The Valley Road - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Valley Road - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

4:12

Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volume 2, 1989

Written by Bruce Hornsby

This song appeared on a Hornby record the previous year, and his lead vocals are featured here, accompanied by a frenzy of bluegrass-style fingerpickin' and fiddlin'.  The lyrics are not explicit, but they hint at a tale as old as time.  Hired hand goes off with his boss's daughter, gets her pregnant, the family quietly sends her away to have it aborted, and he can't see her anymore.  Hornsby's biggest hit is also a progressive, anti-prejudice message.  It's funny how many songs of social justice by mainstream artists are listened to on repeat by the masses who happily ignore their meaning.

Under 21 - Save Ferris

Under 21 - Save Ferris

2:37

It Means Everything, 1997

Written by Brian Mashburn

Power pop ska swing!  Musically, No Doubt has nothing on these guys.  Lyrically, on the other hand, it's the work of a teenager, and not a particularly self-reflective one at that.  "He said, No one under 21 allowed! / But he must've been stupid 'cause I saw my friends in the crowd."  Don't overlook the erudite chorus, "It sucks to be under 21."  John Keats this is not, but the powerhouse vocals help you forget.  As long as you're not paying much attention, this isn't a bad song to have bopping along in the background.

This Is the Night - The Delta Bombers

This Is the Night - The Delta Bombers

2:40

single, 2020

Written by Catherine Baldwin, 1957

This is a pretty decent rockabilly song, all hot rods and teenage meet-ups.  I originally thought it was a throwback, but it turns out to be a cover of an obscure single originally released, I think, by Bob Luman.  All '50s style, acoustic upright bass, black leather jacket, switchblade maybe?  It's got an ominous vibe.  Something's going to happen before the sun comes up.  Maybe he'll get some girl to like him!  Nothing original here, but it's a good time.  The title is repeated a lot.  Probably dancing is more on the band's minds than story-telling.

She's Got Soul - Nick Lowe

She's Got Soul - Nick Lowe

2:23

The Convincer, 2001

Written by Nick Lowe

A newly debonair Lowe, no longer the Jesus of cool but now the dashing debonair grandfather of cool, applies his talent for pop perfection to a spare, country-tinged love song.  The narrator has found a girl, a real pearl.  He's been lonely, but "she could be / the making of me."  A gentle, unassuming song, delivered with a quiet, sure vocal.  The words say he's over the moon, but he doesn't sound too excited.

Road Away - John Stewart

Road Away - John Stewart

3:36

Cannons In the Rain, 1973

Written by John Stewart

There is always something new to you.  Despite my long interest in music, especially the singer-songwriters from the 1970s, I've never heard of Stewart.  He was in the second incarnation of the Kingston Trio, and wrote "Daydream Believer" and "Never Goin' Back," which I know from the Lovin' Spoonful version.  He then went on to release nearly 50 albums.  Yet he's never made his way into my consciousness.  Which is too bad; he's clearly a talented guy and has a nice voice.  This song is somewhat abstruse, but seems to be about the need to make your own way in the world, whether by choice or perforce.  It's a toe-tapping number, but I'm dinging it a point for repeating the chorus three times to fadeout.

Palmcorder Yajna - The Mountain Goats

Palmcorder Yajna - The Mountain Goats

4:08

We Shall All be Healed, 2004

Written by John Darnielle

The Mountain Goats aren't the first artist to reappear here, but this song marks the first reoccurrence of an album on this blog.  Continuing the tweaker theme of the album, this song finds a group of meth heads gathering at a decrepit hotel to get high.  What's that title all about?  A palmcorder is a brand of Panasonic camcorder ('And I dreamt of a camera / Pointing out from inside the television").  A Yajna or Yagna is a Hindu ritual done in front of a sacred fire ("If anybody comes into our room while we're asleep / I hope they incinerate everybody in it").  Grim, foreboding, strident.

Once a Day - Connie Smith

Once a Day - Connie Smith

2:20

Connie Smith, 1965

Written by Bill Anderson

I've only vaguely heard of Smith and I don't think I've ever heard this song.  Of course, it was #1 for eight weeks, and propelled Smith to superstardom, but to be fair to me, I was not much interested in country for many decades of my life.  This is an archetypical "woe is me" song sung with pride and defiance, hanging on the hook of the type of ironic wordplay country music used to love.  That is, "The only time I wish you weren't gone / Is once a day, every day, all day long."  I like the example in Willie Nelson's "Three Days:"  "Three days that I dread to see arrive / Three days I hate to be alive / Three days filled with tears and sorrow / Yesterday, today, and tomorrow."  Or, as Kurt Vonnegut said, "Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future."  But I digress.  This is a deserved classic.

Natural Child - Brewer & Shipley

Natural Child - Brewer & Shipley

3:49

Shake Off the Demon, 1971

Written by Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley

I think the first thing the discerning modern listener notices about this album is the mustaches.  It was an era when a mustache and a guitar could get you a recording contract.  I think I've said that before.  It's possible that this song is the quintessential hippie folk-rock zeitgeist. "Natural child / Got to keep hopin’ for one thing / Natural child / The human race."  Might you hear this in a drum circle, hippies leaping about?  Yes, you might well.  A folk rock jam, all positive vibes and congas and jangly violins.

Marchin' To the City - Bob Dylan

Marchin' To the City - Bob Dylan

4:33

The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997), 2023 (recorded 1996)

Written by Bob Dylan

An outtake from Time Out Of Mind, something like an early version of "Til I Fell in Love With You," a few lyrics that made it into the final cut popping up here and there.  Note that this is a different cut from the the two versions of this song that appear on The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006.  Those songs clock in at 6:32 and 3:40.  This one, from Fragments, is closer in tone and tempo to the shorter version 2.  It was probably recorded in 1996.  Looking back with the knowledge of what would come, this is pretty clearly unfinished, but I don't think you would say that if you'd never heard the final result.  

Life With the Lions - Billy Bragg

Life With the Lions - Billy Bragg

3:06

Workers Playtime, 1988

Written by Billy Bragg

A breakup song, or at least, a "we're about to break up" song.  The narrator "hates the arsehole" he is when he's with the girl.  He suspects something.  His friends ask why he's mad all the time.  Well, she might have been going out around his back. Is she the predator, the lion of the title?  "The chase is always better than the kill."  Musically this is a nod to country and western, complete with piano and harmonica.