cyndi lauper

Playlist #254

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Happy Monday, folks. The weather outside is warming up, so it seems winter is now behind us. I know lots of folks are happy about that, but personally I could’ve done with another few weeks of colder weather. Here’s a playlist.

  1. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, “This Must Be The Place”: I discovered only this weekend that this is a Talking Heads cover. It feels so thoroughly Iron & Wine coded that it took me a second to believe it.
  2. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Black Jack Davey”: Hearing this band as a folky delta blues thing is kind of a trip. They do a good take on this traditional tune.
  3. Matt Berninger & Roseanne Cash, “Who Loves The Sun”: Who doesn’t love a Velvet Underground cover? It’s exactly what you think a Matt Berninger covering Lou Reed song would sound like, and that’s not a bad thing.
  4. The Head and the Heart, “Time With My Sins (Ghost No. 1)”: I kinda like the short album this song is from. It’s primarily acoustic guitar and singing, with lots of the harmonies the band is known for, but it doesn’t feel spare or sparse or “folky.” It just feels right.
  5. Jesse Malin, “You Can Make Them Like You”: I guess this week is just a little heavy on covers, ’cause this is a great Hold Steady cover that he usually closes shows with.
  6. Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time”: I’m not really sure how or when or why it happened, but I’ve really kinda come to love Cyndi Lauper. The woman wrote some amazing songs, including and especially this one. I heard her perform a solo version of this once on the dulcimer, which I wasn’t aware (1) she could play or (2) was still an instrument that anyone could play. It was incredible.
  7. Lake Street Dive, “Bad Self Portraits”: I know this song is pretty far removed from the sound the band has nowadays, but I still love it and I think opening their debut album with it was a smart move.
  8. Neko Case, “Hold On, Hold On”: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood turned twenty a few days ago? Well, I’ll just go ahead and crumble into dust now, if y’all don’t mind. This song still sounds as fresh and vital as it did the day it came out.
  9. Brian Fallon, “Forget Me Not”: It just seems right to me that Brian Fallon screams out the name “Stacy” every time in this song. It fits. I love it.
  10. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “Battle of New Orleans”: It’s a three-chord celebration of Andrew Jackson’s glorious victory over the British in (technically after) the War of 1812. Another cover, if you can believe it.

Playlist #5

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Monday was our friend Lauren’s birthday, so here’s a Lauren-centric playlist to help her celebrate!

  1. Sarah Donner, “With Pride”: A song about acceptance and unicorns (or Pegasi, which I’m pretty sure is the plural of Pegasus).
  2. Waxahatchee, “Sparks Fly”: I like the simplicity of their arrangements. And the lyrics. And I think Lauren might be the only other person I know who listens to them.
  3. Cyndi Lauper, “She Bop”: I originally chose “The Goonies Are Good Enough,” but I feel Lauren would approve of this choice more.
  4. Indigo Girls, “Closer to Fine”: This one also goes on my Philosophy Playlist, which I’ll hopefully someday find more than four songs for (current list includes this song, that one Edie Brickell song, the Ben Folds Five’s “Philosphy,” and the Monty Python song about drunk philosophers).
  5. k.d. lang, “Constant Craving”: Did you know the Rolling Stones totally ripped this song off for their song “Has Anybody Seen My Baby”? It’s true! And also not as good a song as this one.
  6. The Doubleclicks, “Sensitive Badass”: Because Lauren is sensitive and she is a badass.
  7. Velvet Underground, “Candy Says”: I’m not super-familiar with the Velvet Underground, but this is a mellow tune and it’s probably about drugs. Or sex. Or sex and drugs.
  8. Dresden Dolls, “Shores of California”: There aren’t many songs that reference Oklahoma, let alone in their chorus. This one does, though.
  9. Lizzo, “Good As Hell”: I dare you to listen to this song and not want to sing along. I defy you to not dance to it. You can’t not dance to this song. This song is, in fact, good as hell.
  10. Bikini Kill, “Rebel Girl”: A thrashy, punky middle finger to the establishment and a lesbian love song for the ages. I think Lauren would approve.

She’s So Unusual

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I’ve come to appreciate the songwriting of Cyndi Lauper over time. While the arrangements for her songs are often very much of their time, the bones of the songs are really solid.

Case in point: apparently, Cyndi Lauper plays the Appalachian dulcimer, and is widely considered one of the most accomplished performers on that instrument. And she’s used this skill to rework some of her songs in very different arrangements that completely transform them.

All of which is a long way of saying: check out this video of Cyndia Lauper performing “Time After Time” on the Appalachian dulcimer. It’s amazing.