Category Archives: random weekends

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Song of the Day #4,881: ‘The Night’s Too Long’ – Lucinda Williams

‘The Night’s Too Long’ is one of two songs on Lucinda Williams’ self-titled 1988 album to become hits for other artists.

Patty Loveless recorded this track for her 1990 album On Down the Line and put it on the country charts for 19 weeks.

Two years later, Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded ‘Passionate Kisses’ for the album Come On Come On and found success on not just the country chart, but Adult Contemporary and the Billboard Hot 100. That recording won Williams a songwriting Grammy for Best Country Song.

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Song of the Day #4,880: ‘Swan Swan H’ – R.E.M.

‘Swan Swan H’ is the penultimate track on R.E.M.’s 1986 album Lifes Rich Pageant, though it was listed last on the packaging because a cover of the song ‘Superman’ was left off.

This album was the band’s fourth, and the first to move into more rock territory after the murky alternative pop of their first three releases. I slotted this album as #3 on my list of R.E.M. releases when I ranked them back in 2008.

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Song of the Day #4,874: ‘This Old House’ – Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn has released 50 studio albums during her nearly 60-year career, including one the 89-year-old released this past March.

It’s funny how traditional notions of retirement don’t really apply to the arts. You don’t see a popular musician hit 65 and hang up the guitar to settle down in Florida.

I guess if the money is good and you love what you do, why stop?

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Song of the Day #4,873: ‘Smoking Jacket’ – Miranda Lambert

This is the eighth song I’ve posted from Miranda Lambert’s 2016 double album The Weight of These Wings, and the fourth on a Random Weekend.

A couple of years back, I named this album the best of the 2010s, an easy call. There isn’t a weak track among its 24 songs, even as it jumps around between atmospheric ballads, traditional Americana, and country pop.

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Song of the Day #4,867: ‘I Will Stay’ – Shelby Lynne

Which Random Weekend song will scare us on this Halloween morning?

It’s ‘I Will Stay,’ surprisingly the first song I’ve featured from Shelby Lynne’s 2003 album Identity Crisis.

Singer-songwriter Lynne toiled for a decade, releasing five albums, before having her breakthrough with 1999’s excellent, bluesy I Am Shelby Lynne. She was amusingly nominated for, and wound up winning, Best New Artist at that year’s Grammys.

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