Pretty much any Neko Case song transports me to the same imaginary headspace. I picture a quiet autumn night in the woods at dusk, perfect temperature, fireflies blinking on and off, a harvest moon rising.
‘I Wish I Was the Moon,’ from the 2002 album Blacklisted, definitely has that effect on me. It’s exquisitely produced and, as always, beautifully sung. The kind of song you want to get lost in.
Here’s a real tear-jerker from Brad Paisley that falls into one of my favorite categories: Dead or Dumped?
The singer is mourning the loss of a loved one, but is it a death or a break-up? The lyrics favor either interpretation.
So do the YouTube comments, which contain tales of best friends who no longer speak, dumped boyfriends and girlfriends and people who’ve lost members of their family.
I was surprised to discover that through 3,003 Songs of the Day (or 2,083 if you’re going to nitpick… and I’m still digging in to see where those missed numbers came from), I have never featured a track by Billy Pilgrim.
Granted, the band Billy Pilgrim isn’t a household name by any means, but I have enough affection for their debut album that I would have expected them to surface at least once over eight years. Alas, no.
If a prosecutor had to try Sting for pretentiousness, Exhibit A would of course be his lute album.
But Exhibit B may well be ‘They Dance Alone (Gueca Solo),’ from the 1987 album …Nothing Like the Sun. Start with the fact that the album on which it appears is named for a Shakespeare sonnet, then cite its length (seven minutes, 10 seconds), mention that it contains the phrase “Hey Mr. Pinochet” and finally point to the spoken-word interlude. The Spanish-language spoken-word interlude.
The defense would shrug, rest her case and try to make an early movie.
Today’s Random iTunes Selection is the most disturbing song ever recorded by Taylor Swift.
One of two original tracks on her 2007 holiday release Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, ‘Christmas Must Be Something More’ sounds just like a dozen Swiftian pop songs, but its message boils down to a ‘Keep Christ in Christmas’ bumper sticker.
Meet Me In Montauk 