists (think Aimee Mann and Belle & Sebastian) are known for writing sad songs. But I decided to reach back to a classic from well before my time.
We go from songs about drugs and alcohol to a much nicer topic on Day Nine of the 30 Day Music Challenge. Today’s task is to name ‘A Song That Makes You Happy.’
If you had told me six months ago I’d be choosing an Eagles song for this category, I would have called you crazy. Back then the band would more likely show up under ‘A Song You Think is Overrated’ or ‘A Song By a Popular Band You Dislike’ (those aren’t real categories, as far as I know, but they could be).
Things turn a bit darker on Day Eight of the 30 Day Music Challenge, as we are asked to come up with ‘A Song About Drugs Or Alcohol.’ Sure, there are plenty of fun drinking songs, but my mind went immediately to more cautionary tales.
No artist in my music collection is more appropriate for this category than Elliott Smith, whose heroin addiction informed so many of his songs.
Meet Me In Montauk 