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Song of the Day #4,588: ‘Halfway Home’ – Billy Pilgrim

This song on frequent commenter Dana’s list of favorites jumped out at me as a real blast from the past. I haven’t listened to Billy Pilgrim’s debut album in years, and that’s a shame because it’s wonderful.

That 1994 self-titled debut is one of the best first albums ever by a band that went absolutely nowhere. Billy Pilgrim was dropped by their label three years and one studio album later, with Kristian Bush going on to find success with Sugarland and Andrew Hyra joining the lesser-known Smokin’ Novas.

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Song of the Day #4,587: ‘Hard to Know’ – Mindy Smith

This is the third Mindy Smith track featured on the blog, all three on Random Weekends. Smith is a country rock artist who was born in Long Island and raised in Tennessee by a Protestant minister. The only album I own of hers, 2004’s One Moment More, is filled with allusions to her Christianity.

The song ‘Come to Jesus,’ her biggest hit, showed up on the blog seven years ago and led to a pretty good discussion about satire, with commenters Dana, Amy and Andrea all chiming in.

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Song of the Day #4,586: ‘Avalanche’ – Heather Nova

This is the second time Heather Nova has appeared on the blog, and the first in 10 1/2 years.

Nova is a Bermudian singer-songwriter who spent most of her childhood living on a sailboat in the waters of the Caribbean. That has nothing to do with this song, but it’s a pretty interesting fact. She has been releasing albums for 27 years now, including her latest — Pearl — just two years ago.

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Song of the Day #4,585: ‘Chelsea Morning’ – Joni Mitchell

Of the three lists of favorite songs posted last week, one pick appeared on all of them. That was Elton John’s ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,’ which Amy, Dana and Madison all singled out. The track is one of my very favorite Elton John songs — up there with ‘Tiny Dancer,’ ‘Rocket Man’ and ‘Your Song.’

I’ve posted ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’ before, 12 years ago, so I’m setting it aside today in favor of a track that showed up on two of the three lists.

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Song of the Day #4,584: ‘Saturdays’ – Twin Shadow feat. HAIM

Another favorite song entry from Madison, ‘Saturdays’ is a 2018 release by Twin Shadow, the stage name of singer-songwriter George Lewis Jr.

This song appeared on the soundtrack of the Netflix film Someone Great as well as on Twin Shadow’s most recent album, Caer. I’m not sure if Madison first heard this in the movie, but if so, it’s yet another favorite song with a tie to a movie. There’s definitely something to that connection.

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