Tag Archives: Simple Song

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Song of the Day #6,542: ‘Simple Song’ – Lyle Lovett

If you had told me 20 years ago that one day more than 20 percent (seven out of 30) of my ’30 Greatest Living American Songwriters’ would be from the Country/Country Adjacent category, I’d have called you crazy. But here we are.

Several of these artists would be more accurately labeled as Americana or country folk, but they all got their start very much in the traditional country space. And when a great songwriter taps into the emotional directness of the genre, special things happen.

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Song of the Day #1,637: ‘Simple Song’ – The Shins

port_of_morrowTop Songs of 2012 – #2

My second favorite song of the year comes from my second favorite album, The Shins’ Port of Morrow. Singer/songwriter James Mercer outdid himself on this album, shedding the backing musicians who’d accompanied him on the previous Shins albums then crafting the band’s best work yet.

Though Port of Morrow‘s songs run the gamut content-wise, its finest moment belongs to the most old-fashioned topic of all — the love song.

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