I suppose every self-respecting gay singer must tackle ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ at some point.
Rufus Wainwright took it a step further, actually recreating Judy Garland’s legendary Carnegie Hall concert song for song in his own appearance at the venue.
Today’s recording is not from that concert but from a bootleg of a more traditional concert.
Every song on Bruce Springsteen’s Devils & Dust lands like a shot to the gut by the protagonist of today’s Song of the Day.
The record is full of mournful tales of hard-luck characters beaten down by life but still struggling for some hint of redemption or, in the case of today’s protagonist, rest.
This album is more like a collection of short stories than a studio recording.
Sugarland really disappeared after they killed all those people at that concert in Indiana.
Their star was already fading at that point… I recall some morbid jokes about the tragedy that the last thing the victims heard before dying was Sugarland. But for awhile there they were on a pretty good run.
I used to have a rule that any time an American singer recorded a song in French, the result was pretentious shit. I’m not even sure what that rule was based on, but I believed it adamantly.
While some would say Billy Joel’s ‘C’Etait Toi (You Were The One)’ should be Exhibit A for my no-French rule, I’ve actually always had a soft spot for that song. I think it stems from the (true?) story that he was booed while singing it in France by a crowd unimpressed with his accent. Fuck you, Frenchies.
It’s funny how whenever I come across a song I don’t know very well, the accompanying YouTube comments always paint it as the most essential recording of all time.
It could be a song considered a classic by many (like today’s SOTD, from The Replacement’s acclaimed album Let It Be) or a song loved by only the artist’s immediate family, by rest assured, somebody will go over the top on YouTube.
Meet Me In Montauk 