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Song of the Day #4,659: ‘The Story’ – Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile’s first album earned critical raves and landed her supporting roles on tour with big-name artists. It also placed three songs on Grey’s Anatomy, giving her a boost in name recognition as she set about recording her second album. T Bone Burnett took the reins as producer.

The Story, released in 2009, went on to sell 500,000 copies and remains Carlile’s top-selling release to date. The collection of poignant country rock tracks is similar to her debut in style and tone but the quality of both the sound and the songs feels like it’s been turned up a notch.

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Song of the Day #4,658: ‘Someday Never Comes’ – Brandi Carlile

Since I finished my Joni Mitchell series, I’ve been itching to jump into another artist deep dive. I enjoyed navigating the highs and lows of a storied career, and discovering new songs along the way.

I settled on Jackson Browne as my next featured artist. Over 42 years he has released 14 studio albums, most of which I don’t know. That’s three solid weeks of material to cover, and no doubt a treasure trove of great songs I don’t yet know.

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Song of the Day #4,657: ‘Chinese’ – Lily Allen

‘Chinese’ is one of my favorite tracks from Lily Allen’s 2009 album It’s Not Me, It’s You. I like it even more after learning, just now, that it’s about her mother.

I always assumed it was about a romantic relationship, but the lyrics about returning home to a comforting meal, relaxing, and being lovingly reassured make a lot more sense when you know she’s writing about a parent.

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Song of the Day #4,656: ‘What is This Thing Called Love?’ – Frank Sinatra

‘What is This Thing Called Love?’ is a Cole Porter tune written for the 1929 musical Wake Up and Dream. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle, and you can listen to that version here.

The song has been recorded by plenty of artists over the years, and was particularly popular with jazz musicians in the 30s, in versions both fast and slow. Billie Holiday put her indelible stamp on it in the 40s.

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Song of the Day #4,655: ‘Black Cat’ – Janet Jackson

In addition to individual songs, the Library of Congress adds whole albums to the National Recording Registry. This year, albums by Jackson Browne, Jimmy Cliff and Nas were among those inducted.

Also honored was Janet Jackson’s 1989 album Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (that’s a mouthful of a title). As I noted a couple of years ago, I have a huge blindspot when it comes to Janet Jackson, not realizing exactly how major an impact she has had both commercially and creatively. Clearly the Library of Congress doesn’t share my ignorance.

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