Nowhere Fast - the Smiths

Nowhere Fast - the Smiths

2:37

Meat Is Murder, 1985

Written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr

This week is all about 1985!

What I love about Morrissey is how he leavens his whiny emo shtick with real wit and humor.  He can even be self-effacing, or at least he could back them (nowadays he seems to be a stuffy right-wing old bore).  "And if the day came / When I felt a natural emotion / I'd get such a shock / I'd probably jump in the ocean."  Rhythm section sounds like a train.  It's such a sad sound.  It's no "There Is a Light And It Never Goes Out" but it's a good one.

Rock And Roll Girls - John Fogerty

Rock And Roll Girls - John Fogerty

3:26

Centerfield, 1985

Written by John Fogerty

This week is all about 1985!

The big comeback album from Fogerty.  I don't agree with my friend David that this is on a par with CCR's absolutely unimpeachable oeuvre, but it's pretty darn good.  I've heard this song on the radio a few times, but never really listened carefully.  I like how it evokes a secret world of music and nostalgia, "like flowers in the sand, the rainbow in my mind."  Fogerty himself plays the sax solo, which is impressive.

Livin' For Your Lover - Chris Isaak

Livin' For Your Lover - Chris Isaak
2:56
Silvertone, 1985

Written by Chris Isaak

This week is all about 1985!

From Isaak's debut (with cover modeled after Elvis's 1958 single "Don't") comes this toe-tapper that to me echoes "Somebody's Cryin'" on his masterpiece Forever Blue.  Critics weren't very appreciative of Isaak's homage-slash-impersonation of Orbison and Presley back in 1985, but I like his '50s crooner wail and falsetto superimposed over a tight '80s-sound country-rock outfit (previously known as Silvertone), not shambling or rockabilly.  It's a new kind of sound, derivative though it may be.

One World - Dire Straits

One World - Dire Straits

3:40

Brothers In Arms, 1985

Written by Mark Knopfler

O listen!

A laid-black blues by the Notting Hillbilly.  Despite the album being one of the best-selling of all time, to me it's not the best Dire Straits album.  It's got a funky groove, with an odd center section where they take away the rhythm section and Knopfler croons over what sounds like harpsichord but it probably synths.  It's a decent tune, but I wouldn't put it on a best-of compilation.

Strange Overtones - David Byrne & Brian Eno

Strange Overtones - David Byrne & Brian Eno

4:16

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, 2008

Written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Leo Abrahams

O listen!

Backed by a mix of instruments and electronica, Byrne croons his typical quotidian yet quirky lyrics in a soft falsetto.  It begins with waking up in the morning and hearing someone in the next apartment and then gets more abstruse.  Is it about isolation?  Hard to say.  Byrne approaches most subjects like an alien dissecting a human to see how it ticks.  "I see the music in your face / That your words cannot explain."  The electronica backing makes the song cold and aloof; I read that this collaboration was done almost entirely through email, and maybe it's missing a human warmth that Byrne famously doesn't have, and which his old band provided.  It's got a nice beat and if its intent is to make us feel removed from humanity, it succeeds.   

Only Time Will Tell - Etta James

Only Time Will Tell - Etta James

3:22

single, 1966

Written by Maurice McAlister & Terry Vail

O listen!

James belts this one out with as much fervor as any sweaty soul godfather.  The narrator's man is gone, and she's not sure if he'll be back.  There are clues, but nothing definite.  Once it seems like he really isn't coming back, she tidies up.  If he is gone, will she ever get over it?  Only time will tell.  A fantastic performance from the matriarch of R&B.

You Must Be Out Of Your Mind - the Magnetic Fields

You Must Be Out Of Your Mind - the Magnetic Fields

3:12

Realism, 2010

Written by Stephin Merritt

O listen!

The first track from the Fields' synth-free, largely acoustic "folk album" showcases the typical arch, dry, mordant wit Merritt employs so well.  His lyrical ancestor Cole Porter and epigram professor Oscar Wilde would be proud.  This song is a kiss-off.  "You can't go 'round just saying stuff / Because it's pretty / And I no longer drink enough / To think you're witty."  That's cold, Stephin!  As with a lot of his songs, he really hammers the chorus home, but his verses are so sly that I can forgive the repetition.

Dreamin' On Overdrive - Erin Cassels-Brown

Dreamin' On Overdrive - Erin Cassels-Brown

3:52

Dreamin' On Overdrive, 2019

Written by Erin Cassels-Brown, presumably

O listen!

A singer-songwriter out of Vermont, entirely unknown to me.  He's got Springsteen vibes, and not just with the car-related imagery.  It's the passion in his voice, and the epic feel of the song.  The song starts out with a bang, drawing you in with Cassels-Brown's urgent, nasal vocals.  I dig it, but the song goes on a little long for my tastes, repeating the title or variations of it over an extended fade-out jam.  End it at 3:15 and you'd have a near-perfect rocker.

Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano - Jerry Lee Lewis

Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano - Jerry Lee Lewis

3:21

Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano... (Think About It Darlin'), 1972

Written by Ray Griff

O listen!

This song seems to be a winking double entendre.  The narrator wonders who'll play songs for his lady after he dies, but it's possible he's also asking who's going to tickle his lady's ivories after he's gone, if you know what I mean.  "When everything is a-hushed and still / Who's gonna touch these keys with feeling / Really get to you."  Lewis doesn't seem to be taking it too seriously, throwing in a few spoken callbacks to the lyrics and burying it in a wave of ragtime, Dixieland jazz, and Vaudeville sounds.

Omaha - Waylon Jennings

Omaha - Waylon Jennings

2:38

Honky Tonk Heroes, 1973

Written by Billy Joe Shaver & Hillman Hall

O listen!

A sister song to Bobby Bare's "Detroit City," ten years on.  Guy thought he outgrew his little town, so moves to California.  Gonna be big!  Gonna be a star!  Or maybe not.  Maybe in trouble with the law.  No easy road to riches.  He misses Omaha.  "I'm leaving even if I have to crawl."  The song goes down easy, that polished '70s country sound and a universal feeling.