Tag Archives: Toad the Wet Sprocket

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Song of the Day #1,124: ‘Fly From Heaven (Live)’ – Toad the Wet Sprocket

It’s funny how you can know, and even love, a song for years and never really grasp what it’s about.

Maybe you just never take the time to really pay attention to the lyrics. Maybe the music works so well that the singer may as well be singing Chinese for all you care. Maybe the words seem too cryptic to bother deciphering.

But one day you pay a little more attention than usual or read something that makes you see the song in a new light, and suddenly its meaning is glaringly obvious. That’s what happened to me recently with Toad the Wet Sprocket’s ‘Fly From Heaven.’

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Song of the Day #993: ‘Windmills’ – Toad the Wet Sprocket

My wife’s car comes with an electronic woman who talks to us. She is the voice of the SYNC technology that runs the radio. We tell her “Play track ‘In My Life'” or “Play artist Justin Bieber” and she replies “Playing track ‘In My Life'” or “Playing artist Justin Bieber.”

We used to think she was a lesbian because when we set her to random, she always played songs by Sarah McLachlan and Indigo Girls. We’ve since changed up the list of songs fed into the system and now she doesn’t seem like a lesbian anymore.

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Song of the Day #411: ‘Stupid’ – Toad the Wet Sprocket

toad2Many songs are written about the most important and profound issues we face… love, loss, the search for meaning, that sort of stuff. A song that touches people on that level is a special thing indeed.

But far less ambitious songs can be special, too.

Toad the Wet Sprocket has released its share of both kinds of songs. In particular, Dulcinea (their best album) is a wonderful mix of depth and frivolity. On the one hand, the album is named after Don Quixote’s lover and features a song called ‘Windmills’ that explores that novel’s most famous metaphor.

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Song of the Day #241: ‘Fly From Heaven’ – Toad the Wet Sprocket

I last featured Toad the Wet Sprocket way back at Song of the Day #18 during a theme week dedicated to my courtship with Alex (such an old-fashioned word, courtship, but it’s a good one).

‘Fly From Heaven’ is the lead-off track on Dulcinea, Toad’s follow-up to Fear. Those two albums are wonderful pieces of work, with Dulcinea getting the edge by a bit because it’s a more focused and mature record. This song is one of my favorites from that CD.

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