We Live A Long Long Time To Get Old - Jimmy Murphy

We Live A Long Long Time To Get Old - Jimmy Murphy

2:10

single, 1951

Written by Jimmy Murphy

Sounding a bit like Willie Nelson in the vocal delivery, but blistering guitar-plucking like a countrified Del McCoury, Murphy rips through this half-humorous, half-poignant song about aging.  It has been listed as just "We Live a Long Long Time" and as the full title but with just one "Long."  Either way, it's a toe-tapping, uptempo number, with sly lyrics about facing mortality.  "You can hear your kinfolks talking, they'll be whispering all around / 'Old Grandpa'd be better off if he's six feet under the ground.'"

Time Is Wasting - Josh Ritter

Time Is Wasting - Josh Ritter

2:57

See Here, I Have Built You a Mansion, 2020

Written by Josh Ritter

I love this side of Josh Ritter: alive, bright, rejuvenated and rocking.  It's an uptempo love song, and Ritter sings it with giddiness and exuberance, bounding through the melody with that nervous energy you get when you just can’t wait to be with someone.  It's written from the point of view someone who may have made bad decisions but believes himself redeemed by love ("I used to be bad, people used to get hurt / So bad that better would've still've been the worst / But you took me to the garden, girl you took me to the light").  I love that "would've still've," a great example of Ritter's ability to write demotic speech as well as ornate poetry.  Backed by a solid band, featuring a hard-driving percussion over piano and guitar lines, he conveys youthful energy.  Ritter has written deeper songs, sadder songs, and cleverer songs, but few capture the sheer exhilaration of being in love.

All This Time - Heartless Bastards

All This Time - Heartless Bastards

3:06

All This Time, 2006

Written by Erika Wennerstrom

Not a cover of the brilliant Sting song, this is a booming blues-rock jam that starts out slow and steady, gradually building up like a steam engine, guitar riffs layering on one another and singer Erika Wennerstrom's powerhouse vocals soaring over the noisy whole.  Crunchy anthemic chords crash around a full-throated declaration of love that ends with Wennerstrom bellowing, "You are my rising sun / You are my setting sun."

Mashed Potato Time - The Ronettes

Mashed Potato Time - The Ronettes

2:27

single, 1964

Written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe

This song was originally released by Dee Dee Sharp in 1962.  It refers to the dance craze of the time, and incorporates the melody of the Mavrelettes' 1961 hit "Please Mr. Postman," and refers to that song in the lyrics (with a clever two-syllable rhyme: "They dance alone or in a big boss line / And they discovered it's the most, man / The day they did it to Please Mr. Postman").  The Marvelettes in turn covered the song in 1962.  This energetic girl-group version was credited to the Crystals but, according to online sources, is actually an unreleased performance by the Ronettes.  Another fun fact: Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash," released a few months after the original, was written in part as a parody of Dee Dee Sharp's record, even copying the "whaa-oo" backing vocal.

Bluetonic - The Bluetones

Bluetonic - The Bluetones

4:04

Expecting to Fly, 1995

Written by Mark Morriss, Adam Devlin, Scott Morriss and Eds Chesters

By general consensus, this band seems to wear the title, whether deserved or not, of "poor man's Stone Roses," whatever that means.  The Stone Roses don't mean anything to me, personally, so I come in with a clean slate.  This catchy, jangly number is an optimistic anthem, a self-help mantra wrapped in Britpop.  It says that you can face challenges with a good heart, you can change others with a good attitude, you can heal not with time but with effort.  And if that seems a little vague, there's a more specific tack: "When I am sad and weary / When all my hope is gone / I walk around my house / And think of you with nothing on."

Lucretia MacEvil - Blood, Sweat & Tears

Lucretia MacEvil - Blood, Sweat & Tears

3:05

Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, 1970

Written by David Clayton-Thomas

David Clayton-Thomas, the second lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears and the voice behind their biggest hits, died yesterday. BST is a band whose hits informed my first impressions of rock as a teenager.  So while Clayton-Thomas has a solid catalog in his own right, I'm returning to his work in the band's jazz-rock material.  This song is one of his best showcases. Brass punches, a muscular rhythm section, and Clayton-Thomas' booming baritone give the song a swagger that's impossible to ignore. He relishes every line as he tears into the title character, a classic femme fatale whom he blames for just about everything: "I hear your mother was the talk of the sticks / Nothin' that your daddy wouldn't do for kicks / Never done a thing worth-while / You're just an evil woman-child."  Of course, from a modern perspective, it's hard not to notice that Lucretia bears the brunt of the condemnation while the men around her get off lightly: it's hardly the lady's fault that her parents were layabouts or that a married man is willing to pay her rent!  How about criticizing the system and not the cogs in the machine, David?!  But in the end, whether you read the lyric as misogyny, melodrama, or tongue-in-cheek character sketch, Clayton-Thomas sells it with such conviction that the performance transcends its questionable premise. It's a fitting reminder of what made him such a commanding frontman.

Those Were the Days - Cream

Those Were the Days - Cream

2:54

Wheels Of Fire, 1968

Written by Ginger Baker and Mike Taylor

Showcasing everything that made Cream more than just a blues-rock power trio, jazz, psychedelia, and hard rock all mingle here.  Each member has room to shine without showboating. The lyrics drift through a haze of psychedelic hippie mysticism ("Tie your painted shoes and dance, blue daylight in your hair / Overhead a noiseless eagle fans a flame / Wonder everywhere"), though the title and mood hint at nostalgia (for Atlantis?) beneath the acid-colored surface.  Jack Bruce sings the verses in an unusually high, almost fragile register; Clapton lays down one of his fiercest guitar solos, while Baker pummels out a series of restless fills that propel the song forward.  Despite the opaque lyrics, it's hard not to hear a trace of melancholy in its title, knowing the band would splinter only months later.

Travelin' Man - Ricky Nelson

Travelin' Man - Ricky Nelson

2:23

Rick Is 21, 1961

Written by Jerry Fuller

This song was originally intended for Sam Cooke, but he passed on it, according to some accounts literally throwing it in the trash where it was rescued by Nelson's manager.  It's a song about a fellow who has a girl in every port: "Oh, my sweet fräulein down in Berlin town / Makes my heart start to yearn / And my China doll down in old Hong Kong / Waits for my return," and so forth.  Melodically, it's fairly simple, using an extremely common Brill Building progression and a melody built largely from chord tones. It has that conversational, stepwise motion that several early-'60s hits share.

This Is It - Melba Moore

This Is It - Melba Moore

3:31

This Is It, 1976

Written by Van McCoy

A vibrant disco production that glides along on everything the genre does best: shimmering strings, bright horns, crisp rhythm guitar, and layers of backing vocals. T.  It's a love song, about finally finding a low that seems real.  The lyrics come out in choppy bursts of enthusiasm.  "You smile at me / And suddenly / The wheels of love begin to turn inside of me / You said hello / I felt a glow."  Moore's vocal is infectious and joyful, conveying a real sense of celebration.

Time Marches On - Tracy Lawrence

Time Marches On - Tracy Lawrence

3:05

Time Marches On, 1996

Written by Bobby Braddock

A country observing the coming and going of generations.  There's ghosts of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," obviously, from its chronicling of the sweep of history, but also the Stones "Mother's Little Helper" in that it hints at the drug use, psychological problems, and idiosyncratic behavior that go on behind the closed doors of ostensibly proper blue-collar families: "Brother's wearin' beads and he smokes a lot of dope / Mama is depressed, barely makes a sound / Daddy's got a girlfriend in another town."  Lawrence wisely resists over-singing the material. His straightforward delivery allows the lyric to do the heavy lifting, while the restrained mid-'90s country arrangement keeps sentimentality at bay.

Wake Up Everybody - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes

Wake Up Everybody - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
7:32
Wake Up Everybody, 1975
Written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen

Let's celebrate Juneteenth

This is the longest song ever posted to the blog.  Its album is the last to include Teddy Pendergrass before he left the group for a solo career.  This soul anthem is uplifting and positive. Rather than preaching politics, it asks teachers, doctors, and leaders to do better, trusting that the next generation will respond in kind: "Wake up, all the teachers, time to teach a new way / Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say / Cause they're the ones who's coming up, and the world is in their hands / When you teach the children, teach 'em the very best you can."  The arrangement is as uplifting as the message. Shimmering keyboards, lush strings, bright horns, and a gently insistent rhythm build into something both grand and graceful. As the song gathers momentum, Teddy Pendergrass' husky vocal takes command, starting quietly before building into a near-sermon.  It's one of the great soul vocals of the 1970s.

Freedom - Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar

Freedom - Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar

4:49

Lemonade, 2016

Written by Jonathan Coffer, Beyoncé, Carla Williams, Arrow Benjamin, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Tirado, Alan Lomax, John Lomax, Sr.

Let's celebrate Juneteenth

Hey, how did folklorist and ethno-musicologist Alan Lomax get in there?  Well, the song incorporates three samples, including elements of "Stewball," a traditional recording (performed by a prisoner) collected by the Lomaxes, though as usual I'm not sure this deserves writing credit,  Anyhoo, this song was used as Kamal Harris' official campaign song, and was an unofficial anthem of the George Floyd protests.  "I'ma riot through your borders / Call me bulletproof / Lord, forgive me, I've been runnin' / Runnin' blind in truth."  The song is one of the most powerful statements in Beyoncé's catalog, which I am admittedly not very familiar with. Built around pounding drums, distorted organ textures, and a relentless groove, it's a pounding anthem and a declaration, not a pop song.  The lyric is both a declaration of resilience and a refusal to accept limits imposed by others. Lamar's verse is an equally urgent protest. "Eight blocks left, death is around the corner / Seven misleadin' statements 'bout my persona" — a rejection of mainstream demonization of black victims of police violence.  Abolish ICE!

Never Too Much - Luther Vandross

Never Too Much - Luther Vandross

3:50

Never Too Much, 1981

Written by Luther Vandross

Let's celebrate Juneteenth

Can anyone pour on the over-the-top declarations of love like Luther Vandross?  This is a man who does not simply love his partner; he is completely consumed by her.  He skips work to be with her.  "You are my shining star, my guiding light, my love fantasy / There's not a minute, hour, day or night that I don't love you," he proclaims.  Subtelty is not the goal here, and that's part of the charm.  The song's bright, funky groove keeps all that devotion from becoming overwhelming. Vandross' voice is smooth but not passive, full of control, warmth, and effortless runs that make even the biggest romantic statements sound sincere.

Heartbreaker - Ray Charles

Heartbreaker - Ray Charles

2:54

single, 1953

Written by Ahmet Ertegün

Let's celebrate Juneteenth

This fast blues manages to include every single trope from early R&B songs about women.  The titular heartbreaker went and left him, but "mean, mistreated too."  Regrettably for modern sensibilities, she's "just a schoolgirl" and a "bobby-soxer," but "you sure know what to do."  She's wearing a red dress, she's running all around, she broke his heart, he's going to put her in the ground.  So lyrically it's not exactly top-tier poetry, but Charles' piano frills and his enthusiastic vocals give it a boost.

Way Over There - the Miracles

Way Over There - the Miracles

2:56

Hi... We're the Miracles, 1961

Written by Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy

Let's celebrate Juneteenth

Although it never achieved the fame of the Miracles' later hits, this one of Smokey Robinson's finest early compositions.  Faster and more energetic than the group's singles, it finds Robinson singing with a yearning passion, backed by enthusiastic harmonies, handclaps, electric guitar, and a bright piano figure. The lyrics concern a determined narrator overcoming every obstacle to reunite with his distant love ("I've got a lover way over there / On the mountain side / And I know that's where I should be"), and the soaring chorus perfectly captures his optimism.

Highways - Jim Sullivan

Highways - Jim Sullivan

2:51

U.F.O., 1969

Written by Jim Sullivan

The album this song is on received very little attention at the time, but after Sullivan's 1975 disappearance, it was rediscovered and reappraised. Some felt that the lyrics pointed to a prediction of his fate (see: "Tickin time now / Said alive ain't my cup of tea"), but it's easy to read things into texts after the fact.  This song, a folk-rocker buoyed by muted drums and horns, is a reflection on staying put, not worrying about the frenetic world, subsuming into art and nature. "Tomorrow I'm going to hang my feet in a stream / Pretending my world is real, yours a dream."

Hey, Miss Fannie - The Clovers

Hey, Miss Fannie - The Clovers

2:26

single, 1952

Written by Ahmet Ertegün

This is an uptempo boogie, the titular Miss Fannie's charms chanted with enthusiasm and verve: "You'll become my heart's disease / Listen to me, baby, please / You got me just mad for you." At the center is Buddy Bailey's lead vocal, balancing pleading and swagger in equal measure as the rest of the group answers with tight harmonies.  They're backed by a rolling piano and bursts of honking saxophone, creating a sound that's fairly fast rock and roll for 1952.

Hope I Never Lose My Wallet - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Hope I Never Lose My Wallet - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

2:06

Devils Night Out, 1989

Written by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman

On their debut album, the Bosstones smash ska and punk together with a reckless enthusiasm they would later trade for greater precision. The playing is loose, fast, and infectiously joyful, driven by one of the band's most memorable horn riffs.  Barrett spits out the lyrics with a delighted frenzy, listing all the things he'd be sad to lose (his hair, his youth, his girl), but circling back to the titular wallet, jokingly given the same gravity.  I wonder if the song is a winking nod to the punk fashion of having wallets on chains?

Harrisburg - Josh Ritter

Harrisburg - Josh Ritter

3:55

Golden Age Of Radio, 2002

Written on Josh Ritter

This is a dark ballad, with all the elements of outlaw Americana: a figure leaving his family, a small town, a train, the devil, Heaven, train tracks.  "Some say that man is the root of all evil / Others say God's a drunkard for pain / Me, I believe that the Garden of Eden / Was burned to make way for a train."  Ritter delivers the fatalistic, almost Scriptural lyric with a nasal drone.  The melody is simple, except for a melancholy mandolin break in the middle.

The Hedgehog's Song - The Incredible String Band

The Hedgehog's Song - The Incredible String Band

3:27

The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion, 1967

Written by Mike Heron

Sharing the same broad pastoral sound of Donovan's early work (the ISB being Scottish folk as well), this song also features a charming Middle Eastern and North African flavor, with oud and gimbri featured.  Lyrically, it comes off as a twee hippie fable about on first listen, but it's actually using the hedgehog only as mouthpiece for a deeper point about making connections with people, specifically romantic connections.  The narrator has dallied with plenty of women but wonders why he hasn't had a serious relationship; the hedgehog tells him, "I can tell by the sadness in your eyes / That you never quite learned the song."  We may say the words and go through the motions, but unless our heart's in it, the song rings false.

Lily Maebelle - The Valentines

Lily Maebelle - The Valentines

2:18

single, 1955

Written by Richard Barrett, Tommy Vastola, and Raymond Briggs

This is a paean to the titular lady, who left the narrator.  It's a toe-tapping doo-wop with buzzy early rock sax break and primitive lyrics — the sole verse being "I told you that I love you until the day I die / I told that I need you, how could you say goodbye."  The song punches way above its weight in terms of catchiness and energy; it might grow tiresome over repeated plays, but it does serve as a display of how much verve those overlooked, largely black, '50s artists had.

Let's Do It Again - Reigning Sound

Let's Do It Again - Reigning Sound

2:53

A Little More Time With Reigning Sound, 2021

Written by Greg Cartwright

A throwback garage rock boogie with singer-songwriter sensibilities, this rollicking, winking song is about someone who eagerly anticipates the return of an old love and the good times they had.  The narrator has let a few things slide in their absence ("Now my nights without you aren't the same / I've been walkin the dog in the pouring rain / And the garden I startеd last spring / Is full of vines and weeds") but when a letter arrives, he can't wait to be together again.  Vocalist Cartwright sings in a croon that evokes Nashville Skyline-era Dylan and the band sounds like it's internalized and perfected '70s rock.

Little Tin Soldier - Donovan

Little Tin Soldier - Donovan

2:58

Fairytale, 1965

Written by Shawn Phillips

I've listened to Donovan for decades, but just the usual hits, not this song, an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fable.  The tin soldier isn't a metaphor about the fragility of the fighting man, but an actual metal toy.  He falls in love with a toy ballerina, but when she is bought, he is thrown in the gutter (though I'm not sure how the one event leads to the other).  Years later, they are reunited in the same house, then melt together in a fire.  "And in that fire they shall stay / Forever and a day / For the fire, Lord, is the fire of love / Just like the peaceful dove."  It's a rather twee tale, delivered in a straight acoustic folk arrangement.  In the '60s folk scene, this was the kind of thing you could put on an album and no one blinked.

Love You So Bad - Ezra Furman

Love You So Bad - Ezra Furman

3:39

Transangelic Exodus, 2018

Written by Ezra Furman

Over a Velvet Underground-inspired pulsing cello line, a desperate, half-spoken, half-sung tale unwinds of star-crossed, small-town lovers.  Both young people seem to come from dysfunctional homes with drunken parents, both acting up and getting into trouble.  "I always knew I was bad / Always dreaming so they called me the Spaceman / You first kissed me in your parents' blue basement / I wanted you baby so bad."  One goes to college and makes a new, better life; the narrator is left pining, not resentful but with nothing but memories fading like letters drawn in the sand.  It's a bittersweet story song, clearly inspired by Springsteen's small-town dramas and Lou Reed's transgressive tales of the city.

Let It Rock - Jerry Garcia

Let It Rock - Jerry Garcia

3:14

Garcia, 1974

Written by Chuck Berry

This is the Garcia I tend to enjoy — rocking and singing, not noodling out some extended space-jams.  Garcia doesn't reinvent this Berry classic or add anything special to it, but his take sounds like he's having fun.  His raspy vocal is one of the weaker voices in classic rock, but he struggles along manfully here, giving the song a relaxed, tossed-off feel.  Obviously, his guitar skills far outstrip Berry's primitive chords, but Garcia lets the piano and guitar work together, not feeling the need to show off with any fireworks.

Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind) - Loretta Lynn

Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind) - Loretta Lynn

2:06

Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind), 1967

Written by Loretta Lynn and Peggy Sue Wright

Another song inspired by Lynn's personal life, this jaunty yet angry number was co-written with Lynn's sister, whose husband was also a heavy drinker.  It's from the point of view of a woman whose husband comes home drunk and looking for affection after neglecting her all night long.  "You'd been out with all the boys / And you ended up half-tight / Liquor and love, they just don't mix / Leave a bottle or me behind."  Lynn's vocal is brash and confident, backed by the Jordanaires.  Obviously, Lynn's feisty take on independence was controversial in country circles, but she ended up getting the first gold record ever won by a female artist, so good for her.

Death Or Glory - Shovels & Rope

Death Or Glory - Shovels & Rope

3:40

Busted Jukebox, 2017

Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, 1979

With some help from Hayes Carll, alt-county duo Shovels & Rope reinvent the punk classic.  They keep it just a little dark, some of the punk showing through the slinky arrangement.  Cary Ann Hearst's towering vocals combined with the pounding percussion give the song a driving, anthemic bounce.  I'm always impressed with the band's ability to really transform a song, not just give it a country twang. 

Down the Line - Dan Israel

Down the Line - Dan Israel

3:01

Time I Get To Cedar Lake, 2018

Written by Dan Israel

Israel has been described as the "hardest-working singer-songwriter in Minnesota."  This song is mid-tempo, jangly folk-pop in the style of Pete Yorn, Wilco and similarly raw, literate artists influenced by Dylan, Costello, and their ilk.  It's got a catchy melody, with Israel's straightforward singing delivery, a conversational, laidback Midwestern drawl, giving it a down-home touch. 

Dickie Betts - The Dean Ween Group

Dickie Betts - The Dean Ween Group

3:26

The Deaner Album, 2016

Written by Dean Ween

This guitar-led instrumental is an homage to the Allman Brothers sound.  A boogie-woogie piano line under the soaring Southern rock guitars gives the song its playful edge.  It's a little bit jazz, a little big jam band. It's probably also equal parts sincere admiration and goofy aping, like most of Ween's output.  Like the guitarist it honors, it's played with a relaxed swagger, but a pinch of silliness is added in as well.

Dream Chaser - Willie Nelson

Dream Chaser - Willie Nelson

3:15

Dream Chaser, 2026

Written by Buddy Cannon, Willie Nelson, and Bobby Tomberlin

Astonishingly, on his seventy-ninth studio album, Nelson's voice is in terrific form. This song is an uptempo celebration of the life of a musician.  Lyrically, perhaps inevitably with the singer at 93 years of age, it's a wistful, but not maudlin, look back at the past: "Time just seems to vanish / Right before my eyes / You may not understand it / Why we live with the sacrifice."  Echoing the sentiment of many artists, he also declares "I've done it all for free."  At this stage, Nelson isn't reinventing the wheel, but it's a highly enjoyable example of the work of an absolute master who writes five quality songs by the time the average country singer has finished tuning up.