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Song of the Day #4,593: ‘drivers license’ – Olivia Rodrigo

I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled Random Weekend in order to feature a pair of songs blowing up in the cultural conversation, at least among the TikTok generation.

First up is the song that really matters, Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license.’ Written by the 17-year-old star of a Disney+ show with the incredible title High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, this heartbreak ballad has exploded over the past few weeks, debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and becoming the top-selling single in the entire world.

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Song of the Day #4,592: ‘Eyes Wide Open’ – Gotye

A couple of years ago I posted a Gotye song during a theme week on future one-hit wonders. I predicted that his ‘Somebody That I Used to Know‘ will stand the test of time but he’ll otherwise be forgotten.

Madison jumped to his defense on that post, calling him one of her favorite artists and calling out the song ‘Eyes Wide Open’ as worthy of hit status. She called it “a painfully relevant song” and said “It’ll never become a hit because people don’t like to think about our flaws as a humanity.”

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Song of the Day #4,591: ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ – Squeeze

This selection from Dana’s list of favorite songs stood out to me. I’m very curious to hear what it is about Squeeze’s ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ that earned it a spot in the elite 25.

Not that I don’t like this song myself. On the contrary, I love it. I just don’t love it any more or less that a dozen other wonderful Squeeze songs. Why ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ and not ‘Another Nail in My Heart,’ ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),’ ‘Tempted,’ ‘Is That Love,’ ‘Someone Else’s Heart’ or ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ for example?

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Song of the Day #4,590: ‘A Long December’ – Counting Crows

It’s been tough to find songs to highlight from my sister Amy’s list of favorites because most of them have shown up on the blog already, many of them a decade or so back.

I bet Amy’s list would have looked almost exactly the same 15 years ago, which says something about how often she explores new music. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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Song of the Day #4,589: ‘Orpheus’ – Sara Bareilles

Today’s track was chosen as a favorite by Madison. ‘Orpheus’ appears on Sara Bareilles’ 2019 Amidst the Chaos and features a lyric that gave the album its title.

Amidst the Chaos was inspired by the 2016 election and its aftermath, and this song is an aching plea for optimism and love in the face of all that Trumpian ugliness. It feels great to feature ‘Orpheus’ a week after Trump slithered away, smaller than ever, and the country celebrated the inspiring inauguration of President Biden.

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