Category Archives: sexsmith weekends

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Song of the Day #1,038: ‘Clown in Broad Daylight’ – Ron Sexsmith

Despite the playful implication of its title, Ron Sexsmith’s Other Songs was far from a sophomore slump. I’d rank it up there as one of his two or three best albums.

It features several beautiful little slices of life, such as ‘Pretty Little Cemetery,’ in which a father and son share a moment while walking through a cemetery on vacation, and ‘Strawberry Blonde,’ in which the singer spots a childhood crush on a bus years later.

I imagine today’s song came to Sexsmith all at once after spotting a clown in broad daylight at a car wash — an odd, incongruous image that made him smile. And he turned that into a couple of minutes of jaunty delight, adding in a horn part that’s appropriate to the circus theme.

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Song of the Day #1,037: ‘Thinking Out Loud’ – Ron Sexsmith

I’m not sure exactly when I was first introduced to Ron Sexsmith. I know it was thanks to Elvis Costello, who for years has trumpeted Sexsmith so effusively that he should be getting a cut of the man’s album sales. But I don’t recall the year or the album.

However, I remember buying Other Songs, Sexsmith’s second studio album, released in 1997, and figuring it would help me determine whether or not this guy was the real deal. And when the opening track, ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ poured out of my car stereo speakers, I became a fan for life.

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Song of the Day #1,031: ‘Speaking With the Angel’ – Ron Sexsmith

‘Speaking With the Angel’ is the most enduring track from Ron Sexsmith’s studio debut. It has been covered by several artists and adopted as an anthem for such causes as Christianity and autism.

Author Nick Hornby borrowed the title for a book of short stories (by various writers) with the proceeds going to a school for autistic chlidren. Hornby’s own son is autistic (and a student at the school) and in the introduction he described this track as “heart-meltingly relevant” to his son’s condition.

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Song of the Day #1,030: ‘Several Miles’ – Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith’s first album was an independent release titled Grand Opera Lane that I have yet to get my hands on. It was recorded with a band called The Uncool, and that pretty much sums up Sexsmith himself.

His first studio release was a self-titled disc released in 1995. I consider this Sexsmith’s worst album, though in a Sure Thing “this is the ugliest girl in California” postcard kind of way. There is a roughness and uncertainty about it (though, admittedly, that’s also part of its charm).

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Song of the Day #1,024: ‘Secret Heart’ – Ron Sexsmith

I’m sticking with Ron Sexsmith’s appearance on Elvis Costello’s Spectacle for my second selection this weekend.

Today’s track is the first song on Sexsmith’s self-titled 1995 major label debut. ‘Secret Heart’ is a simple, lovely ballad about unrequited love. It has been covered by Rod Stewart and Feist, among others.

This half-circle of songwriters with guitars on Spectacle intrigues me. Sheryl Crow, Jesse Winchester, Neko Case, Costello and Sexsmith took turns playing their own songs and each other’s while the rest of the group (and the audience) quietly watched.

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