Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett

Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett

2:37

Volcano, 1979

Written by Jimmy Buffett

One of Buffett's funnier songs, this one depicts a man going stir crazy, yearning for warmer climates, as his band orders tropical cocktails and watches hockey.  "Lately, newspaper mentioned cheap air fare / I gotta to fly to Saint Somewhere / I'm close to bodily harm."  It was inspired by real events — Buffett was stuck in Boston in the winter, and stole a taxi he found idling in the street rather than stay cooped up one minute longer.  Beneath the breezy melody is an all-too-real portrait of a man whose surroundings and yearning for something better drive him to desperation, making the song both one of Buffett's catchiest singalongs and one of his sharpest comic character sketches.

Baby We're Really In Love - Hank Williams

Baby We're Really In Love - Hank Williams

single, 1951

Written by Hank Williams

With lyrics evoking the goofy talk of the doe-eyed fallen hard into puppy love ("I run around in circles / And turn in fire alarms / I'm nutty as a fruitcake / When you're not in my arms"), I doubt that Hank wrote a song as cheerful as this one.  Its brisk honky-tonk energy could even be said to hint at rock 'n' roll tempo, and in the message there's even a winking hint at sex — in country music, circle 1951, gasp!

Bourama - Kora Jazz Trio

Bourama - Kora Jazz Trio

4:40

Part IV, 2018

Written by Kora Jazz Trio

The Trio is made up of members from Senegal and Guinea who blend the rhythmic language of West Africa with the harmonic sophistication of American jazz.  This song is heavy on the balafon, an instrument akin to a xylophone.  The shimmering kora, a stringed instrument, converses with Western piano lines.  The name Bourama is linked to the Mandinka language family (found in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and the Gambia), where it can be interpreted as "the noble one" or "the respected one."

Sh-Boom - The Chords

Sh-Boom - The Chords

2:25

single, 1954

Written by James Keyes, Claude & Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and William Edwards

A rocking doo-wop declaration of love: "If only all my precious plans would come true / If you would let me spend my whole life lovin' you."  Sure, that's all well and good, but luckily they had the presence of mind to include the immortal words "Bom ba / Hey nonny ling long, alang alang alanga / Oh oh a dip, a bibba do a dip."  The Chords begin with a cappella harmonies before the band eases in, giving the song the feeling of a neighborhood street-corner performance that suddenly blossoms into a full production. The lead vocal has an easy, conversational warmth, while the full vocals brim with an irresistible excitement.  A sultry bass bridge takes center stage, the calm before the whole band takes over again .  Later in 1954, a palatably white version was recorded by the Crew-Cuts, but history has favored the original.

Speedoo - The Cadillacs

Speedoo - The Cadillacs

2:18

The Fabulous Cadillacs, 1955

Written by Esther Navarro

If you've ever heard the Paul Simon line "She called him Speedoo / But his Christian name / Was Mr. Earl" in the terrific song "Was a Sunny Day," and wondered what that was all about, this uptempo doo-wop is the inspiration.  Very commonly but always incorrectly listed as "Speedo," it's sung by Earl Carroll and tells of a lothario who moves fast, taking other people's girls: "Well now, they often call me Speedoo / 'Cause I don't believe in wastin' time."  Its got one of the catchiest choruses in doo-wop.

Traveling Mood - Dr. John

Traveling Mood - Dr. John

2:52

In the Right Place, 1973

Written by James Waynes, 1961

This song was written by James Waynes, who recorded under a few variations of his name.  He succumbed to alcoholism and mental issues, and died at 58.  Dr. John makes it a funky, laid-back number with whistling and lots of boogie-woogie piano fills.  It's a typical blues plaint, about how his baby gone done and left him, and he's looking all over the world to find her, but Waynes' playful lyrics make it stand out: "Said that she'd never leave me / Now she's gone away to grieve me / I was fast asleep / When she begun her midnight creep."

Silver Moon - Michael Nesmith and the First National Band

Silver Moon - Michael Nesmith and the First National Band

3:14

Loose Salute, 1970

Written by Michael Nesmith

Over pedal steel and piano, Nesmith croons a country-flavored soft pop tune of leave-taking that subtly evokes "Everybody's Talkin'," at least until that uptempo chorus kicks in.  "See the dust around my feet go churning / Moving with the winds down the highways of goodbye."  It's a bittersweet tearjerker in the old tradition, with Nesmith in a clear strong voice with a crack band behind him.  Not bad for a Monkee.

Jump Through the Hoops - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Jump Through the Hoops - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

4:11

Question the Answers, 1994

Written by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman

Starting off with a blast of horns, this is the cri de coeur of a working man who hits the daily grind from nine to five (though one verse implies he's a bartender, a job that doesn't typically have those hours).  He's got his pride.  He'd rather lay down and die than sit up and beg, even though he doesn't have a minute's rest.  As is typical with the 'Tones, the lyrics are full of the internal rhyme and assonance that Barrett loves to spit out in his rapid-fire growl: "It's up and out, rise and shine, on the double / No time to slack, attack, and tackle the trouble / Shake myself out of bed again."

Fight Fire - The Golliwogs

Fight Fire - The Golliwogs
2:32

single, 1965

Written by John Fogerty and Tom Fogerty

Perhaps more than any other band, the Golliwog story shows how the name of a band can be a deciding factor in its success.  The group toiled in obscurity for years before achieving multiple hits almost immediately after changing their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Calling themselves the Blue Velvets, they originally played blues and New Orleans jazz-influenced rock.  At that point, Tommy Fogerty was more of the leader than John.  When they signed with Fantasy, they wanted to change their name to the Visions, but the label made the decision for them: they'd be credited as the Golliwogs.  This song has much more in common with British Invasion psychedelia than the sharp guitar lines and churning swamp rock they'd be known for once John's genius took the reins; indeed, it was later featured on the box set Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968.

Delta Dawn - Tanya Tucker

Delta Dawn - Tanya Tucker

2:58

Delta Dawn, 1972

Written by Alex Harvey and Larry Collins

Between 1972 and 1973, three talented divas had hits with this song: Bette Midler, Helen Reddy, and Tucker.  The song has a grim history. Alex Harvey said he wrote the song about his mother, who was an alcoholic and lived "as if she had a suitcase in her hand but nowhere to put it down."  Ten years before Harvey wrote the song, he was performing but told his mother not to come, fearing she'd get drunk and embarrass him. That night she died in a car crash (some sources say suicide).  For years Harvey suffered from guilt over the incident, until a cathartic incident the night he wrote the song.  The title character is a faded former Southern belle who remains obsessed with the long-ago memory of a suitor who jilted her: "She's forty-one, and her daddy still calls her baby / All the folks around Brownsville say she's crazy."  Tucker begins with the chorus, unaccompanied except by gospel-style backing vocals, giving the song an eerie, Southern Gothic feel right from the start.