Whenever a Random Weekend selection pops up, I first search the blog to make sure I haven’t featured it before. I’ve been doing this long enough that I’ve completely forgotten writing about some songs.
When I searched for “Texas,” because the album featuring this song is called Live in Texas, five of the first dozen or so results were Lyle Lovett songs. Some had Texas in the title, some had it in the lyrics, some included references to Texas by me.
I don’t think there is any band or solo artist whose music can instantly put me in a specific emotional and mental zone the way R.E.M. can.
To be more specific, this is true for any R.E.M. album release between 1983 and 1996 (in other words, the Michael Mills years). Once Mills left, either because of his absence or by coincidence, the band lost that special alchemy for me.
It’s weird to hear any song from Side Two of Abbey Road on its own (with the exception of ‘Here Comes the Sun’). ‘Because’ isn’t an official segment of the 16-minute medley that makes up most of Side Two, but it may as well be.
John Lennon said that the inspiration for this track came to him when he heard Yoko playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ on the piano. He ask her to play the chords backward and built the song around that progression.
In 16 days, I’ll reach the two-year anniversary of Random Weekends. Reaching 2,000 Songs of the Day was an impressive milestone, but somehow the two years of Random Weekends throws me even more.
That’s because I can remember very clearly deciding to move off of artist-specific weekends and into random mode. And it feels like that was just the other day.
Today’s Random Weekend selection is a demo version of one of my favorite Elvis Costello songs, ‘Riot Act.’
In his liner notes for two separate re-releases of Get Happy!!, the album on which ‘Riot Act’ appeared, Costello has high praise for this version.
This is his take:
Meet Me In Montauk 