Category Archives: random weekends

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Song of the Day #5,182: ‘Say What You Say’ – Eminem

Today’s random weekend selection is a cut from Eminem’s 2002 album The Eminem Show, his fourth studio release and second straight to reach diamond status. This was Eminem’s biggest album, selling 27 million copies worldwide, and marks a time when he was basically the biggest name in the music industry.

‘Say What You Say’ is one of the less memorable tracks on The Eminem Show. A diss track about producer Jermaine Dupri on which Eminem splits verses with Dr. Dre, it has some clever lines but a forgettable chorus and little of the clever wordplay or heightened emotion that made Eminem a special talent.

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Song of the Day #5,181: ‘Cloudy’ – Simon & Garfunkel

Here’s a lovely track from Simon & Garfunkel’s 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, the duo’s third release and second to contain almost exclusively songs written by Paul Simon.

Today’s song, ‘Cloudy,’ was co-written by Simon and Bruce Woodley of the Australian folk quarter The Seekers. They recorded their own version of the track a year later. Woodley and Simon wrote three songs together, including ‘Red Rubber Ball,’ a #2 hit for American rock band The Cyrkle.

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Song of the Day #5,175: ‘Sombra De Ti’ – Shakira

Shakira is the only artist I have consistently listened to in a language other than English. In fact, I prefer the albums she has recorded in her native Spanish over her English-language projects.

I don’t know if that speaks to something unique in Shakira’s music that helps me get over that barrier, or if I just haven’t spent enough time listening to other artists in their native tongues. Maybe a bit of both.

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Song of the Day #5,174: ‘Middle Cyclone’ – Neko Case

Today’s random weekend selection is the title track of Neko Case’s 2009 album Middle Cyclone, her fifth solo release. This album was the follow-up to 2006’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, my favorite Case album.

Recorded partly in a barn in Vermont, Middle Cyclone has the same earthy richness that makes all of Case’s work so resonant. Her powerful but melancholy vocals are the perfect complement to the music.

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Song of the Day #5,168: ‘The Man in the Looking Glass’ – Frank Sinatra

The Random iTunes Fairy is looking ahead to my 50th birthday this December and serving up a track from Frank Sinatra’s 1965 album September of My Years. Sinatra released this album in August of that year, ahead of his own 50th birthday that December. A nifty coincidence.

Turning 50 in 1965 isn’t the same as turning 50 in 2022, so I like to think I’m not entering the September of my years, exactly, but more like the early July.

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