This song, the closing track of Sarah McLachlan’s 2010 album Laws of Illusion, is the only one on that album not written by McLachlan. It was originally penned and recorded by English singer-songwriter Susan Enan.
McLachlan sings backing vocals on Enan’s version, a piano/guitar ballad I prefer to the glossy remake on Laws of Illusion.
This is the third Random Weekend selection from John Hiatt’s 2000 album Crossing Muddy Waters. It pops up about once every two years.
And each time I have the same reaction, which is to be really impressed by the songwriting and sound and pledge to do a deeper dive into Hiatt’s catalog.
Well, here I am in early 2021 having the same reaction. This time, I’m going to write down “John Hiatt deep dive” in my blog planning notes and hope to actually follow through.
Fountains of Wayne’s fifth and final album, 2011’s Sky Full of Holes, is the one I know least. It’s nice, then, to see it pop up on a Random Weekend and treat me to a “new” song.
‘Hate to See You Like This’ is a sweet plea to a loved one who is suffering from depression. I like that the music is more power pop upbeat than you would expect from the lyrics.
Maybe it’s the David Byrne American Utopia movie released earlier this year, or maybe it’s pandemic-related, but I’ve been really digging on Talking Heads lately.
When today’s song — the opening track of the 1979 album Fear of Music — popped up as a Random Weekend selection, I was positively giddy. With lyrics based on a nonsensical Dadaist poem by Hugo Ball and music inspired by the African rhythms Byrne was increasingly drawn to, this song is unlike anything the band had done to that point, but still perfectly in character.
This track from John Lennon’s 1971 solo album Imagine is 18 days too late to officially mark the 40th anniversary of his death, but it will have to do.
It’s hard to believe that John Lennon has now been dead for exactly as long as he was alive. When I see that something happened in 1980, it doesn’t seem all that long ago, but then I realize we’re a full two decades into the new millennium. Damn, that happened fast.
Meet Me In Montauk 