It is still technically Monday, so happy Monday, folks. Here’s today’s playlist.

1. Earth, Wind, and Fire, “September”: You are contractually obligated to put this song on a playlist on this date. I don’t make the rules.
2. Tom Waits, “The Earth Died Screaming”: I told my brother to listen to this one earlier today. He…did not care for it, I don’t think. Which is weird to me, because it’s a great if rather odd song. Y’know, it’s a Tom Waits song.
3. Elton John, “Come Down In Time”: So it turns out Tumbleweed Connection is just a fantastic album. It’s earthy and thoughtful in ways I don’t usually associate with Elton John, but damn does he pull it off.
4. Steely Dan, “Deacon Blue”: I know the lyrics are acerbic and often bordering on the nasty, but the music feels far too well-mannered for my tastes. It sounds like what you’d hear at an upscale cocktail longue in the early ’80s.
5. Matt Berninger, “Ask For Water”: The National lead singer put out an EP last week mostly filled with songs we’d already heard from him, but it included a couple of new ones. This was the better of the two new songs, in my opinion. Not that the other song is a slouch or anything, but this is just a better tune.
6. Laser The Boy, “Don’t You Know Who I Am”: Just a beautiful song about identity and self-doubt and relationships and all that kind of stuff. Laser knows his stuff.
7. Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, “What I Am”: Anytime I reference this song (usually when someone makes a reference to philosophy, to which I reply, “Is just the talk on a cereal box”) I just get blank stares from my students. Maybe it’s time to update my pop culture references?
8. Jason Isbell, “Super 8”: No one wants to die in a Super 8 Motel. It’s embarrassing. You’d die of embarrassment if you were caught dead in a Super 8 Motel. Don’t go to a Super 8, is what I’m saying. Nothing good comes of it.
9. The Wallflowers, “After the Blackbird Sings”: A throwback to their debut album, the one that no one really listened to. You can really hear the debt he owes to Tom Petty in this album, especially this song. It just feels like a Tom Petty song to me. It also feels like the closest they got to sounding like what I think of as the Wallflowers on this album, but I digress.
10. Tom Petty, “Wake Up Time”: I used to skip this song on Wildflowers. Didn’t care for it. As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve come to appreciate it, understand its beauty and simplicity and know that it’s got a lot to tell me if I’ll just listen. It’s a damn good song, as it turns out, and it was the perfect way to end his best album.