Category Archives: random weekends

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Song of the Day #3,410: ‘Family of Me’ – Ben Folds

I like when animated movies make interesting musical choices. Rufus Wainwright delivered a delightful theme song for Meet the Robinsons, Jack Johnson’s ‘Upside Down’ from Curious George is my favorite song of his. The Shrek films feature a treasure trove of excellent song picks, including Counting Crows’ addictive ‘Accidentally in Love.’

In 2006, Ben Folds got into the game, contributing several songs to the soundtrack of Over the Hedge. It’s a sweet, admittedly forgettable, movie but a great showcase for Folds’ pop chops.

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Song of the Day #3,404: ‘One More Night’ – Bob Dylan

nashville_skylineBob Dylan’s closed out the 60s with Nashville Skyline (1969), a short, sweet, straight-up country album featuring a drastically different singing voice.

In the midst of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, just after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, this was viewed as a puzzling move by an artist who just five years earlier was soundtracking the protest era with The Times They Are a’Changin’.

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Song of the Day #3,403: ‘Purple Rain’ – Prince

The Random iTunes Fairy must still be in a tribute mood after this week’s Tom Petty retrospective. Here’s Prince with his classic ‘Purple Rain.’

I was surprised this song hasn’t shown up on the blog before now. In fact, only two songs from the Purple Rain soundtrack (‘Computer Blue’ and ‘The Beautiful Ones’) have been given the Song of the Day treatment, and both of those were on Random Weekends as well.

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Song of the Day #3,397: ‘Hung Up On a Dream’ – The Zombies

Today’s Random Weekend selection hails from The Zombies’ acclaimed 1968 album Odessey and Oracle (their misspelling, not mine).

Like so many famous albums, this one wasn’t widely celebrated upon its release but over the decades it has been recognized as a seminal record in the baroque pop genre.

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Song of the Day #3,396: ‘Never Been Done’ – Ron Sexsmith

These Random Weekend selections have a knack for making me feel old. Today’s track comes from Ron Sexsmith’s album Blue Boy, my introduction to him and probably my favorite of his albums (as introductory records often are). This album was released in 2001 — 16 years ago!

Is it really possible that I discovered Ron Sexsmith before I had my first child? For that matter, is it really possible that my first child is already driving?

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