My Man - He's a Lovin' Man - Bettye LaVette

My Man - He's a Lovin' Man - Bettye LaVette

2:41

single, 1962

Written by Johnnie Mae Matthews and James Bennett

This single was credited to Betty LaVett, no extraneous final Es.  A slice of 1960s soul with some blues belting.  LaVette's vocal delivery on this record is like a tinny, muted Aretha, but if she sounds rather girlish compared to the Queen of Soul here, it's because she's a mere sixteen at the time of the recording.  LaVette's story is full of missed chances and denied opportunities, but at least she got some recognition and a second act after all that.

Month Of May - Arcade Fire

Month Of May - Arcade Fire

3:51

The Suburbs, 2010

Written by Sarah Neufeld, Richard Reed Parry, Jeremy Gara, Win Butler, Will Butler, Régine Chassagne and Tim Kingsbury

This strikes me as a song of despair and hopelessness.  A wild wind blows and tears down the wires.  Can't inspire anyone.  "Well, I know it's heavy, I know it ain't light / But how you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight?"  Too hip to help, maybe?  Too cool to get involved?  Driving endlessly around.  Seems more in tune with the vast prairies of middle America, the badlands, than the suburbs.  

My Mustang Ford - Chuck Berry

My Mustang Ford - Chuck Berry

2:16

Fresh Berry's, 1965

Written by Chuck Berry

One of rock's innumerable car songs, this one made fresh by Berry's dry wit: "I tried to stop in Indianapolis once, and had to back up from Terre Haute / But now I can slow and stop her with my windbreaker parachute."  Eat your heart out, little deuce coupe!  Is it one of Berry's finest songs?  No, it's pretty rote and features a standard, primitive Berry riff.  But it's fun!

Memphis Beat - Jerry Lee Lewis

Memphis Beat - Jerry Lee Lewis

2:52

Memphis Beat, 1966

Written by Allen Reynolds, Dickey Lee, and Milton Addington

A boogie-woogie ode to Memphis music, like a distant great-uncle of "Nashville Cats."  The opening lyrics would fit perfectly in a Chuck Berry rocker: "Down the Mississippi where the water gets muddy / Forty-four school where the kids don't study."  But after that it's all about that beat that's in your blood.  The beat is tough!  The song references Manfred Mann's 1966 hit: "We got New Orleans and a doo wa diddy."

Mean Old World, Sam Cooke

Mean Old World, Sam Cooke

3:46

Night Beat, 1963

Written by Sam Cooke

This song is so depressing it ought to come with a warning label.  If you're single and don't want to be, under no circumstances should you listen.  Be warned!  Cooke's soulful vocal really makes the message palpable.  "This is a mean old word / To try to live in / All by yourself."  It's a mean old world, and sometimes you end up beaten and shot to death a year after you release this song.

The Dutchman - Steve Goodman

The Dutchman - Steve Goodman

4:19

Somebody Else's Troubles, 1972

Written by Michael Peter Smith

I've never heard of Smith, but he's a much-respected songwriter whose material has been covered by dozens of folk and folk-rock acts.  This particular one has been covered by everyone from Liam Clancy to Jerry Jeff Walker.  This poignant story-song is about an elderly man in Amsterdam who has grown senile, and is taken care of by his wife Margaret.   "Long ago, I used to be a young man / And dear Margaret remembers that for me."  It's a simply-told but emotionally powerful song, despite its overuse of Holland clichés (wooden shoes, really?).

Dead Skunk - Loudon Wainwright III

Dead Skunk - Loudon Wainwright III

3:05

Album III, 1972

Written by Loudon Wainwright III

I came to LWIII's music through other albums and other songs, not through his one hit, this novelty number.  He's a lyricist with introspective, brutally honest songs, when he's not penning insightful, witty lyrics, and that's what I love him for.  This one, which I finally got around to hearing, is like Shania Twain's would-be paramour: it don't impress me much.  The title says it all; it's about a dead skunk in the road.  It's not a metaphor.  It's not meant to be a life lesson.  It's just a song about roadkill.  That's nice, I guess?

Down in Mexico - the Coasters

Down in Mexico - the Coasters

3:16

single, 1956

Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Hard to believe this is the Coasters' debut single; they sing harmonies like they've been around forever.  Starting with a sultry sax, and boosted by some frenetic Latin-infused congas, it tells the story of a cat named Joe who plays blues piana in a honky-tonk down in Mexico.  And there's a dancer.  "Around her waist she wore three fishnets / She started dancin' with the castanets / I didn't know just what to expect / She threw her arms around my neck."  The ancestor song of "El Paso," "Romance in Durango," and even "Mexican Blackbird."

Don't Stop - The Rolling Stones

Don't Stop - The Rolling Stones

3:59

Forty Licks, 2002

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

This song is addressed to a love whose passion was one hot and fiery, maybe even dangerous, but whose love has grown cold.  "Don't you dump me on some dusty street / And hang me out to dry," he pleads.  As usual, Jagger's vocal delivery elevates the material: on paper it's a pretty by-the-numbers love song with an over-reliance on the title repeated as chorus, but he gives the words a cool mystery as the familiar Stones riffs chug along.

Dressing Room Walls - Western Star

Dressing Room Walls - Western Star
2:40
Desperate Times: Songs Of the Old 97's, 2016
Written by Rhett Miller, Ken Bethea, Murry Hammond and Philip Peeples, 1995

Western Star, apparently a Baltimore-based band (I know nothing about them and information is scarce online), covers the 1995 track and rocks the heck out of it, inserting Clinton for a more timely reference in the "Reagan was king" line and adding an expletive just to let you know they really fuckin' mean it.  It is a more intense version, musically.  The drums on this are like a machine gun and the guitars sear.  Not bad!

Good Times - The Monkees

Good Times - The Monkees

2:46

Good Times!, 2016

Written by Harry Nilsson

A throwback, in a way.  You can hear echoes of "Last Train to Clarksville."  It's got some 1960s go-go mod guitar, but if it sounds derivative it's because it actually was written in 1968.  This reworking of the song features vocals by Mickey Dolenz interspersed with a guide vocal recorded in 1968 by Nilsson.  Thus there's a sort of ghost duet, à la Natalie Cole's famous one with her late father.  It's an exercise in rock nostalgia, and a fun ride.

Give and Take - Wiley Post

Give and Take - Wiley Post

3:13

single, 2022

Written by Wiley Post

Wiley Post is an Alaskan rock band named after the one-eyed pilot who was the first to fly solo around the world, and whose 1935 crash killed himself and Will Rogers.  I think they only have a few extant songs.  This one is bouncy folk-rock with staccato guitar riffs and lots of crashing percussion.  Sadie Arneson's vocals whisper, belt, and yell.  The lyrics are about finding the right one, despite any bumps in the road: "That's my give and take / My mistake to make... My hold me tight at night / My with you I feel just right."

Godzilla - Eminem

Godzilla - Eminem

3:31

Music To Be Murdered By, 2020

Written by Marshall Mathers, Jarad Higgins, David Doman, Luis Resto, and Alejandro Villasana

A virtuoso machine-gun-fire showcase of Eminem's vocal skills.  It's all the same things I wish rap would grow out of, the self-aggrandizement and braggadocio, but of course it's got some of that Mathers humor to alleviate all that.  The insanely rapid final verse really gets me bopping.  The mush-mouth sing-rapping between verses by Juice WRLD I could do without.

Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac

Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac

4:24

single, 1982

Written by Stevie Nicks

An upbeat song of nostalgia, buoyed by some charming, chiming guitar lines.  It evokes Nicks' past in a rosy rearview, living with Lindsey Buckingham, where they slept on a mattress on the floor because they couldn't afford a bed.  "So I'm back to the velvet underground / Back to the floor that I love."  The "velvet underground" here apparently refers to a clothes store in the famous Haight-Ashbury district where some famous singers shopped for their leather and lace and so on.  They were rich and famous when this song came out, but the grass is always greener.

Get Better - Frank Turner

Get Better - Frank Turner

2:47

Positive Songs for Negative People, 2015

Written by Frank Turner

A positive jam!  A stomper, a wild rollicking rouser that encapsulates Turner's most common themes in his songwriting: seize the day, don't be a jerk, get past the past, improve yourself.  "So try and get better and don't ever accept less / Take a plain black marker and write this on your chest."  I see a few negative or lukewarm reviews of this album, but upon inspection they all seem to be mostly about Turner's politics, so fair warning there.

Shakey Ground - The Temptations

Shakey Ground - The Temptations

4:02

A Song For You, 1975

Written by Jeffrey Bowen, Alphonso Boyd, Eddie Hazel

Gee, I guess the Temptations turned super funky in their later years.  I mean, they were always about the psychedelic soul, but this song thumps like a Funkadelic track.  Which isn't too far off, as I later found out, because Funkadelic bassist Billy Nelson plays on it.  This song, once you get past the wall of funk, is a a "baby left me" song.  He's got bad luck, man.  "Girl, you better throw me a life preserver / 'Cause I'm about to drown in my own tears."

Someday Baby - R.L. Burnside

Someday Baby - R.L. Burnside

3:16

A Bothered Mind, 2005

Written by R.L. Burnside

The remix blues king teams with Latino rapper Lyrics Born on this catchy as hell track.  A blues shuffle reminiscent of John Lee Hooker, with garage punk sensibility and overdubs.  Lyrics Born adds some yelping, staccato lyrics that jump out at you the first time you hear them, like the ADHD-addled great-grandson of "Subterranean Homesick Blues."  This is a high point in the burgeoning (?) blues-rap fusion genre.  

Sick Again - Led Zeppelin

Sick Again - Led Zeppelin

4:42

Physical Graffiti, 1975

Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

This song, about teenage groupies ("Said you dug me since you were thirteen / Then you giggle as you heave an' sigh") has some hard-rocking blues licks, bending notes, and a crashing rhythm section that's pure muscle.  I am not a Led Zep superfan by any means, but I think for the most part their studio work represents the work of the greatest rock band in terms of pure talent.  For me, this track is one of their weakest.  A lot of "Ooh yeah, that's right" and the subject matter aren't helping, but really I'm just not engaged with the music here.  Blues rock, drooling over teens.  Been done.

Shape Shifter - They Might Be Giants

Shape Shifter - They Might Be Giants

3:12

Phone Power, 2016

Written by John Flansburgh and John Linnell

This is one of TMBG's more processed songs, with synthesizers and voice modulators.  The lyrics at face value are about things literally transforming all around the bewildered, somewhat irritated narrator's eyes, but listeners have mapped onto the song all sorts of metaphorical meanings, notably that of transphobia.  The line "And I don't want to live in any place where the people are shifting their shapes" lends some credence to this latter view.  Either way, it's not one of the Johns' greatest songs, but even this band's average output is better than many other bands' triumphs.

Same Language - Meet Me @ the Altar

Same Language - Meet Me @ the Altar

2:34

Past // Present // Future, 2023

Written by Téa Campbell. Edith Victoria, John Ryan, Sherwyn Nicholls

Absolutely adore this punk band, three women of color with feisty attitude, bold vocals, powerful drums, and catchy guitar riffs.  Everything they've put out so far has me applauding.  This track is directed at a man, maybe a former paramour, or a clueless producer ("You think, you think we're good and that's dangerous"), who isn't seeing eye to eye with the narrator.  A short, punchy kiss-off.

Piece By Piece - Katie Melua

Piece By Piece - Katie Melua

3:24

Piece By Piece, 2005

Written by Katie Melua

Title trax!

A modern torch song, slow jazz-pop with strings, a ballad about a broken love affair.  I have never heard of Melua, but the album this song is on went quadruple platinum, Melua is one of the UK's best-selling female artists and she's one of the UK's richest musicians.  So apparently there are enormous lacunae in my musical knowledge?!  I don't pay much attention to this modern stuff, he sniffed, forgetting in his old-feller dotage that 2005 was twenty fucking years ago.  Uh, anyhoo, although the genre isn't my bag, this is a pretty great torch song, with evocative, wistful lyrics; could have been written for Sarah Vaughn or Edith Piaf.  "First of all must fly / My dreams of you and I / There's no point in holding on to those."  Chills!

You Must Ask the Heart - Jonathan Richman

You Must Ask the Heart - Jonathan Richman

3:28

You Must Ask the Heart, 1995

Written by Jonathan Richman

Title trax!

This may be the only song narrated by a brain.  Well, maybe there are others, but this is one of the best.  This isn't one of JoJo's bright, silly songs, but a warm, gentle ballad.  The mind tells the listener that it can analyze, but doesn't understand love.  You must ask the heart "for the truth about love."  A simple message, in just a few lines, but deceptively deep.  It's true that love is not rational.  The heart wants what it wants.

Jump For Joy - Peggy Lee

Jump For Joy - Peggy Lee

2:05

Jump For Joy, 1958

Written by Duke Ellington, Sid Kuller, and Paul Francis Webster

Title trax!

This is a hard-swinging pop-jazz track, carried along by bright brass, Nelson Riddle's exuberant arrangements, and Lee's own joyful, confident, smooth vocals.  In Lee's hands, the song is a playful yet sophisticated celebration of happiness and resilience. The arrangement is light and breezy, with a laid-back rhythm that complements her effortless phrasing.  It feels celebratory, upbeat, and absolutely timeless.

Poetry Of the Deed - Frank Turner

Poetry Of the Deed - Frank Turner

3:25

Poetry Of the Deed, 2009

Written by Frank Turner

Title trax!

Carpe diem, boys!  Rip up your books!  "Put your Baudelaire away / And come outside and play."  Or, "Enough with words and with technical theses / Let's grab life by the throat and then live it to pieces."  The Poet Laureate of DIY-anarcho-folk-punk tells us to burn bright before the all-too-brief light dies out.  Turner is a doer, an exhorter, a peacemaker and a connector.  But foremost a brilliant songwriter.  

Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean

Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean

3:03

Big Bad John And Other Fabulous Songs And Tales, 1961

Written by Jimmy Dean

Title trax!

A half-sung, half-spoken story-song about a giant of a man everyone avoided, in the same vein as later songs like "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" and "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."  The song starts out like it might end up in a similarly ironic way like those songs, but then turns more into a musical folktale, more reminiscent of the legend of John Henry.  A great song, its power dimmed a bit by the passage of time and parodies (like the sublime "Ballad of Irving").

Babel - Mumford & Sons

Babel - Mumford & Sons

3:28

Babel, 2012

Written by Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall and Marcus Mumford

Title trax!

The Tower of Babel as a metaphor.  The narrator vows to tear down the walls someone built, perhaps around their heart.  The song, it is said, it meant to be about the tendency of humans to be discontented with their lot and always wanting more, but I don't see that in the lyrics.  I love the ferocity of the acoustic instruments and the growling, intense vocals.  Amplifying power without amplifiers is always a great hook.

Ashes & Fire - Ryan Adams

Ashes & Fire - Ryan Adams

3:45

Ashes & Fire, 2011

Written by Ryan Adams

Title trax!

The glossy production of this song hides the old-timey feel of the lyrics, with their references to Bowery bums, sailboats, and "Roosevelt pie."  The image-laden lyrics flicker like a movie, showing glimpses of a man determined to leave, a crying woman, a "heart made of ashes and fire."  Benmont Tench's saloon piano buoy the song along.  It's a singer-songwriter song, elegant and spare, touching country and rock and pop and folk traditions.

Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder

Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder

2:54

Up-Tight Everything's Alright, 1966

Written by Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby, and Sylvia Moy

Title trax!

A high-energy burst of classic Motown, showcasing Stevie Wonder's raw vocal power. The driving horns, bouncing bass, and crashing beat emphasize the song's uplifting lyrics.  It's a joyful underdog anthem; the narrator's got an uptown girl, who doesn't care about his dated suit and old shoes.  He's got the world on a string!  An unstoppable beat, a feel-good groove.  You can actually hear the smile in Wonder's singing.

Domani smetto - Articolo 31

Domani smetto - Articolo 31

2:37

Domani smetto, 2002

Written by Articolo 31

Title trax!

An Italian rap band I discovered from the Masked and Anonymous soundtrack (they rapped "Like a Rolling Stone" in in Italian).  This song, whose title translates as "I'll stop tomorrow," has a more pop-rock edge to the rap, with the choruses being actually sung.  In fact, there's not much of a hard edge here; a bit like Smash Mouth than D12 or even Linkin Park.  The lyrics, which I translated, reveal an anti-authoritarian screed, not deeply political, more like on the level of Sum 41 maybe.  I dig it.

Get Hurt - The Gaslight Anthem

Get Hurt - The Gaslight Anthem
3:43
Get Hurt, 2014 
Written by Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz

Title trax!

A song probably stemming from Fallon's divorce.  The narrator has "wounds without a bandage" (cf. Romeo's "He jests at scars that never felt a wound"), but declares he came to get hurt.  "Once I could tell all the hurt apart from myself / Now all I can see is the need."  The song is a rather moody departure from the band’s usual heartland-punk sound, embracing instead an atmospheric, brooding alt-rock with bluesy undertones. The song builds on haunting, echoing guitars and restrained verses before exploding into a cathartic, emotionally raw chorus. But those verses!  "Maybe you needed a change / Maybe I was in your way."  Off.  Hits hard for those of us that have been there.  One of the most brutal lyrics in the band's catalogue, I think.