frank turner

Playlist #220

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Happy Monday, folks. It’s a stormy one here in Northern Virginia, where we’ve reached the part of the summer when it rains most every afternoon for an hour or so. In unrelated news, I’ve received the edits for Book 8 back from my editor, so I’ll probably sit down sometime in the next couple of weeks and go through those and make the changes so it reads like something that wasn’t written by an unhinged lunatic with a comma addiction. Until then, here’s a playlist.

  1. Andrew Bird, “Frogs Singing”: A quintessential summer song. It always makes me think of a time I was visiting with my great-grandparents and they took me to a church revival at a little country church out in the middle of nowhere, eastern Oklahoma. The place was in a swamp, essentially, and all you could hear were the frogs singing and the cicadas buzzing. That sound was and remains summer to me.
  2. Case/Lang/Veirs, “Atomic Number”: Why does this song always make me feel so sad? Am I just trained to hear Neko Case’s voice and immediately feel like all the good has been sucked out of the universe and right into her vocal chords?
  3. Frank Turner, “Get Better”: A great shout-along song for when the world’s got you down and you feel like, fuck it, I can actually handle everything you’re gonna throw at me.
  4. Josh Ritter, “Getting Ready to Get Down”: If you see me dancing to this song in the car, feel free to dance along. It’s very danceable.
  5. Greg Feldon, “Incoming”: There’s no reason to give up. There’s no reason to give in. Keep your head up and keep fighting. The world will improve.
  6. Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”: The through line from this song to the work of Bruce Springsteen around Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River is just a straight line. I’m not saying Tracy Chapman is the lesbian Bruce Springsteen, but I’m not not saying that, either.
  7. Kris Orlowski, “Go”: There are only a couple of great songs about lighthouses out there in the world. This is one of them, especially the version sung by Glen Phillips.
  8. Van Morrison, “Wild Night”: A song about getting kitted out and going out on the town, as only a young person in their early to mid-twenties could do. I’m too old for that now, I think, but damn if this song doesn’t make me want to give it a try.
  9. James McMurtry, “Just Us Kids”: And then there’s this song to bring me back down to reality and remind me that, no, I’m in my 40s and I have responsibilities, but hey, maybe I can still have some fun if I really put myself out there.
  10. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Spike (Live)”: And then there’s this reminder that sometimes when you put yourself out there, you go into a bar and get made fun of so bad by a bunch of old curmudgeons that you just walk out, hitch a ride on the nearest interstate, and never come back ever again. Life’s funny that way.

Playlist #177

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Happy Monday, folks! Did you know that you can join my Patreon and hear a new song every single week? It’s true! Come join me, I’m lonely. Here’s songs by other people:

  1. Gary Wright, “Two Faced Man”: Pre-“Dream Weaver,” Gary Wright had a mustache and a more Americana approach to music. This one features George Harrison on slide guitar!
  2. Lucero, “Downtown/On My Way Downtown”: I unabashedly love this song. The horns that feature throughout this whole album (called Women and Work, if you’re curious) is top-notch and adds a great layer of novelty to the songs.
  3. Deer Tick, “Easy”: This song sounds so damn angry every time I listen to it, and I love it. Very loud and brash and upset and unhappy and so damn angry.
  4. Van Morrison, “Give Me a Kiss”: This song is so lighthearted and bouncy, like the musical equivalent of a kiss from your significant other.
  5. Bruce Springsteen, “One Step Up”: Getting back to sadness, apparently, with the Boss’s cheating song. At least, that’s how I always think of it.
  6. Days of the New, “Touch, Peel and Stand”: An acoustic-based grunge song? It’s more likely than you think!
  7. The Flying Burrito Brothers, “Sin City”: Sometimes, you just want some good ol’ fashioned country rock, and the FBBs are here for you in that moment.
  8. Neil Young, “Harvest”: Speaking of country rock, here’s another classic of the genre. I spent a good chunk of the end of last week learning how to play a number of songs off this album, so I’m pretty stuck in on this one.
  9. Garbage, “Only Happy When It Rains”: Sharp songwriting, incisive lyrics, and a snarl on the lead singer’s lips make this one a classic.
  10. Frank Turner, “We Shall Not Overcome”: Sometimes, it’s best to just say “fuck it” and accept the inevitable.

Playlist #144

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Happy Monday! And a truly happy Monday it is, too, for I just did something I haven’t been able to do in three months: take a hot shower in my condo! Sure, it cost a ridiculous amount of money to get it all fixed, but it’s a small price to pay to have water above room temperature when I step into the shower.

  1. Rufus Wainwright, “Harvest”: The one that features Andrew Bird on violin and guest vocals! It’s such a beautiful and simple rendition of the Neil Young tune.
  2. k.d. lang, “Constant Craving”: I, too, hope to someday be disentangled enough from my ego to ignore proper punctuation and capitalization when writing my name. Until then, I stick to the capital letter at the start.
  3. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: We could all use a little Prince tune to get us moving today, I think.
  4. Alannah Myles, “Black Velvet”: This song is about Elvis, right? Pretty sure it’s about Elvis.
  5. The Eagles, “After the Thrill is Gone”: One of the sadder Eagles songs out there, and one where Don Henley only kinda over-sings.
  6. Elliott Smith, “Christian Brothers”: Elliott Smith sounds like he could and would fuck you up really bad in this song. It’s great.
  7. Frank Turner, “Get Better”: Just a reminder that things can always improve, you just have to let them.
  8. Iron & Wine, “About a Bruise”: One of Sam Beam’s goofier songs, probably, at least based on backing vocals.
  9. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.”: Explosive.
  10. 10,000 Maniacs, “These Are Days”: Such a soaring song. Very uplifting. A great way to start the week, I think.

Playlist #140

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Happy New Year, folks! It’s now 2024, which means…well, not a whole lot, on the blog side of things. The playlists will continue until morale improves. That said, here’s this week’s.

  1. Andrew Bird, “Auld Lang Syne”: How this went from a song sung when folks were being generally lauded to a song about the end of one year and the beginning of a new one is beyond me. Maybe someone should research that.
  2. Brian Fallon, “Forget Me Not”: I know I just featured this one a couple of weeks ago, but I really like this song and it’s basically been playing on repeat in my brain for those two weeks.
  3. Frank Turner, “The Gathering”: I always enjoy a Frank Turner rave-up, and one that features Jason Isbell? That’s just icing on the cake.
  4. The Horrible Crowes, “Mary Ann”: Maybe I just really like songs where Brian Fallon shouts someone’s name, okay?
  5. Huey Lewis & the News, “It’s All Right”: Even these guys, the whitest of white guys, know you clap on the two and the four. Get it together, white folks.
  6. Ingrid Michaelson, “Be OK”: I think we can all admit that 2023 was lousy for a whole lot of us. Here’s hoping we’ll all be okay in 2024.
  7. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Climb That Hill”: But it’s not enough to just be okay, is it? No, we want to reach the summit, achieve new heights, do great things. And we will. We just have to go out there and do it.
  8. Tom Waits, “Cold Cold Ground”: Read a thing last week that rated all of Tom Waits’ albums, and this one (Franks Wild Years, without an apostrophe because Tom Waits) was ranked mid-tier. Which is crazy to me, because any album that features this song is automatically top-tier if you ask me.
  9. Wilco, “Quiet Amplifier”: I find it hard to believe Jeff Tweedy has a quiet amplifier. I’ve seen Wilco in concert. He gets loud just like everyone else.
  10. Sting, “Brand New Day”: It is a brand new day, at the start of a brand new year. Make the best of it, folks.

Playlist #94: Love Is In The Air

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Happy Monday and happy early Valentine’s Day! Let’s celebrate by being martyred to Christ, just for fun, and maybe listening to this list of songs while we do that.

  1. Aaron Neville, “Everybody Plays The Fool”: If this song doesn’t get your significant other in the mood for a little somethin’ somethin’, check their pulse. They might be dead.
  2. ABBA, “Take A Chance On Me”: So upbeat. How could you not take a chance on one of these Swedish sirens?
  3. ZZ Top, “Gimme All Your Lovin'”: The power of the beards compels you. And the blooze.
  4. Young Dubliners, “Last House On The Street”: I heard my uncle’s band, The Regular Joes, play this one throughout college and grad school. It’s still an endearing, sweet little song.
  5. Frank Turner, “The Way I Tend To Be”: True love takes you as you are and helps you want to be better.
  6. David Gray, “You’re The World To Me”: There’s something about the heavy-handed strumming at the end of the chorus on this one that just digs into my brain and won’t go away.
  7. The Magnetic Fields, “Epitaph For My Love”: I think this is probably my wife’s favorite song by the Magnetic Fields, who are one of her favorite bands. It’s a little dour.
  8. Ricky Nelson, “Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)”: CCR did a cover of this song
  9. Van Morrison, “I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)”:
  10. Old 97s, “Valentine”:

Playlist #68

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Happy Monday! I’m back in the school building, or at least adjacent to it in one of the “learning cottages” (what they’re calling the portable buildings) where our classes will be held this year. In the meantime, I am still doing the Patreon thing.

  1. Jimi Hendrix, “Fire”: Brother Clyde was telling me a story from Woodstock ’99 yesterday, about how they handed out candles to everyone and everyone immediately started setting things on fire. They asked the Red Hot Chili Peppers, of all people, to calm the crowd, but instead the band ripped into this song.
  2. Buddy Guy (Featuring Jason Isbell), “Gunsmoke Blues”: Too topical. Far too timely. It’s always too timely when you’re talking about gun violence in America, but Buddy Guy does it beautifully.
  3. The Clash, “Spanish Bombs”: Poor Andalucía.
  4. Colin Hay, “Beautiful World”: Yes, I originally heard this acoustic version on Scrubs, like so many other people. Doesn’t matter, it’s still amazing and beautiful.
  5. Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, “The Ballad of Speedy Atkins”: Psychobilly at its finest.
  6. Tom Waits, “No One Knows I’m Gone”: I’m still waiting to hear the version of this song my brother recorded, but I think it probably still needs vocals from his vocalist on it.
  7. Andrew Bird, “Not A Robot, But A Ghost”: Either way, Mystery Inc is on the case!
  8. Paul McCartney, “Try Not To Cry”: A McCartney rave up, because why not?
  9. Frank Turner, “Silent Key”: We’re fairly certain at least a couple of the astronauts from the doomed Challenger space shuttle survived the explosion that destroyed the shuttle, because their personal egress air packs (PEAPs) were used. There is no indication they radioed to let anyone know they were still alive in freefall, but it’s still a touching song.
  10. Loose Fur, “Laminated Cat”: Please do not laminate your cats. They do not like it.

Playlist #44: Back in the Saddle

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Happy Monday! I’m actually back to work today, after a month away taking care of the Wife. She’s improving every day, slowly but surely, and she’s well enough I’m comfortable leaving her home alone while I come toil away in education mines. A reminder that, if you want to support me making my own music, I’ve got that Patreon you can contribute to! I actually drop February’s song today!

  1. Genesis, “Turn It On Again”: I recently downloaded the album this song came from, Duke, and while this is definitely my favorite song off the whole record, the rest of the songs ain’t too shabby, either.
  2. Steve Winwood, “Back In The High Life Again”: “All the doors I closed one time/Will open up again.” Yes, they will.
  3. Aerosmith, “Back In The Saddle”: A bit of my anthem this morning.
  4. Andrew Bird, “Orpheo Looks Back”: Every playlist could benefit from some Andrew Bird, and I love this song.
  5. Bob Dylan, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”: “Beyond here lies nothin’/But the mountains of the past.” Maybe not Dylan’s most profound work ever, but I still dig the rhythm of this song and the guitar work.
  6. Gorillaz, “DARE”: I could dance this morning, I think.
  7. Glen Phillips, “Duck And Cover”: A more stripped-down version of a song that appeared on his Winter Pays For Summer album off of Tornillo.
  8. The Gaslight Anthem, “Stay Lucky”: Someday, I’ll put together a playlist of songs that I love to play on the guitar. This song will also appear on that list.
  9. Frank Turner, “The Way I Tend To Be”: I love this song for the mandolin mostly.
  10. CCR, “Midnight Special”: Another that I love to play on the guitar and howl along to at the top of my lungs, as one does with CCR songs.

Playlist #24: Dance Dance Revolution

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Happy Monday morning and Happy Indigenous Persons Day! Today, I feel like dancing.

  1. Elliott Smith, “XO (Waltz #2)”: “Here it is, the revenge to the tune/You’re no good” is just one of the best lines ever.
  2. Bruce Springsteen, “Dancing In The Dark”: Who doesn’t want to drag Courtney Cox up onto stage to dance with the Boss?
  3. ABBA, “Dancing Queen”: Oddly enough, not the first song I thought of when I came up with this theme.
  4. Frank Turner, “Four Simple Words”: This is the song that inspired the playlist. “I want to dance/I want to dance/I want lust and love and a smattering of romance/But I’m no good at dancing/But I have to do something.” C’mon, that’s a great chorus.
  5. Van Morrison, “Moondance”: Van has gotten progressively weirder and more irascible as he’s aged, but this song (and the whole album of the same name) remains solid gold.
  6. jeremy messersmith, “It’s Only Dancing”: Dude decided a couple of years ago to decenter his ego by no longer capitalizing his name, which…that’s not how proper nouns work, Jer. That’s not how they work at all. Still a good song, though.
  7. John Mellencamp, “Dance Naked”: Excellent advice, as long as nobody’s watching.
  8. Dire Straits, “Walk Of Life”: I’m pretty sure the walk of life is a dance. If it isn’t, it ought to be.
  9. Calexico, “Sunken Waltz”: Any excuse to include a Calexico song on a playlist is fine by me.
  10. Tom Waits, “Tom Traubert’s Blues”: Included due to the “Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda/You’ll go waltzing Matilda with me” in the chorus. It’s sad and sweet and touching and heartbreaking all at once.