Tag Archives: Hards and Angels

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Song of the Day #1,050: ‘Losing You’ – Randy Newman

If Randy Newman fans hoped Bad Love would be the first in a long string of new releases, they were sorely disappointed. It was a full nine years before Newman released another studio album, 2008’s Harps and Angels.

Harps and Angels picks up pretty much where Bad Love left off, mixing sarcastic talking blues tracks with gorgeous piano-and-strings ballads. It also provided Newman with his first opportunity to comment on the Bush era, and his ‘A Few Words in Defense of Our Country‘ did the job quite well (“the leaders we have, while they’re the worst that we’ve had, are hardly the worst this poor world has seen”).

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Song of the Day #173: ‘A Few Words in Defense of Our Country’ – Randy Newman

newman2Ten Best Songs of 2008 – #9

A full nine years after his last studio album, Randy Newman provided a breath of fresh air in 2008 with his excellent Harps & Angels. Blending his caustic wit and gift for irony with a few very tender moments, he delivered an album even better than 1999’s Bad Love and on par with his great 70s work.

Harps & Angels contains many great songs, but I was most delighted by his summation of the Bush years, ‘A Few Words in Defense of Our Country.’ Having spent the entire Bush administration off the record, so to speak, Newman manages to express his disgust and dismay in a few short minutes.

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