john prine

Playlist #232

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Happy Monday, folks. It’s SAT week here in Fairfax County, so I get to help administer that test this Wednesday. Joy. I love testing. These songs will hopefully carry me through the week.

  1. Taylor Swift, “Wood”: Yes, there’s a new Taylor Swift album out, and it’s all anyone is talking about. While I enjoy this song, it’s also rather amusing to me. Hearing Taylor sing double entendres is like hearing your middle schooler try out the word “fuck”: it’s mildly adorable to hear them trying, even though it sounds kinda cringey.
  2. Rhett Miller, “The El”: This could’ve come off an Old 97s album, honestly, but I can’t blame Rhett for keeping it for this solo record. It’s a bop.
  3. Neko Case, “Dirty Knife”: What is this song about? I have no idea, but there’s mention of the titular knife and a chorus (?) sung in, I think, Latin. It’s great.
  4. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “California”: I’m just a sucker for the She’s the One soundtrack, as we are all well aware by now.
  5. The Raconteurs, “Intimate Secretary”: This just always seemed like an extremely fun band to be a part of, like these guys really synched up well and were all on the same page. This song is a perfect example of that chemistry.
  6. Robert Plant, “Chevrolet”: Robert Plant still makes pretty compelling music. His latest feels even more in line with the stuff he’s been making with Allison Krauss, even though she’s not even involved with the project.
  7. Spoon, “Chateau Blues”: A Spoon song that does and does not sound like a Spoon song is quite an accomplishment, but it’s one they pull off here.
  8. Lord Huron, “Meet Me in the Woods”: Still rather obsessed with Strange Trails. Will not apologize for that.
  9. Pearl Jam, “Hail, Hail”: When you need a little pick me up first thing in the morning, put it on this song and crank the volume. You’re welcome.
  10. John Prine, “Souvenirs”: And when you need someone to make you wistful and nostalgic and maybe just a little bit angry at the past, you could do much worse than Prine.

Playlist #210

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Tuesdays are the new Mondays, at least when you spend your Monday sitting at home waiting for the HVAC guy to show up. When he finally does, he’s gonna tell you that you need a whole new system, won’t that be a fun and adult experience to have! Anyway, here’s some songs.

  1. Fleetwood Mac, “Everywhere”: Why do I hear this song as interstitial music, like, everywhere? It’s a good song, mind you – not one of their absolute best, but good – I just don’t see why everyone from Target to NPR is using it.
  2. Daughter of Swords, “Hard On”: Yes, it’s about what you think it’s about, but humorously so and from the woman’s perspective, I think? Or maybe the singer is taking on the role of a man? Either way, it’s a good song, Jerry.
  3. Warren Zevon, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”: If you’re gonna send anything, you could do worse than these three things, I guess.
  4. Mark Knopfler, “Don’t Crash the Ambulance”: So, this song came out in 2004. Is the intended target George W. Bush? Because he ran for reelection that year, sure, but it was re-election. I’d think the kind of advice this song offers – such as “don’t push the big red button or you’ll kill us all” – would have been far more useful and effective about four years earlier.
  5. Uncle Tupelo, “No Sense in Lovin'”: Latter-day Uncle Tupelo sounds like more of a set-up for future bands Son Volt and Wilco, and no more so than on this Jeff Tweedy number that wouldn’t have felt amiss on Wilco’s A.M.
  6. The White Stripes, “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine”: Just tell us she’s anti-vax and move on, Jack.
  7. Albert King, “Born Under a Bad Sign”: Now, I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious. That being said, I’m usually fairly certain I wasn’t born under a bad sign, and wouldn’t really know how to recognize if I was, and I treasure this ignorance. Please, no one tell me what it means, as I might lose some other, more vital, piece of information. I can only keep so many things in my head, and I’d hate to lose something important like my social security number or my wife’s birthday.
  8. Jars of Clay, “Reckless Forgiver”: I probably forgive recklessly. If there’s anything I took from my Christian upbringing (aside from a sense of compassion for those less fortunate and a weird anti-authoritarian theological streak that I cannot get rid of), it’s that forgiveness is vital to a good life. Also, don’t be a dick to other people.
  9. John Prine, “Spanish Pipedream”: I’m not really certain why it’s important that “she was a level-headed dancer,” but I’m sure it must have been important ’cause it’s the first line of the song. You don’t include a detail like that unless it’s vital to understanding the character or plot. Maybe it’s designed to make you think her advice – to “blow up your TV, throw away your paper, move to the country, build you a home, plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches, try to find Jesus on your own” – is more grounded that it sounds at first blush.
  10. Joe Walsh, “Rocky Mountain Way”: I almost learned to play a B chord for this song, but in the end I just cheat and slide my A chord down two frets and only strum three of the six strings. It’s a cheater B, as I call it, but it works for all the longer you actually have to play that chord in the song. Song’s a banger, though.

Playlist #176

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It’s Tuesday, because I spent all Sunday night vomiting and most of yesterday sleeping it off. So here’s this week’s playlist today.

  1. John Prine, “All The Best”: John Prine remains the songwriter’s songwriter. I caught a performance he did for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert of this song, and it’s simple and beautiful and deadpan. Love it.
  2. Van Morrison, “Almost Independence Day”: I can’t be the only person who heard this song and thought it sounded like Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”
  3. Pearl Jam, “Corduroy”: Was Vitalogy the last great Pearl Jam album? Probably not. But it was the last one I bought on CD until grad school, when I picked up Riot Act on a whim. I’d definitely chalk it up as their strangest album, with more weirdness than you usually expect from a mainstream rock act.
  4. Tom Petty, “Down South”: Okay, I’ll admit, I’ve come around on Highway Companion in recent years. Like any Tom Petty album, it features a good selection of classic tunes, including this one. Bonus, it’s fun to play on the guitar.
  5. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “Jesus Christ for President”: The first debate between Trump and Kamala Harris is tonight, and while I’ll watch it, I won’t be excited to watch it. Debates mostly just enrage me. But hey, maybe JC will make a sudden reappearance and run for office. Despite being an immigrant. And unemployed.
  6. Lee Isaacs, “Born Outta This Time”: I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this song. He rushes too much through some of the lyrics in the chorus, but it’s otherwise a pretty solid tune with good instrumentation and a catchy hook.
  7. The Flaming Lips, “Spider Bite”: The Soft Bulletin remains one of my favorite albums of all times, and this is a fun, weird little song from that one. A precursor to Spider-Man? Maybe.
  8. Roy Orbison, “Help”: Roy Orbison’s voice just sends chills up your spine, and his solo acoustic take on “Help” from documentary Everyman: John Lennon, “Journey in the Life” is just breathtaking. Wish a full version of it was available somewhere.
  9. Peter Gabriel, “Steam”: Is it just a slight rewrite of “Sledgehammer”? Yeah, sure. But is it still pretty awesome? Heck yeah. Even a rehashed “Sledgehammer” still hits a sweet spot in my brain.
  10. Sean Watkins and Glen Phillips, “Let It Fall”: Just one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard, with gorgeous mandolin and guitar runs throughout.

Playlist #168

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Happy Tuesday, folks! We’re back from the beach, and for once I did not get sunburned! Don’t forget that the new Eddie Hazzard book is now available on the ‘Zon.

  1. Foo Fighters, “Best Of You”: “I’ve got a confession to make”: I didn’t realize this song was over 20 years old. It somehow seems older? And yet somehow also timeless. David Grohl is a pretty good songwriter.
  2. Sonic Youth, “Teen Age Riot”: Never really got into noise rock when I was young and malleable, so it’s kind of strange that I started listening to them this week and didn’t hate it. Still don’t fully understand the genre, but that’s on me, not them.
  3. Bob Dylan, “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”: Dylan rarely writes straightforward love songs, and calling this one is maybe a bit of a stretch. It’s easier to decode than many of his other songs: “She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful/Yet she’s true like ice, like fire,” is a damn good line.
  4. Fleetwood Mac, “Silver Springs”: Man, the 1997 live version of this song is just gloriously mean. Stevie Nicks sings it directly to and at Lindsey Buckingham, a great big lyrical fuck you the likes of which you rarely get even in the best sad songs.
  5. Wilco, “Livid”: Wilco’s new EP is pretty good, if sadly short.
  6. Flying Burrito Brothers, “Dark End of the Street”: These guys were putting the country in country-rock well before that was even a genre.
  7. John Prine, “The Great Compromise”: I’m still discovering amazing songs written by this guy. He left us far too soon.
  8. The Shins, “Phantom Limb”: I kinda like the Shins still. They didn’t change my life, contrary to what the movie Garden State would have you believe, but they’re good.
  9. Violent Femmes, “American Music”: The snide condescension in the vocals on, well, all Violent Femmes songs sustains me in my dark moods.
  10. The Velvet Underground, “Rock & Roll”: Why does this song include a Bb6? What is the point of that damn chord other than to infuriate me when I try to play the song?

Playlist #160

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Happy Monday, folks. If you’re like me, you spent the weekend thinking about music, coughing, and playing video games. You also came up with this playlist. You are very talented and quite handsome, I must say.

  1. Seven Mary Three, “Water’s Edge”: This is just the grunge version of Richard Marx’s “Hazard,” isn’t it? I’m pretty sure it is.
  2. Onnu Jonu Son, “True Love Will Find You In the End”: Icelandic dude who has one of those great raspy, lower-register voices that feel folky and lived-in. So do his songs, including this lovely cover.
  3. Rhiannon Giddens, “Yet To Be (feat. Jason Isbell)”: I am a sucker for a good duet, and these two knock it out of the park.
  4. Adeem the Artist, “Nancy”: I like his new album, though I liked White Trash Revelry more. This one strikes me as “Laid” by James only ’90s country styles.
  5. Pearl Jam, “Wreckage”: Dark Matter was a surprisingly good album. It feels like classic Pearl Jam without really sounding anything like classic Pearl Jam. This one is a predominantly acoustic number, a strange thing on any Pearl Jam album but a welcome departure from their riffy electric assault.
  6. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “The Body Electric”: They just really get the folky country style, like they’ve lived it and it’s written in their bones.
  7. John Prine, “Souvenirs”: Is that really how you spell the word “souvenirs?” Why did I think it had more vowels in it, especially in the back half? I am just left confused.
  8. The Strumbrellas, “Spirits”: It’s one of those 2000s-era, over-produced pop-alternative bands with strummy acoustics and shouted team-style vocals, and I can’t get enough of it, apparently.
  9. Willie Nelson, “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”: You can’t go wrong with the Red Headed Stranger, either the singer (Willie) or the album.
  10. The Ink Spots, “Java Jive”: I am 90% sure most of my jazz and classical music knowledge came from watching cartoons as a child. Loony Tunes, Little Lulu, Tom & Jerry…everything I know about some genres of music came from these shows, including this song. “I like coffee, I like tea/I like the java jive and it likes me.” Yes indeed.

Playlist #157

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Happy Monday, folks! I hope everyone is doing well, and that folks out in Oklahoma weren’t hit too hard by all that weather over the weekend. It looks like the city of Sulphur got beaten up pretty badly, though.

  1. Uncle Tupelo, “Steal the Crumbs”: Went through an Uncle Tupelo kick late last week, especially their final record, Anodyne. Such a good album, and Jeff Tweedy really starts to find his voice as a songwriter. But Jay Farrar is still the frontman of this band, and this song is a good example of why.
  2. Simon & Garfunkel, “Kathy’s Song”: I’m constantly amazed by what these two could do with just their voices and a single acoustic guitar.
  3. Bob Dylan, “Seven Curses”: A simple tale of a horse thief condemned to death and his daughter, whose only path to freeing him is to sleep with the crooked, sleezy judge. Who, of course, does not free her father, but has him hanged instead. She puts one hell of a curse on him for it, too: “That one doctor cannot save him/That two healers cannot heal him/And that three eyes cannot see him/That four ears cannot hear him/That five walls cannot hide him/That six diggers cannot bury him/And that seven deaths shall never kill him.”
  4. Glen Phillips, “Train Wreck”: Glen Phillips sometimes comes across as a master of songs that are depressing as all hell and very, very bittersweet.
  5. The Head and the Heart, “Rivers and Roads”: The harmonies on this one are pretty nice.
  6. Jackson Browne, “Fountains of Sorrow”: Another one of those bittersweet songs about loss of love and innocence that just feels like a nostalgic gut punch.
  7. Moxy Fruvous, “My Poor Generation”: I always wish these guys had gotten just a little bigger, had stayed together just a little bit longer, and maybe released another album or two. It was awful, coming in right at the end of their time together, getting to hear all the cool stuff they’d done and slowly realizing that, hey, that’s it, there will be no more.
  8. REM, “Sweetness Follows”: I could not for the life of me tell you what this song is about, though it always feels like an elegy to me.
  9. The National, “Lucky You”: Probably the first great song written by these guys. It’s perfect, no notes.
  10. John Prine, “The Late John Garfield Blues”: Damn, but this man wrote simple songs about complicated things. Or maybe complicated songs about simple things? A little of both?

Playlist #125

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Happy Monday! It’s a gorgeous day here in Northern Virginia, and it sounds like the weather will continue to be beautiful for the whole week. Too bad I have to spend it all inside teaching.

  1. Better Than Ezra, “Desperately Wanting”: I’ve been on a Better Than Ezra kick this past week for reasons I cannot even begin to explain. I think it’s because most of their songs are so easy to play on the guitar, which my cowboy chord heart really appreciates.
  2. The Record Company, “Control My Heart Blues”: I like these guys, though they suffer from the most generic band name I think I’ve ever heard. I mean, short of “The Band.”
  3. The National, “Laugh Track (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)”: Oh, look, the National surprise dropped a brand new album today. It’s very good, though this might be my favorite song on it.
  4. James Gang, “Funk No. 49”: I feel like, if you’re having to number the funks, you might have too much funk.
  5. John Hartford, “In Tall Buildings”: I refuse to live anywhere above the first floor from now on.
  6. John Prine, “Spanish Pipedream”: Comical stories of topless dancers telling you to go find Jesus aside, this song has always and will always be awesome. The Avett Brothers do a good cover of it, too.
  7. Kaiser Chiefs, “I Predict a Riot”: That’s right, I’m gonna riot if I don’t get what I want! Okay, maybe not riot, per se. Maybe just grumble and complain under my breath for a while.
  8. Langhorne Slim & The Law, “Put It Together”: I will never tire of this song. It just hits something primal in my soul and gets it all hyped up.
  9. Mark Knopfler, “Donegan’s Gone”: A skiffle-esque tribute to the guy who brought the musical form to the shores of Merry Ol’ England.
  10. Mike Doughty, “Fort Hood”: Best song that features the coda from the 5th Dimension’s “Age of Aquarius” as a chorus? Yes.

Playlist #115

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Happy Monday to all the folks who celebrate it out there. And if you do celebrate Mondays, what is wrong with you? Do you just really like new playlist day?

  1. Murder By Death, “No Oath, No Spell”: There’s is something oddly compelling about this guy’s voice. He sounds about two centuries old on their best songs.
  2. Rufus Wainwright, “Harvest (feat. Andrew Bird and Chris Stills)”: Who doesn’t love a Neil Young cover? Who doesn’t love a Neil Young cover that features Andrew Bird prominently? Communists, that’s who.
  3. Van Morrison, “Sweet Jannie”: As weird as the dude’s gotten in recent years (and he’s gotten pretty freakin’ weird), I still love his old stuff. This song is a bop.
  4. Electric Light Orchestra, “Eldorado”: I’ve been thinking about it for a while now (especially since I listened to most of their discography a few weeks ago on a whim), and I think Eldorado might be my favorite ELO album. Sure, as a concept album it falls a little short of the mark Jeff Lynne was aiming for, but the song cycle is still one of the best he ever wrote, and this – the penultimate song on the album – is a good summation of what ELO could do at the height of their powers.
  5. Elk Eyes, “It Goes Dark”: Why am I listening to guys with whiskey-dark voices sing doom and gloom this week? I dunno, I just am.
  6. Family Familiar, “I Don’t Need You”: Did you know I helped write this song, back over 20 years ago? This is my brother’s band performing it. Did you know I get a small cut of the streaming revenue for this specific song? It’s true.
  7. George Harrison, “P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)”: I know that what I need a lot of on a Monday morning is some George Harrison slide guitar. I’m sure you’ll agree it almost makes it worth waking up for.
  8. Paul McCartney, “Teddy Boy”: This version of this song is just as ramshackle as its appearance on McCartney would lead you to believe it would be. I kinda love it.
  9. John Prine, “Jesus, the Missing Years”: Was chatting with a friend on Facebook about “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” this weekend, which got me in a John Prine mood. That’s not a bad mood to be in.
  10. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, “St. Paul’s Autograph”: I swear to God, this album is just designed to make you wanna curl up on a rainy Sunday afternoon and block out the rest of the world.

Playlist #71

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Happy Tuesday! We enjoyed our Labor Day weekend, and I came up with this new playlist for you! Aren’t you lucky?

  1. Cory Branan, “When In Rome, When In Memphis”: Became obsessed with this song over the weekend. Jason Isbell and Brian Fallon (of Gaslight Anthem) add guest vocals, and the repeated refrain of “When I go, I ghost” just gets me.
  2. The National, “Weird Goodbyes (feat. Bon Iver)”: I’m a sucker for any new song by the National.
  3. Bob Dylan, “What Was It You Wanted”: Unofficial ADHD anthem, for the line “What was it you wanted/Tell me again, I forgot,” if nothing else.
  4. Jakob Dylan, “Will It Grow”: Is it gauche to follow up one Dylan with another? I don’t care. I like the song.
  5. Jars of Clay, “Age Of Immature Mistakes”: Well, if this isn’t just the song that ought to soundtrack most of my life choices.
  6. Pure Prairie League, “Amie”: There exists a version of this song sung by me, my father, my Uncle Randy, and Cousin David, and if there is any God it will never see the light of day. It is bad.
  7. Paolo Nutini, “New Shoes”: One of my students, many years ago, was absolutely obsessed with this song. I saw the music video for it. Did you know they were still making music videos in 2007?
  8. Nouvelle Vague, “Ever Fallen In Love”: The world needs more bossa nova covers of DC punk songs.
  9. Juliana Finch, “This Year”: You know I love me a Mountain Goats cover.
  10. John Prine, “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore”: Prine recognized the idiocy of this stuff back in the 1970s. Dude knew what was up with performative patriotism.