Something's Going On In My Room - Daddy Cleanhead and the Chuck Higgins Band

Something's Going On In My Room - Daddy Cleanhead and the Chuck Higgins Band

2:13

single, 1954

Written by Alvin Johnson and Scott Johnson

Jump blues with  tinge of rockabilly, a rock solid rhythm, catchy piano and bass riff, humorous and light-hearted lyrics and a bouncing, buzzing horn.  The narrator hears some suspicious voices in his room, accompanied by equally suspicious thumps and bumps.  Naturally, he's fit to bust down the door.  "Well when I get in / You better have somethin' for me," he says.  (Does this indicate a lack of jealousy and a willing to take part in a throuple situation?)  In the end, his lady is just dancing around with a broom.  Whew!

Somethin' Else - Eddie Cochran

Somethin' Else - Eddie Cochran

2:10

single, 1959

Written by Sharon Sheeley and Bob Cochran

Hey, lookee here!  What's all this?  In this rattling rockabilly number, the narrator wishes he could date a girl he's long pined after, but she's out of his class.  But!  But if he got a flash car, she'd go for him: "I'll buy that car that I been wanting so / Get me that girl and we'll go ridin' around."  We are living in a material world, and I guess she's a material girl.  He works hard, gets the car, works up the courage to knock.  It's a simple song with no twists, but I like the primitive guitar and crashing, metallic percussion.  

Something's Coming - Vic Damone

Something's Coming - Vic Damone

2:28

On the Street Where You Live, 1964

Written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim

This song is from West Side Story.  I haven't heard the original, so I can't compare it.  I like Damone's suave baritone, which makes the song sound confident and brisk rather than uneasily hopeful, as the lyrics might suggest.  I like the sprightly tempo and how it quickens and slows between verses.  It's got a classy, warm vibe, a showcase big band song.  It's akin to Sinatra's "Luck Be a Lady," in that the narrator's desperate manufactured optimism ("I got a feeling there′s a miracle due / Gonna come true, coming to me") seems to be a thin veneer under which lies high anxiety.

Something [live] - Elvis Presley

Something [live] - Elvis Presley

3:40

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters, 1995 (recorded 1970)

Written by George Harrison

From a concert in August 1970 (not the 1973 version from Aloha From Hawaii), this cover showcases the King's blend of reverence and theatricality. The ballad begins with his signature croon, starting tender and sincere, but gradually leaning into his Vegas-era drama—adding swelling strings, lush backing vocals, and a grandiose arrangement. His vocal delivery moves from soulful and intimate to full-throated passion, almost gospel-like by the climax. While it loses some of the Beatles' quiet subtlety, Elvis makes it unmistakably his own, turning the song into a sweeping declaration of love and longing.

Something On Your Mind - Karen Dalton

Something On Your Mind - Karen Dalton

3:23

In My Own Time, 1971

Written by Dino Valenti

A haunting, soul-baring piece of folk-blues, delivered with a unique voice, a nasal, world-weary, cracked alto that aches with lived experience. The sparse arrangement, gently picked guitar, quiet trills of strings, subtle bass, and minimal percussion let Dalton's vocals take center stage.  Her phrasing is delicate yet devastating, each word weighed down with sorrow and resilience. The song itself wrestles with truth, self-deception, and the ache of disillusionment, making it a timeless gut-punch of raw vulnerability and understated power.  I had never heard of this artist, but I immediately was taken by her voice.  This song is from her second and final album, but she didn't die until 1993; although she began sharing a stage with Dylan and has been championed by many music greats, apparently she hated recording and drank a lot.  Hashtag sad.

Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches

Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches

3:00

The Moldy Peaches, 2000

Written by Kimya Dawson & Adam Green 

A lo-fi indie (defined loosely; it's got 98 million listens on Spotify and was featured heavily in Juno) cutesy love song, with half-sung, spoken traded verses over sparse instrumentation.  Is it twee?  Oh, it defines twee.  "Here is the church and here is the steeple / We sure are cute for two ugly people."  Or, to Kimya: "Don Quixote was a steel driving man / My name is Adam, I'm your biggest fan."  Juvenile?  Yes (especially the final, somewhat less cute, verse).  But it's sweet in an oddball sort of way.

I'm the One Who Loves You - The Impressions

I'm the One Who Loves You - The Impressions

2:29

The Impressions, 1963

Written by Curtis Mayfield

The friend-zoned guy's "give me a chance" anthem.  The narrator bemoans the face that the lady is coming back to tell her friend of another heartache and yet never seems to realize that, yes, he's the one who loves her.  Tired of white knighting, he's now going to step up: "This time I won't let you go back / Never again, my dear, in fact."  Kinda controlling, no?  Fellas, the way to let a lady know you're worthy of love is to be worthy of love.  No need to force it!  Beautiful vocals by the group, though.

If Sugar Was As Sweet As You - Joe Tex

If Sugar Was As Sweet As You - Joe Tex

2:58

The Love You Save, 1966

Written by Joe Tex

A funky, joyful paean to the woman who turned the narrator's life around with her love ("Because you came along and showed me I was wrong / Now that I think that I can carry on").  It's a common sentiment in song, but Joe Tex sells it with a preacher's fire and rascal's grin, backed by a rousing horn section.  The real hook, though, is the delightful chorus, which compares her to sugar, to sugar's detriment: "You know that you so sweet / You make sugar taste just like salt."  It's a catchy Southern soul version of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, where his love is nicer than a summer's day.

Mail Myself To You - John McCutcheon

Mail Myself To You - John McCutcheon
3:34
Mail Myself To You, 1988
Written by Woody Guthrie, 1943-1950

This song, one of Guthrie's lighter love songs, has been recorded by several artists.  Here, multi-instrumentalist McCutcheon plays it fairly seriously, softly singing the whimsical lyrics ("Take me out of my wrapping paper / Wash the stamps off my head / Pour me full of some ice cream soda / Put me in my nice warm bed") with care, not from a like he really hopes it'll happen, not patronizing the absurdity.  Near the end there's a nice round of vocals with a female singer, which adds a little sparkle.

Rhode Island Is Famous For You - Blossom Dearie

Rhode Island Is Famous For You - Blossom Dearie

2:11

Soubrette: Blossom Dearie Sings Broadway Hit Songs, 1960

Written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, 1948

Okay, first: what is a Blossom Dearie?!  I thought it might be a band, but no, it's a singer, born Margrethe Blossom Dearie, with a high and girlish voice.  Here, she sings a light novelty number about the smallest state, originally from a musical called "Inside U.S.A."  It's a silly and fairly funny song, with tongue in cheek, deliberately dumb wordplay.  "Grand canyons come from Colorada / Gold comes from Nevada / Divorces also do."  By the time she gets to "Pencils come from Pencil-vania" and "Vests from Vest Virginia," however, you might start wishing Dietz had spent a little more time polishing up the lyrics.