Category Archives: song of the day

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Song of the Day #6,173: ‘Unchained Melody’ – Al Hibbler

Throwing back to the week of May 31, 1955, we find a quartet of repeats atop the Billboard chart: Perez Pablo’s ‘Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White,‘ Les Baxter’s ‘Unchained Melody,’ Georgia Gibbs’ ‘Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower),’ and Bill Hayes’ ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett.’

I mentioned in the Les Baxter post that multiple versions of ‘Unchained Melody’ were kicking around the top ten that spring, and this week at #5 we find another of them. Al Hibbler’s take was the top-performing vocal version of the song until the Righteous Brothers came along a decade later.

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Song of the Day #6,172: ‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)’ – Fiona Apple

In the five years since Fiona Apple released new original music, she has spent much of her time on social advocacy. That includes volunteering for Courtwatch PG, a Maryland-based charity that has people report on court proceedings to shine a light on injustices.

That experience inspired Apple to write and record her first song in half a decade, ‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home),’ a track calling attention to the hardships faced by (mostly Black) women jailed in pretrial detention, unable to afford bail.

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Song of the Day #6,171: ‘Heart of Gold’ – Fiona Apple

Neil Young is an artist whose music I appreciate but whose voice I often can’t stand. So an album of Neil Young covers might be just what the doctor ordered.

That’s what we got last month in Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, a collection featuring performances by Brandi Carlile, Eddie Vedder, Steve Earle, Mumford & Sons, and others. All proceeds benefit a charity established by the 79-year-old Young and his wife.

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Song of the Day #6,170: ‘All in Good Time’ – Iron & Wine feat. Fiona Apple

This Fiona Apple selection is a little less recent than the rest, having been released a year ago. It’s a duet with indie folk artist Iron & Wine that appeared on his 2024 album Light Verse.

Iron & Wine is the stage name of South Carolina folkie Samuel Ervin Beam, who has been recording for 23 years. He has been compared to some of my favorite artists, including Elliott Smith and Simon & Garfunkel, so I’m kicking myself for not having listened to him before now.

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Song of the Day #6,169: ‘Lately’ – Fiona Apple

My next Fiona Apple selection comes from a tribute album released last August honoring the career of Don Heffington, a Los Angeles drummer and songwriter who died of leukemia in 2021.

That album, titled Tonight I’ll Go Down Swingin’, features 20 tracks by artists who knew and/or worked with Heffington, including Jackson Browne and the actor John C. Reilly.

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