Song of the Day #5,238: ‘Beachball’ – R.E.M.

The Random iTunes Fairy has been eavesdropping again, serving up a song related to my recent listening habits.

I’ve been working my way through the entire R.E.M. discography in order, as I suggested I would back in September. And I just recently finished the band’s 2001 album Reveal, on which today’s random selection appears.

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Song of the Day #5,237: ‘Baby Hold On’ – The Chicks

The 2006 album Taking the Long Way was The Chicks’ first following the fallout over lead singer Natalie Maines’ criticism over then-president George W. Bush. Though they had been blacklisted by country radio and received death threats from angry idiots, they ended up recording one of the best-received records of their career.

The album went double-platinum, a far cry from three previous albums that sold three to five times as many copies but still impressive. And it won five Grammys, including Album, Song and Record of the Year. They might have lost a ton of fans, but they gained a ton more.

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