Here You Come Again - Millie Jackson

Here You Come Again - Millie Jackson

3:10

Get It Out'cha System, 1978

Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, 1975

Dolly Parton had a hit with this song in 1977, but I come to this one fresh.  This one, a rousing soul number with disco grooves and gospel-tinged backing vocals, showcases Jackson's vocals.  Her voice isn't a towering powerhouse like those of Aretha Franklin or Irma Thomas, but she can definitely belt it out, and delivers her lines with precision and confidence.  The song is directed at a sly lothario who returns whispering sweet nothings when the lady's defenses are down: "Here you come again, just when I'm about to make it work without you / You look into my eyes and lie those pretty lies."  Despite the lyric, Jackson sounds powerful and enthused; maybe she wants us to know that she's more in control than she lets on.

Humbug Mountain Song - Fruit Bats

Humbug Mountain Song - Fruit Bats

3:04

Absolute Loser, 2016

Written by Eric D. Johnson

This gem of a song might be called alt-Americana, with poetic lyrics over uptempo, minor-key banjo, guitar, and drums. The lyrics evoke coming into being, knowing you're alive, maybe an epiphany born of being struck by love.  "The next thing I knew the stars were eyes up in the night / And the ocean breathing heavy like a beast."  There's an energetic wistfulness here, a melodic nostalgia for some unspecified moment freed from the bounds of linear time and space.

Going To Canada - Joe Louis Walker

Going To Canada - Joe Louis Walker

3:54

JLW, 1994

Written by Joe Louis Walker

This is a burning electric blues with hints of both Chicago and Delta traditions fused together.  It features some expert harmonica work by the great James Cotton backing up Walker's traditional blues guitar licks.  It's a sentiment that's all too easy to share right now.  Just get out, take Highway five up through Seattle.  They can't hold me here, at least for now.  "I gotta get on up outta here, peoples / Just to soothe my worried mind."  I agree; when can we leave?

Goodbye Don't Mean I'm Gone - Carole King

Goodbye Don't Mean I'm Gone - Carole King

3:33

Rhymes & Reasons, 1972

Written by Carole King

This is a gentle folk-rock song about an amicable breakup: "I'll never be what you think you see in me / If I can help you deal with what you see as real / That makes me glad to have known you."  It elegantly captures the time when two people realize they've grow apart, have different goals, or simply have found themselves on different paths.  There's still fondness, but the union is no longer possible.  King delivers the lines with a bittersweet finality; there's no room left for aches and regrets.  "It's all I can do to be a mother:"

Gonna Tell Your Mother - Jimmy McCracklin

Gonna Tell Your Mother - Jimmy McCracklin

2:37

single, 1955

Written by McCracklin and Saul Bihari

This is a bumping jump blues about a fellow whose lady has been treating him bad.  Instead of blustering or threatening, as in so many songs of this era, he vows instead to tattle to her mother.  There's an answering chorus in the lyrics: "Gonna tell your mama how you've been treatin' poor me / (Don't do that, she might get mad)."  Alas, the lighthearted moment passes, and we get to the requisite threatening: "If you done me wrong, well then you're six feet in the ground / (Don't do that, I might get mad)."  One line here jumped out at me because it evokes, in both words and in phrasing,  J.B. Lenoir's "Mama Talk to Your Daughter," from the same year: "Gonna talk to her daughter." I wonder if one inspired the other?

Girls - David Bowie

Girls - David Bowie

4:17

single, 1987

Written by David Bowie and Erdal Kızılçay

This song was written for Tina Turner, who released it a year earlier.  It's a lightweight, nonspecific ode to the mysteries of girls, how they "come and go" and cause pain.  Bowie paraphrases the famous Blade Runner quotation to describe his narrator's view of the ephemeral nature of these girls: "My heart suspended in time / Like you vanish like tears in the rain."  It's not one of his finer moments, and the keyboard and saxophone combine in a overblown yet watered-down neo-soul, but of course Bowie's magnificent voice carries this thing to the finish line.

Girl - Rhett Miller

Girl - Rhett Miller

2:59

This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul, 2005

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

An entirely unnecessary but pleasant and genial cover of the Beatles classic, with a fuller instrumentation and Miller's earnest, conversational voice replacing the lads' Liverpudlian ache.  Also, he eschews, thankfully, the hissed intake of breath after the "girl" in the chorus, a production choice which I never understood in the original. As an affectionate, unpretentious interpretation, this song reminds you how sturdy the underlying composition really is.

Get Famous - Mountain Goats

Get Famous - Mountain Goats

3:19

Getting Into Knives, 2020

Written by John Darnielle

This song is a satirical jab at someone who puts ego and ambition above all else.  "Light up the sky like a comet / Make yourself want to vomit / Shine like a cursed star . Show everybody exactly who you are."   Darnielle delivers the words this one with more emotion than typical, and the song is punched up with sharp, bluesy brass lines, giving it a full sound.  The song references Wesley Willis, whom Darnielle explained he uses as inspiration to write second-person, accusatory songs.

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
3:57
Franz Ferdinand, 2004
Written by Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy, Paul Thomson

This song starts out with about a minute of post-punk energy very much in the vein of the Strokes.  Then it stutters to a slow, until bursting out into an uptempo, sharp, stalking, danceable guitar riff.  The contrast of the two tempos and riffs is what grabs everyone's attention in print, although to me it's just a pretty interesting intro and segue; I didn't think much of it.  The lyrics are inspired by a sniper battle as metaphor for a kind of adversarial romantic situation: "And if you leave here / You leave me broken, shattered I lie / I'm just a crosshair / I'm just a shot, then we can die."  It's a strong song for a debut, all art-rock cool and pure pop instinct.  It's architectural in its precision, but still immediate and visceral.

That's a Pretty Good Love - Big Maybelle

That's a Pretty Good Love - Big Maybelle

2:35

Blues, Candy & Big Maybelle, 1956

Written by Fred Mendelsohn and Buddy Lucas

The uptempo rocking rhythm & blues song has stinging guitar, riffing saxophones and a rollicking drum.  A member of the band shouts out vocal prompts and questions like "Baby, my love will last (How long?) / Long as life in my body (You swear?)" between Maybelle's vocal, turning the performance into a live conversation, giving it an immediacy that draws the listener in.  But her raw, powerful, intense vocal is really what makes the song.  In a just world where "race music" wasn't pushed aside for watered-down white versions, Maybelle would have been bigger than Elvis.  The charisma, power, and emotional immediacy were all there. Records like this prove she didn’t need translation.