Something Big - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Something Big - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

4:44

Hard Promises, 1981

Written by Tom Petty

According to tour manager Richard Fernandez, Bob Dylan said this was one of the best songs Tom Petty ever wrote.  I don't agree, personally, but I can see the appeal to someone who's lived the touring life, and to Dylan's sense of story.  The song centers on a restless guy named Speedball living on the road, sleeping in cheap motels and looking for a drink, maybe trying to get the next tour together.  It hints at long nights, nameless partners, and seedy plans.  "And he was not looking for romance, just someone he could trust."   This could be about a traveling musician.  Or, it could be about some illegal caper being put together in a motel lobby in the wee hours of the night.  The strength of the song is in that lack of specificity, so it's easy for the listener to identify with.  The song lives in that in-between space, where everything feels on the precipice of importance, but nothing has quite taken shape yet.

Shadows - Tony Rice

Shadows - Tony Rice

3:44

Native American, 1988

Written by Gordon Lightfoot, 1982

If you closed your eyes, you'd think this was Gordon Lightfoot singing, and yes, he wrote the song.  It's a love ballad, in which the narrator is astounded at the mystery of love and the natural world.  "Won't you lie down by me baby / Run your fingers through my hands / I've been all around the town / And still I do not understand."  That's a perfect image, clear-eyed yet still stumped by the dearth of language.  If a poet like Lightfoot can't express the mystery, what chance do we mortals have?  Rice's beautiful acoustic guitar is a perfect accompaniment to this gorgeous sentiment; it sits with the words, quietly and simply.

Slow Train Coming [live] - Bob Dylan

Slow Train Coming [live] - Bob Dylan
4:51
The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981, 2017 (recorded 1981)
Written by Bob Dylan

There are no less than six versions of "Slow Train" on this Bootleg set; the one featured here was recorded live at Earls Court, London, June 27, 1981.  This rendition, while riveting, with some excellent backing vocals, is not quite as blistering and fiery as I might like it, but as the song is one of Dylan's best tracks from his so-called gospel albums, I'll take it anyway.  And to be fair, there is a great guitar solo before the last verse.

Something You Got - Them

Something You Got - Them

2:34

Them Again, 1966

Written by Chris Kenner, 1961

The writer of this song, Chris Kenner, also wrote "I Like It Like That," a hit for the Dave Clark Five; "Land of 1000 Dances," a top ten hit for Wilson Pickett; and "Sick And Tired," a hit for Fats Domino.  He never made it very big on his own name, probably due to the usual racist attitudes of the time, but certainly not helped by his alcoholism and a statutory rape charge.  Oh yeah, this song, Them's version.  It's a fine R&B blues shuffle, with young Van's yowling, soul-inspired vocal hitting the spot and a buzzy sax that gives it a real punch.

Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.

Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.

3:24

Accelerate, 2008

Written by Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe

This is an energetic, forceful song with big crunchy guitar, rare for late-period R.E.M.  Apparently, the lyrics are inspired by a humiliating experience that Stipe remembered from his time working as summer camp counselor: "At the summer camp where you volunteered / No one saw your face, no one saw your fear."  The details are of course only hinted at: "From the seance where you first betrayed / An open heart on a darkened stage."  Of course, the song isn't just about one bad memory, but can be interpreted as encouraging people to cast off old selves and enjoying who they were meant to be.

Sticks And Stones - Ray Charles

Sticks And Stones - Ray Charles

2:11

single, 1960

Written by Titus Turner

Backed by the Raelettes, Charles delivers this as a quasi-Latin boogie stomp not unsimilar to "Hit the Road, Jack."  The piano is bouncing, with an electric solo.  Charles growls, struts, and then, as the track races toward the fade, unleashes a raucous scream that would make Little Richard grin. It's tough, playful, and swaggering, the sound of Charles reminding everyone that he knew just what spin to put on a particular number.

What the Hell I Got - Michel Pagliaro

What the Hell I Got - Michel Pagliaro

3:20
single, 1975
Written by Michel Pagliaro and Allen Workman

Listed wrongly on Spotify as "What the Hell I've Got," this catchy pop anthem is from the point of view of a man who is leaving his love, for reasons even he cannot fully articulate: "Don′t know what the hell I got / Whatever it is, it′s an awful lot / Hey, I'm gonna lose control / From my liver to my very soul."  There's an interesting line that indicates he's not fully in control of the situation.  "Never ever wanna answer the phone / Time and time again I've tried / But someone answers and I know he lies."  He's probably not talking about the "baby" he addresses in the song; it seems as if he's referring to himself, watching himself unable to stop destroying his relationship with lies.  So he must leave.  Recorded in 1975, it's musically ahead of its time, with a real '90s alt-rock sound to it.  

Gonna Dance All Night – Hardrock Gunter

Gonna Dance All Night – Hardrock Gunter

2:40

single, 1954

Written by Hardrock Gunter

This very early rockabilly — more an uptempo honkytonk swing — is one of the first records to feature the actual words "rock 'n' roll."  Over a bouncing barroom piano and an occasional clattering percussion that sounds like someone stomping on a table, Gunter lays out a dancehall event.  Sounding like a cheery member of the Soggy Mountain Boys, he drawls our half-spoken, obvious instructions: "First you listen to the rhythm / And then you shuffle your feet."  It's a joyful, primitive blueprint for what rock 'n' roll was about to become.

Go West - Geraint Watkins

Go West - Geraint Watkins

2:55

Dial 'W' For Watkins, 2004

Written by Geraint Watkins

This song is a western-tinged swing jazz in a throwback style, a winking music-hall song with a half-spoken intro that sets the tone: "When it's cold and damp in New York City / And all the girls don't look so pretty / And you can't find a job / And you're looking like a slob...." There's a little slide guitar, and Watkins' voice is smooth like a British, old-timey singing cowboy's.  It's a fun song, with lightweight lyrics and a toe-tapping blend of styles.

Watch Out - Tyler Childers

Watch Out - Tyler Childers

3:44

Snipe Hunter, 2025

Written by Tyler Childers

This is a swampy blues-rocker about the mysteries of nature, with passed-down lore about foraging for good herbs and mushrooms is embedded in the lyrics.  "Watch out where you reach / You could come back penny-head-handed" warns of the danger of gettijng bitten by a copperhead.  He talks about cohosh, an herb used for various medicinal purposes, apparently called "pointer" by some, and describes the gills on an oyster mushroom.  "They grow on trees standin' and a rottin' and you know what you got to do."  It's an embrace of heritage, a healthy fear of nature and the knowledge to tame it, the grandfathered old lore rapidly vanishing.

I'm Your Puppet - James & Bobby Purify

I'm Your Puppet - James & Bobby Purify

2:59

James & Bobby Purify, 1967

Written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham

A sweet Southern R&B song about the narrator's slavish devotion to his lady.  "Treat me good and I′ll do anything / I'm just a puppet and you hold my strings."  It's a low and slow burn, until the end, when some impassioned wailing falsettos come in.  The cousins' smooth harmonies and the low horn stabs are enhanced by a repeating line of ascending chimes.  Apparently, the song was re-recorded in 1976 without Bobby Purify, adding a new singer who simply adopted the stage name.  I believe that the recording linked here is the original, but I guess I have no way of knowing for certain.

I'm a Rocker - Chuck Berry

I'm a Rocker - Chuck Berry

4:35

Back Home, 1970

Written by Chuck Berry

A winking double-entendre of a song in the inimitable Berry style.  Indeed, this is something of a reworking of "Reelin' and Rockin'" in that it features verses about the narrator and his girl counted up by the numbers.  In this case the numbers are songs rather than the hours of a clock, but the concept is the same.  He even reuses some of his lyrics from the live version of "Reelin'": We were out the floor when they played number two / You know she claims she don't, but I know she do."  By 1970, Chuck's risqué lyrics were considered safe to include in the studio recordings: "We were out on the floor when they played number six / I was stone getting firm like a cement mix."

I'm a Rocker - Bruce Springsteen

I'm a Rocker - Bruce Springsteen

3:37

The River, 1980

Written by Bruce Springsteen

A blistering song with a killer riff, this ain't one of the Boss' more serious tales of the overlooked, the lonely, the underemployed, the wild, the restless, the desperate.  Possibly uniquely in Springsteen's catalog, it's a series of pop culture references from the '60s and early '70s, when Springsteen was growing up.  The narrator boasts of his "007 watch," "I-Spy beeper," and Batmobile, all gadgets deigned to make him a hero to a girl in trouble.  If she's in a jam ("If you're hanging from a cliff or you're tied to the tracks, girl / Columbo split and you can't find Kojak"), then he'll be her protector, swooping in like an action hero, "like a mission impossible" he'll get her heart back.  It's all adolescent ramrod energy, pure '50s swagger.

I'm On My Way - The Proclaimers

I'm On My Way - The Proclaimers

3:45

Sunshine On Leith, 1988

Written by Craig Reid and Charlie Reid

This is a joyously catchy acoustic tune that wears its influences lightly and proudly. At its core is a jaunty, clap-along folk-rock melody, but it's dressed up with Beach Boys–style "oooh oooh" backing vocals, clean '50s-flavored guitar and piano lines, skiffle-leaning percussion, and warm vocal-group harmonies.  Lyrically, it balances optimism with a touch of spiritual reflection. "I'm on my way to what I want from this world," the narrator declares, before widening the lens to evoke something more spiritual: "And everything that you receive up yonder / Is what you gave to me the day I wandered."  It's hopeful and cheery and sometimes that's all you need.

I'm Tired Joey Boy - Van Morrison

I'm Tired Joey Boy - Van Morrison

2:33

Avalon Sunset, 1989

Written by Van Morrison

On this Celtic-tinged brief air, Morrison growls about being world-weary over a simple and traditional-sounding melody: "Oh I'm tired Joey Boy of the makings of men / I would like to be cheerful again."  The titular Joey is in some idyllic pasture with sheep, while the narrator fumes on dark streets, "not greener but meaner."  It may be an illusory sort of eden and a false dichotomy, but the song connects with its yearning for a serene, more natural world.

I'm Ready - Muddy Waters

I'm Ready - Muddy Waters
3:04
single, 1954

Written by Willie Dixon 

With Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, and Otis Spann on piano, this sixteen-bar blues is a murderer's row of talent, not to mention it was written by the great Willie Dixon.  An amalgam of violent swagger, machismo, and assertive womanizing, the lyrics use bizarre imagery to depict a man who's ready for fighting or loving in equal measure: "I got a ax handle pistol on a graveyard frame / That shoots tombstone bullets wearing balls and chain."  It's not clear what that means, but it sure sounds scary!  This song is the real gangster godfather of all the braggadocio that followed in rap and rock: "I hope some screwball start a fight," Waters declares, and with his confident vocals and commanding presence, it sounds like he means it.  But also: "It takes a whole lot of lovin' to make me feel good."  That keeps his audience on their toes.

Juke Box Mama - Sonny Landreth

Juke Box Mama - Sonny Landreth

4:05

The Road We're On, 2003

Written by Sonny Landreth

This song is a paean to an unnamed dance-floor enchantress.  He puts money in the "magic box full of lights," and she starts sliding.  All his cares fade away then: "You can put a smile back on my lips / Just snap your fingers and shake your hips."  It's a catchy groove, and Landreth has a pleasant voice, but what makes the song shine is his guitar work.  He's known as the "king of Slydeco," referring to his Zydeco-tinged rock and master of slide guitar.  He plays frets and pops the notes behind the slide, slapping and picking while engaging the slide, basically turning the guitar into a percussion instrument and lead voice at once. It’s virtuosic without showing off, the kind of playing that makes your shoulders start moving before you even realize it.

Jester & June - Craig Finn

Jester & June - Craig Finn
3:59
We All Want the Same Things, 2017

Written by Craig Finn

A classic Finn scenario: two former scenesters wandering the night, reminiscing about their glory days while trying but failing to score drugs. No one recognizes them anymore, not in the clubs, not at the bars, and their fading relevance hangs over everything. The desperation is played for dark laughs, though, with lines that land like little sad punchlines: "Well the bartender's friend sold us something / I think was probably coriander" and "Gave too much cash / To that one creepy kid at the car wash / He said he could make a few calls / But I don't think that he made any calls."  It's classic Finn humor: specific and painfully human.  But, as with so many of his burnouts and lost souls, the joke doesn't carry them to a happy ending.  Musically, it's a curveball compared to The Hold Steady: stuttering, dolphin-like guitar squeals, what sounds like a squawking sax, odd metallic string blasts, and distorted drums and guitars popping in and out. Everything jitters and bounces around them, mirroring their jittery, off-kilter night. It feels unstable, slightly unhinged: perfect for a story about people realizing the party may finally be over.

Jesus Was a Cross Maker - Judee Sill

Jesus Was a Cross Maker - Judee Sill

3:29

Judee Sill, 1971

Written by Judee Sill

Judee Sill, a singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice, never hit the big time and died of a drug overdose at 35.  Sad!  This song was written after a bad relationship (with California songwriter JD Souther ), and ha since been covered by Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Cass Elliott, and the Hollies.  "Blinding me, his song remains, reminding me / He's a bandit and a heart breaker / Oh, but Jesus was a cross maker."  The vocals are luminous, but what really elevates the track is the restless arrangement. The drummer changes pace, nudging the song forward in subtle surges, building a series of small crescendos that mirror the emotional push-and-pull of the lyrics. It feels alive, like the song itself is wrestling with its own feelings.

Jenny And the Summer Day - The Avett Brothers

Jenny And the Summer Day - The Avett Brothers

4:15

Country Was, 2002

Written by the Avett Brothers

An acoustic ballad about being in love, young and "just out of school."  The narrator imagines just lying around, going swimming, and wanting to do anything you can for the object of your affections.  "I have a car, I have a dime / Baby, Baby / I know that won't buy anything / But I would steal you anything."  I like the way he sings baby: "beh-bay."  It's raw, it's emotional, the vocals hit some high notes to prove their passion.  Interestingly, nowhere does the song imply that the titular Jenny loves the narrator back, or is even present.  He tells her that she could go swimming, even though she's afraid to swim.  He tells her about his house in Carolina "where we can see the stars at night."  But we never hear Jenny herself.  Nor can the narrator.  "And baby I can almost hear you say / That you love me."

Join Ice - Jesse Welles

Join Ice - Jesse Welles

2:50

single, 2025

Written by Jesse Welles

This folk-rock protest song is delivered in an off-hand, laid-back manner, but both the delivery and the lyrics are drenched in irony.  Welles' song depicts the would-be recruit as a cruel, unfit loser who finds solace in being given power over the oppressed.  "Just last week was kind of tough, I put a kid in cuffs / I zip tied a lady to a van / We can sneak around town, hunt workin' folks down / I hear they got a great benefit plan."  Welles' guitar playing is serviceable and his voice is John Prime-croaky, but he's got a sharp eye and uses his pen to puncture those who need poking.

Greatest Story Ever Told - Bob Weir

Greatest Story Ever Told - Bob Weir

3:43

Ace, 1972

Written by Robert Hunter, Bob Weir, and Mickey Hart

Bob Weir died today, of cancer, at the age of 78.  This one hits me oddly hard.  I was never really a Deadhead, nor ever into their druggy, itinerant lifestyle, and as I got older I found that the Dead have a great deal of dross among their gold.  And yet, the Grateful Dead were one of the bands that formed my musical education when I was 15 and my friends all sang along to "Ripple" and "Truckin'" and "Sugar Magnolia."  The Dead are in my DNA whether I like it or not.  And Weir was a huge part of their success, turning them from Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions to the juggernaut they became.  "Estimated Prophet" alone makes Weir a titan.  Anyway, this song, off Weir's first solo album, features that inimitable, lived-in, gritty Weir vocal, his unmistakable guitar lines, and some of Robert Hunter's patented stoner-philosopher nonsense: "Gideon come in with his eyes on the floor / Says, 'you ain't got a hinge, you can't close the door' / Moses stood up a full six foot ten / Said 'you can't close the door when the wall's caved in.'"  Bless you, Bob.

Whatever Gets You True - Paddy Casey

Whatever Gets You True - Paddy Casey

2:57

Amen (So Be It), 1999

Written by Paddy Casey

This breezy Irish alt-rock tune features lush vocals that call to mind David Gray, an optimistic, buoyant sound, and some rote but feel-good "just go for it" lyrics: "Maybe give your heart away/  And it might be good for you / So, whatever gets you true."  The very '90s melody gives off some gentle, sensitive rocking vibes,, built for uplift rather than introspection, and it moves along with an easy confidence.

Where I'm Calling From - American Princes

Where I'm Calling From - American Princes

4:20

Other People, 2008

Written by American Princes?

I can' help but be reminded by the song's title of the famous Raymond Carver short story of the same name. There's a tenuous thread of similarity, at least.  Carver's nameless narrator, stuck in a rehab facility, longs to leave the drunk tank of his life and reconnect with someone who still matters, while the narrator of this song is trying to reach out to an unnamed love to escape the horrors of life in general: "The stories and the views all point to madness / There's no way of knowing / But darling, I'm still hoping / That you and I can navigate the sadness."  Musically, the band fuses '80s synth textures with alt-rock and singer-songwriter sensibilities, creating a warm but slightly haunted backdrop for the vocal performance. There’s a yearning tremor in the delivery that recalls Okkervil River, earnest without tipping into melodrama.

Who Will Buy the Wine - Charlie Walker

Who Will Buy the Wine - Charlie Walker

2:35

single, 1960

Written by Billy Mize, 1956

This song has been recorded by several country acts, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Porter Wagoner to Merle Haggard.  Heck, even Jim Croce did a version in his early years that never got a wide release.  That alone tells you something: it's sturdy, serviceable country stock, the kind of tune that slides easily into different voices without changing much shape.  This song is a typical sad sack, accusatory story set to a basic honky-tonk melody that has been reused countless times in country music.  The narrator more or less calls the lady a loose woman, saying her love is blind, transactional, and implicitly shameful: "You'll never know whose lips you'll soon be kissing / And it all depends on who will buy the wine."  It feels less like heartbreak you'd sympathize with and more like bitterness you'd avoid.

Wonderful Crazy Night - Elton John

Wonderful Crazy Night - Elton John

3:13

Wonderful Crazy Night, 2016

Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

This is a pleasant, uptempo, cheery ballad that celebrates, as the title indicates, a memorable night with friends.  "And it feels like the clocks have stopped / Calypso moon just cast its spell / We grabbed that magic just because / We remember and never forget."  Producer T. Bone Burnett adds just a hint of country to the piano-based pop rock, resulting in a fun, melodic song — not one of John's greats, but definitely worth putting on a party playlist.

Henry - New Riders Of the Purple Sage

Henry - New Riders Of the Purple Sage

2:36

New Riders of the Purple Sage, 1971

Written by John Dawson

The album this song is on is the only studio album by the New Riders to feature co-founder Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar; you can hear his distinctive shimmer in the arrangement.  The song is an otherwise unremarkable an uptempo country rock, with Dawson's sleepy vocals doing a fine job, but not exactly making the song pop.  He sounds less like a narrator leaning into drama than a guy recounting a strange story over a beer, which fits the band’s laid-back ethos but doesn’t quite elevate the track into memorability..  Lyrically, it's a story song about the titular Henry, who drives a truck to Mexico to grab some drugs ("twenty keys of gold") to sell to waiting clients, but gets high on the product and races back through Tijuana at breakneck speed.  And there the song ends; we never know if Henry crashes, languishes in a Mexican prison, or manages to satisfy the "fifty people waiting back home" for his delivery.  

High On Tulsa Heat - John Moreland

High On Tulsa Heat - John Moreland

3:14

High On Tulsa Heat, 2015

Written by John Moreland

Sounding like a countrified Brian Fallon, John Moreland (who apparently started as in punk bands) rasps his way through this rootsy rocker with a voice that feels permanently scuffed by disappointment. The song surveys a bleak emotional and economic landscape with no easy exits ("damn every inch of this town"), and, like many a Springsteen protagonist, locates its one refuge not in escape but in intimacy: "You're the place I miss when my heart gets heavy / Trouble my tombstone mind."  There’s no pretense that affection fixes the larger problems. Money is still short, prospects still dim; the only real relief comes from "getting wrecked on love in the heavens above," a line that manages to sound both desperate and sincere.  The song treads a familiar path of grit, frustration, and hard-earned tenderness, and it lacks the gallows humor or narrative surprise someone like Steve Earle might bring to similar terrain. Still, the song compensates with sheer emotional credibility, a rough, humane beauty of its own.

High Street Hop - Richie and the High Street Rockers

High Street Hop - Richie and the High Street Rockers

2:25

Welcome to High Street, 2025

Written by Richie and the High Street Rockers

The first few lines seem to indicate a Springsteen-like ballad is starting, but then the song erupts into full-blown '50s doo-wop.  Suddenly we're in Grease or a Sha Na Na concert.  Lyrically, it's a blend of all the old dance-describing songs, with shades of "Old Time Rock & Roll," as the narrator describes his love for listening to records with "the lights way down" and dancing with no one around.  It's fun, it's catchy as hell, it's great throwback doo-wop rock.

Fist City - Loretta Lynn

Fist City - Loretta Lynn

2:13

Fist City, 1968

Written by Loretta Lynn

Stung by her husband's philandering while she was on tour, Lynn wrote this song as a warning for other women to stay away from him if they do not want to be physically beaten by her.  Though I do wonder why she wouldn't direct her anger toward him more than the ladies.  While I have to admit that "go to fist city" is a terrific euphemism for fighting, she does mix her metaphors in the line "You better move your feet if you don't wanna eat a meal that′s called Fist City."  Still, you have to admire Lynn's way with words.  She paints a vivid picture:  "If you don't wanna go to Fist City you better detour around my town / 'Cause I'll grab you by the hair of the head and I'll lift you off of the ground."

First Time I Met the Blues - Buddy Guy

First Time I Met the Blues - Buddy Guy

2:20

single, 1960

Written by Little Brother Montgomery

A fiery, electric guitar-based Chicago blues with a tinkling piano groove, this track showcases Guy's vocal style: half singing, half screaming, with yelping, drawn out final notes.  Lyrically, the song stays deliberately vague. There's no detailed heartbreak or narrative betrayal, just the blues as an external force that hunts, chases, and overwhelms: "The blues got after me," running him "from tree to tree."  You don't explain the blues; they arrive, they take hold, and Buddy Guy reacts.