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Song of the Day #1,102: ‘The Edge of Glory’ – Lady Gaga

Note: This is the second week of my series of summer singles.

I haven’t gotten around to reviewing the new Lady GaGa album, Born This Way, but that’s not because it isn’t a worthy effort. On the contrary, it takes her music in some interesting new directions.

Actually, I should say some interesting old directions because GaGa, after all the techno dance pop of her first two discs, has remodeled herself as a cross between Pat Benatar and Bruce Springsteen. ‘Born This Way’ (the song) was a straight-up rewrite of Madonna’s ‘Express Yourself’ but the rest of the album channels the 80s rock bombast of those other MTV heroes.

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Song of the Day #1,101: ‘I’m Gonna Miss Her’ – Brad Paisley

So Brad Paisley wrote almost a whole album of breakup songs, inspired by his failed relationship with a woman he took to see Father of the Bride.

And when it came time to shoot the video for one of those songs — the tongue-in-cheek ‘I’m Gonna Miss Her,’ in which he is forced to choose between his girlfriend and fishing — he thought about that movie again.

The actress playing the titular bride, Kimberly Williams, seemed like a lovely young woman — why not invite her to appear in his video?

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Song of the Day #1,100: ‘You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive’ – Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley’s second album, 2001’s Part II, further entrenched the styles he touched on in his debut and would explore throughout his career, but introduced a new focus on the album as a thematic unit. A man after my own heart, Paisley is a fan of albums as works of art unto themselves, not just collections of songs.

The story behind the concept of Part II is almost too good to be true. Paisley had seen Father of the Bride with a woman who later left him. When the sequel came out, he says he went to the same theater on the same day as that previous date with the silly notion that maybe she’d be there, too, and they could rekindle their romance. She wasn’t, and they didn’t.

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Song of the Day #1,099: ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’ – Katy Perry

I mentioned Katy Perry in yesterday’s Nicki Minaj post as the artist with whom big hooky choruses have become synonymous. Perry, over the course of a couple of years, has become the summer hit-maker all others envy.

Last summer’s defining song was her ‘California Gurls‘ and I would not be at all surprised if this summer she earned that crown once again with ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’

Perry recently released the ambitious video for this song, which includes cameos by Glee stars Darren Criss and Kevin McHale, Kenny G, Corey Feldman, Debbie Gibson, Hanson and Rebecca Black. Now that’s a random guest list.

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Song of the Day #1,098: ‘Super Bass’ – Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj scares the hell out of me.

I think it’s her mouth, which seems about three sizes too large for her face. And of course there are all those freaky voices she uses when rapping. I’m sure she’d consider “frightening” a compliment.

I’d use a much different adjective to describe her body, which is the sort of post-modern bodacious Varga girl spectacle that makes men say “DAAAYUM!” and bite their fists with mounting frustration.

I don’t have a handy adjective for her music, because thus far I know her only through her work on other people’s records.

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