Baltimore - Prince

Baltimore - Prince

4:34

Hit n Run Phase Two, 2015

Written by Prince

This song was inspired by the police murder of Michael Brown in St. Louis, Missouri, and the depraved-heart manslaughter of Freddy Gray in Baltimore while in a police van.  The song, with handclaps, group-chanted choruses, gospel-inspired vocals, funky guitar lines, and bright horns and strings, sounds much more positive and upbeat than the lyrical content would indicate.  "Are we gonna see another bloody day? / We're tired of the cryin' and people dyin' / Let's take all the guns away."  It's a song of hope, an exhausted plea for justice and love, not a fiery song of rage and despair.

All You Had To Do Was Stay - Ryan Adams

All You Had To Do Was Stay - Ryan Adams

3:30

1989, 2015

Written by Taylor Swift and Max Martin, 2014

It's pretty audacious to cover an entire album, and extremely daring to do it only a year after the original was released.  Adams strips away some of the high-production gloss of Swift's song, but somehow fails to make it raw, warm, or intimate.  The music might be handmade, but Adams' voice sounds echoey and distant, with the grandiose emotion of an arena belter, not, for example, a broken-hearted singer in a nightclub.  The monotonous percussion doesn't help much.

Take On Me - The DeLorean Sisters

Take On Me - The DeLorean Sisters

3:29
The DeLorean Sisters, 2015

Written by Pål Waaktaar, Magne Furuholmen, and Morten Harket, 1984

It's Cover Time! 

I've heard many covers of this song and enjoyed them all, but this one stands out a bit.  It's a bluegrass take on (heh) the tune, with a stately pace and beautiful, overlapping female harmonies.  The vintage-folk style, the gentle interplay of banjo and guitar, the yodeling, drawn-out vocal lines — all bring the song into focus, and help the listener feel the real emotion behind the well-known words.

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.

Point Of Being Right - Shannon & the Clams

Point Of Being Right - Shannon & the Clams

2:50

Gone By the Dawn, 2015

Written by Shannon & the Clams

In this song, the narrator suspects her love is unfaithful, but sadly notes that certainty offers no consolation.  "My instincts kept me up at night / Ignore the warnings of my mind / Knew someone new was in your sight / Oh, whats the point of being right?"  The music is an entrancing blend of vintage folk sounds and modern percussive beats.  Shannon Shaw's vocals are pointed and matter-of-fact, delivered in a sassy, marching cadence reminiscent of "These Boots Are Made for Walking." The contrast between the song’s brisk forward motion and its emotional resignation gives it real punch: this is not a breakup tantrum, but a clear-eyed reckoning, sung by someone already halfway out the door.

Run-Down Neighborhood - Linda Ortega

Run-Down Neighborhood - Linda Ortega

3:06

Faded Gloryville, 2015

Written by Linda Ortega, Bruce Wallace

A country-swing number with a neo-rockabilly shuffle, gliding along on twangy steel guitar and Ortega’s honeyed, knowing vocals. It's a ballad about two people who know they're not quite right for each other, but since they're both a little wrecked, they might as well be wrecked together. Ortega sings with a sly wink, turning small-time aimlessness into something close to romantic.  "We hit that Seven-Eleven / Hang out in the parking lot / And feel like we're in heaven / With all that we ain't got." There’s humor here, but also tenderness. The song celebrates the charm of cheap lights and second chances without ever sliding into parody, a love letter to the beautiful losers of the honky-tonk world.

Riderò - Santa Margaret

Riderò - Santa Margaret

3:49

Il Suono Analogico Cova la sua Vendetta - Vol. 1, 2015

Written by Santa Margaret

A hard-driving Italian alt-rock track powered by Angelica Schiatti's commanding vocals, this one leans on metronomic percussion and big, classic-rock guitar riffs.  The title translated to "I'll laugh;" the song seems to be about a young woman who is at the moment at a disadvantage in a relationship, but savors the day when she comes out on top: "I'll laugh at your light when it's gone / I'll laugh because mine is violent."  It's a good song, but in my opinion relies too much on the chorus and goes on for just a bit more time than it earns.

Erase - They Might Be Giants

Erase - They Might Be Giants

2:49

Glean, 2015

Written by John Flansburgh and John Linnell

This song seems to be about the creative process.  The idea cited in the lyrics is akin to Pearl Jam's Backspacer, literally deleting old ideas to make room for new ones.  "When it's as it someday is / It always will have been the case / When your ever-searching finger / Finds the button marked erase."  But it might also be about, in a sort of science-fiction sense, erasing the memories of a loved one.  Internet sleuths with a sharper eye than I have noted similarities to The Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind, which is literally about this.  A lot of TMBG's songs are about this sort of time travel or fiddling with time, so it well could be.  I love near-robotic, choppy, rapid delivery of Linell's vocals.

Tell Me Why - Brian Wilson

Tell Me Why - Brian Wilson

3:40

No Pier Pressure, 2015

Written by Brian Wilson and Joe Thomas

This ends, for now, this blog's tribute to Brian Wilson, RIP.  This song is not the Beatles song, also covered by the Beach Boys.  A conclusion I've to from this perforce hasty and superficial tour of Wilson's solo work is that generally the quality isn't as high as in the Beach Boys days (but isn't that true of nearly every aging performer), and that as he gets older he eschews those uptempo overlapping harmonies that I love for measured, orchestral ballads.  On this song, accompanied by Al Jardine on the choruses, Wilson sings of something lost.  It could be lover or a friend, or maybe, if you squint a bit, the halcyon days of a band.  "I think about that ocean view / And all the dreams I shared with you / I guess they won't be coming true / At least for you and me / But now you're gone and I've gotta get on with my life."

Full Moon And Empty Arms - Bob Dylan

Full Moon And Empty Arms - Bob Dylan

3:22

Shadows In the Night, 2015

Written by Buddy Kaye, Ted Mossman, Sergei Rachmaninoff, 1945

So first off, why does Rachmaninoff, who dies in 1943, gets a composer credit here?  Because Kaye and based on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, according to a contemporary article in Time magazine.  Apparently, he based the song "Ever and Forever" from the Rachmaninoff's movement, and "Full Moon and Empty Arms" from the third. In the song, the narrator years for his absent love, and declares he'll wish on the moon.  "And next full moon / If my one wish comes true / My empty arms will be filled with you."  Dylan sings it with a restrained yet highly emotionally charged raspy croon, against a sparse backing of pedal steel. 

What'll I Do - Bob Dylan

What'll I Do - Bob Dylan

3:16

Shadows In the Night, 2015

Written by Irving Berlin

I haven't put in a great deal of time listening to Dylan's four albums of Sinatra covers, which is a shame, because he made some great versions of classic songs from the greatest songwriters of the era.  In this song, the narrator laments that his love is gone, and he has only a photograph and dreams that won't come true.  The pedal steel guitar really shines on this track, giving it a hollow, noir feeling.

Vampires - Logan Staats

Vampires - Logan Staats

3:00

Goodbye Goldie, 2015

Written by Logan Staats

This is an acoustic ballad in the style of Josh Ritter.  The lyrics depict an empty and broken town, where vampires and werewolves come out for love and lust.  Similarly, the narrator's heart is similarly torn: "Please, darling, take mercy on my broken heart, yeah / And take my soul if you want what's left of it."  I like the sentiment and the urgent, soulful delivery, but I can't help but wish Statts had written more complex lines, and more of them: the song is just pre-chorus, one verse, and chorus, then repeated.

I'm Going Down - Trampled By Turtles

I'm Going Down - Trampled By Turtles

3:40

Dead Man's Town: A Tribute To Born in the U.S.A., 2014

Written by Bruce Springsteen

Where the original is an explosion of frustration and ennui, disguised in a buoyant, organ-driven party atmosphere with a catchy sing-along title, this TbT version strips the song to its acoustic essentials.  The vocals have a slight echo, giving it a lost and lonely quality.  The bluegrass picking slows in the middle, emphasizing the narrator's doubt and sense of loss, continuing to a long fadeout.  Springsteen is noted for his bleak lyrics hidden in catchy anthems, and it's instructive to hear the music match the message.

Xmas Time Of the Year - Green Day

Xmas Time Of the Year - Green Day

2:17

single, 2015

Written by Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool

A track from the poppiest and most toothless era of Green Day, but given the subject matter, for this song the sweet, slick sound fits.  It's a whole optimistic song, without any performative sneering.  "The sleigh bells deck the halls with good will / Say a prayer for lost souls / Christmas time of the year."  It's not an essential track, but it's fun to hear the band's take on goodwill.

Dragonfly - An Overnight Low

Dragonfly - An Overnight Low

2:25

Picadilly, 2015

Written by An Overnight Low

A band from Portland, Maine, whose albums are all apparently named after British train stations?  That's kind of odd.  But the music is terrific, a bright jangly-pop straight from the 1990s, except with just a twinge of country-rock guitar there in the middle.  It doesn't sound dated or nostalgic, just confident in what it want to sound like.  Effortlessly hooky power pop and smart lyrics.

Bees Left the Trees - Sugar & the Hi Lows

Bees Left the Trees - Sugar & the Hi Lows

3:32

High Roller, 2015

Written by Amy Francis Stroup

A throwback-style band that should not be so obscure.  This song is a toe-tapping folk-rockabilly number that drops names of its influences: "I need some Jack some Johnny some Emmylou / And the ghost of the man in the blue suede shoes."  The narrator, with a mishmash of imagery, seems to be preaching pride in yourself as you are.  "Cause the wings get dirty / Don′t mean they don′t fly."  And "Cause the bees left the trees / Doesn′t mean there ain't honey inside."

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.

We Don't Believe What's On TV - Twenty One Pilots

We Don't Believe What's On TV - Twenty One Pilots

2:57

Blurryface, 2015

Written by Tyler Joseph

These songs have Vs!

I don't know anything at all about this band.  I learned that they are a duo, and they are known for playing a sort of emo-electronic-indie rock blend.  This song was on the Power Rangers soundtrack, but I don't know anything about that, either.  I like the horns and the bass.  Tyler Joseph has one of those emo voices that yelps out the lyrics but has a high-register catch that makes him sound sort of self-effacing at the same time.  I like how he says, "All right, second verse!" after the "yeah! yeah! yeah!" chorus.  This is a frenetic love song.  He wants to grow old, now that he's met her.  He seems to like her hair an awful lot.

Those Were (Could've Been) the Days - The Deslondes

Those Were (Could've Been) the Days - The Deslondes

2:29

The Deslondes, 2015

Written by Dan Cutler, Sam Doores, Riley Downing, Cameron Snyder, & John James Tourville

It's Contraction Week! 

The band is a roots rock outfit named after a street in the Lower Ninth Ward.  This song has a few handfuls of bluegrass and gospel (there's a road, babe, that can take us to glory") tossed in.  It could be a love song ("You had me, babe / And I had you").  He could be referring to heaven.  Or both.  Could easily fit in the services of a revivalist preacher.  Or George Jones could croon it.  I love a band that can deftly sift and meld genres.  This is a head-nodding, toe-tapping example of how folk music can really adapt to all the folk.