Winter Winds - Mumford & Sons

Winter Winds - Mumford & Sons

3:39

Sigh No More, 2009

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

Despite being essentially a breakup song ("And my head told my heart / Let love grow / But my heart told my head / This time no"), this song has become, for some reason, a Christmastime favorite.  Musically, the song begins with gentle acoustic fingerpicking before building into the band's signature rush of banjo, stomping rhythm, and soaring harmonies.  Lyrically, there's a clear emotional imbalance at the center of the song, in which the narrator wants more for both himself and his partner, but it's clear it can't be. They're both fighting against the wind.

It Will Be - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

It Will Be - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

3:22

Pin Points and Gin Joints, 2009

Written by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman

This song is a note of commiseration to a heartbroken friend.  Hope is gone, words were said that can't be taken back, the whole universe is dismal now, all the usual scenes.  But the narrator assures us that love will come again if you wait patiently.  "It will be when you least expect it / Electricity and then / Wait and see, it'll be electric again."  I do prefer my Bosstones to be more frenetic and guttural, but the more restrained vibe here fits the message.

Kiss With a Fist - Florence + the Machine

Kiss With a Fist - Florence + the Machine

2:03

Lungs, 2009

Written by Florence Welch and Matt Alchin

With its rattling garage-rock tempo and the confrontational chorus "You hit me once / I hit you back / You gave a kick / I gave a slap / You smashed a plate over my head / Then I set fire to our bed," one would be forgiven for immediately assuming this song is a depiction of mutual domestic violence.  However, Florence Welch herself clarified that the song is "about two people pushing each other to psychological extremes because they are fighting but they still love each other."  The over-the-top blows, in other words, are purely metaphorical.  The line "a kiss with a fist is better than none" seems to express an endorsement, not of violence, but of an animal passion that may not be healthy, but has an undeniable allure.

The Slowest Drink at the Saddest Bar on the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City - The Lawrence Arms

The Slowest Drink at the Saddest Bar on the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City - The Lawrence Arms

3:13

Buttsweat and Tears, 2009

Written by Brendan Kelly, Chris McCaughan, and Neil Hennessy

A emo-punk song about feeling lost and alone, urban isolation, the ache of self-awareness.  The narrator wakes feeling nothing ("My eyes opened to the emptiness / My face was nothing but crooked lines / I guess somewhere I really fell behind") and trudges through the cold (Chicago?) snow to a nameless bar where no one knows him, the anti-"Cheers."  It's a universal feeling of ennui: the shower you take out of boredom, the drink you pour just to fill time.  Everything looks bleak at those moments, the soul and the weather. The narrator's grim present seems to stretch into the future.  "What will it say on my snow-covered grave? / He had it all, he let it all just slip away."

Pulling On a Line - Great Lakes Swimmers

Pulling On a Line - Great Lakes Swimmers

3:19

Lost Channels, 2009

Written by Tony Dekker

This song, from the Canadian folk-rock band that I've heard nothing by before, seems to actually about a fishing line.  The verses are comprised of imagery about the line soaring across the sky.  "The line, it inks across the freshly fallen snow / Where only those embracing coldness would go / In whistles and in whispers and sometimes in howls."  Does it represent something else?  Or is it straightforward; as Hemingway might say, "the line is a line and the man casting it is a man."  The song's beautiful, majestic, and soaring quality features a warm, strum-heavy rhythm, creating a melancholic and anthemic yet ghostly sound.

Little Sparrows - The Handsome Family

Little Sparrows - The Handsome Family

3:08

Honey Moon, 2009

Written by Brett Sparks and Rennie Sparks

A stately and unusually lighthearted song from the long-running, gloomy alt-country band.  Brett Sparks, in his honeyed baritone, asks the titular birds, perched above an overpass, "Take me with you when you go."  He asks the same thing of the geese and dandelion seeds, even "All you paper cups rolling down the windy street."  There's no action in this song, only longing.  Over a plaintive steel guitar, slightly offbeat but tender images float from Sparks' aw-shucks, golden voice.

Tu veux ou tu veux pas - Marie France

Tu veux ou tu veux pas - Marie France

2:58

Marie France visite Bardot, 2009

Written by Pierre Cour and Carlos Imperial, 1969

This song is adapted from a Portuguese song and first recorded in 1969; I haven't heard the Bardot version.  France is a transgender singer who started recording in the 1970s.  This song is a burst of campy glamour and cheeky attitude. Her delivery, both sung and spoken, is playful and assertive, riding the bouncy, retro-pop arrangement with cabaret flair and knowing charm.

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.  

Good One Comin' On - Blackberry Smoke

Good One Comin' On - Blackberry Smoke

3:40

Little Piece Of Dixie, 2009

Written by Blackberry Smoke?

Carload of Southern-rockin' good old boys get some beer, crank up the Ray Wylie Hubbard, and drive down to the lake with some foxy blondes.  Ground well covered by ZZ Top and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, with just a hint of Toby Keith and Blake Shelton.  They leave it to the imagination just what the good one is that's comin' on.  It's an okay song, but this isn't really my cup of tea.