simon & garfunkel

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 #139: Boxing Day

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Happy Tuesday! Of course I didn’t post a playlist yesterday, it was Christmas. I was eating my own weight in ravioli. But today is Boxing Day, and since I can never let a day where I can purposefully misunderstand the purpose of the day for a giggle, here’s a list of boxing-themed songs for this week’s playlist, the last of 2023!

  1. Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”: You knew this was going to be the first, most obvious song on this list, right? Of course you did.
  2. Mark Knopfler, “Song For Sonny Liston”: A biographical look at the life of boxer Sonny Liston.
  3. The Gaslight Anthem, “Boxer”: I’m not really sure what this song has to do with boxing or being a boxer, but the chorus does include the line, “Remember when I knew a boxer, baby.” So there’s that.
  4. Bruce Springsteen, “The Hitter”: Bruce takes a look at an aging, worn-out fighter.
  5. The Extra Lens, “Cruiserweights”: John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is apparently so engaged with the sport of boxing that he formed a second group, the Extra Lens, that recorded an entire album about a boxer.
  6. Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”: It would have been very easy to just make this playlist all songs from the Rocky movies. Don’t think I didn’t think about it.
  7. Rush, “Cinderella Man”: A song about a man trying to achieve his dream against staggering odds and prog rock.
  8. Rachel Platten, “Fight Song”: Isn’t boxing just fighting with rules? I’m pretty sure it’s just fighting with rules.
  9. Ben Folds Five, “Boxing”: Apparently this song is designed to be an imagined conversation between Muhammad Ali and Howard Cossel, the sportscaster, who apparently made his name commentating on boxing matches.
  10. The Boxer Rebellion, “Spitting Fire”: The Boxer Rebellion was a fight between a small group of Chinese kung fu experts (called the Order of the Holy Fist, or “Boxers”) and the English, all about opium. It…didn’t go well for the Boxers.

Playlist #124: Home

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Happy Monday, folks. By tomorrow, the wife and I will be homeowners (and the sister-in-law)! We’ve been renting the same townhouse for almost 14 years now, so it’ll be strange to leave it and call some other place home. There’ll be new traffic patterns to learn, a new (slightly longer) route to work, and I’m sure a whole host of challenges and foibles associated with moving into a new place. But I’ll have music to keep me going there, including this week’s playlist.

  1. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, “Our House”: We’ve only got the one cat, and she won’t really be allowed out (we don’t really have a yard, per se. We’re moving into a condo), but this still feels fitting.
  2. Hem, “Home Again”: Our intention is to move into this place and just settle in. I don’t see us moving again for a very, very long time, if ever.
  3. Iron & Wine, “Walking Far From Home”: I’m hoping to find some walking trails or something close by so I can start exercising again. I will miss having the park right across the street where I could go do that.
  4. Norah Jones, “Long Way Home”: As I mentioned above, this new home will put us slightly further out from work, but that was the trade-off: live further out, find a place you can afford.
  5. Eric Clapton, “Back Home”: We really do like the place. It’s got plenty of very usable space, it’s in a nice neighborhood, and I think we’ll settle in very well there.
  6. Sheryl Crow, David Alvin, Phil Alvin, & Taj Mahal, “Home Again”: This is from the Ghost Brothers of Dark County original soundtrack, that stage play that John Mellencamp and Stephen King collaborated on.
  7. Healthy White Baby, “Home”: Great band, absolutely terrible band name.
  8. Simon & Garfunkel, “Homeward Bound”: A classic.
  9. Jack Johnson, “Home”: If our homes feels as comfortable and laid back as a Jack Johnson song, I’ll be content.
  10. Aretha Franklin, “Bring It On Home To Me”: God, this woman could just SING.

Playlist #118

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Happy Monday, folks! Hard to believe we’re already at the end of July. School will be starting again soon, as I’m sure your desperate and terrified children can attest to. Anyway, here’s a playlist to get you through those hot summer days.

  1. Andrew Bird, “Mancey”: “M, as in Mancy.”
  2. Jimmy Eat World, “A Praise Chorus (feat. Davey Vonbohlen)”: A song that references everything from “Crimson and Clover” to They Might Be Giants’ “Don’t Let’s Start.” All in just over four minutes.
  3. Elastica, “Stutter”: Punky song about Damon Albarn’s erectile dysfunction (it’s true!).
  4. Paul McCartney, “Every Night”: For every clunker or half-finished song idea that’s barely more than a demo on his self-titled, DIY album, there’s a gem like this one.
  5. Drive-By Truckers, “Danko/Manuel”: Who doesn’t love songs about the Band?
  6. Stevie Wonder, “Pastime Paradise”: Ever wonder where Coolio got the sample for “Gangsta’s Paradise?” It’s from this song.
  7. Simon & Garfunkel, “A Hazy Shade Of Winter”: I, for one, am done with this ridiculous heat and ready for winter to return.
  8. Rob Thomas, “Streetcorner Symphony”: I have a completely unironic love for this guy’s music. I can’t explain why.
  9. The Gaslight Anthem, “Say I Won’t (Recognize)”: From an early EP by the band, where they’re still trying to find their footing and figure out who they are as a band (they’re a punk band with delusions of Springsteen. That is as awesome as it sounds).
  10. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: Is it the obvious pick from this artist? Yes, yes it is. Is it still just an absolute stone-cold classic of a song that everyone should listen to and enjoy at every available opportunity? Yes, yes it is.

Playlist #110: Graduation

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Good morning, everyone. My grandmother’s condition has stabilized, enough so that I felt comfortable returning home this past weekend and back to work today. This week, my school will do graduation, as will many of the other high schools across Fairfax County. With that in mind, here’s a graduation-themed playlist for your entertainment.

  1. Simon & Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson”: From the movie soundtrack for The Graduate. Seemed appropriate.
  2. Third Eye Blind, “Graduate”: Who doesn’t want to get out from underneath all the bastards who’ve kept you down for years and years?
  3. Heroes Garden, “Graduation Day”: A friend’s sister plays cello with this band. They’re pretty good, in a Ra Ra Riot sort of way.
  4. The Verve Pipe, “The Freshmen”: Oh, Verve Pipe, Freshmen don’t graduate! C’mon, guys.
  5. Baz Luhrmann, “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”: This was tremendously popular around the time I graduated from high school back in the late ’90s. And the advice the “song” offers (I hesitate to really call it a song; more like a spoken-word essay set to music) remains relevant even today: wear some damn sunscreen, folks.
  6. Billy Joel, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”: A big part of graduating is the chance to move on to bigger, (hopefully) better things out there in the world.
  7. John Fullbright, “Moving”: I mean, I already covered this in the previous song. Moving on is a big part of graduation.
  8. Queen, “Leaving Home Ain’t Easy”: Queen gets that it’s not always an easy transition, though. Home is hard to give up.
  9. Pearl Jam, “Leavin’ Here”: Pearl Jam, on the other hand, are all about getting the hell out while the getting is good.
  10. Madonna, “This Used To Be My Playground”: This was the song played at my 8th grade graduation, which we thought at the time was super deep and really meaningful and now I realize is so corny it should’ve come on the cob.

Playlist #87

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Happy Boxing Day! Here’s your latest playlist.

  1. Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus)”: No, I don’t understand what bizarre deal with the devil Lil Nas X made, but this song is so earwormy that Chekov twitches when he hears it. That was a Star Trek reference, yo.
  2. Billie Ellish, “bad guy”: I’ve heard many, many great things about Billie Ellish, and I’ve tried on more than a few occasions to listen to and even enjoy her stuff. I can listen to it, but I’m not still not quite sure I can enjoy it. It’s just not for me. And that’s okay. It takes all sorts of music or all sorts of folks.
  3. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, “Fire”: “I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you fire.” That’s how the song begins. The guy who sings it wears a headdress thingie that is also lit on fire. It’s crazy, and the song has a great organ hook, but it’s far less weird than that intro suggests.
  4. The Thorns, “Blue”: A “supergroup” (for lack of a better term) made up of Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins (that “Lullaby” guy), and Pete Droge, covering a song by the Jayhawks. The harmonies are pretty great.
  5. Bob Dylan, “Isis (Live)”: I kinda always loved this song, This live version (from the Bootleg Series, Volume 5) is even better than the studio version.
  6. Simon & Garfunkel, “America”: Just a beautiful song.
  7. Stroke 9, “Little Black Backpack”: One of those late 90s one hit wonder types that’s a lot of fun.
  8. Third Eye Blind, “Jumper”: One of the more upbeat songs about trying to talk someone down off the ledge.
  9. Vance Joy, “Riptide”: I still don’t know if the main rhythm instrument is some type of guitar or a mandolin or a ukulele or what, but I like it.
  10. The Wallflowers, “Back to California”: Rebel, Sweetheart is still one of my favorite Wallflowers albums.

Playlist #61: Mom’s Birthday, Take 2

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Last year, I posted a playlist for my mother’s birthday that really didn’t reflect her favorite musicians or bands. This year, I make up for that. I present to you Version 2.0 of my Mom’s Birthday Playlist!

  1. Supertramp, “Take The Long Way Home”: One of the few CDs mom had when we were young was a Supertramp greatest hits collection. We listened to it a lot on car trips.
  2. Simon & Garfunkel, “A Hazy Shade Of Winter”: She also had a Simon & Garfunkel CD. This song was not on it, but it’s still a good song.
  3. The Eagles, “Take It To The Limit”: Mom likes the Eagles. I like the Eagles. My wife hates the Eagles with a fierce, fiery passion.
  4. Electric Light Orchestra, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”: Who doesn’t love ELO? Commies, that’s who.
  5. The Moody Blues, “Ride My See-Saw”: I mean, they have that one song where they spend the last couple minutes just talking, but this song doesn’t do that. It’s just a fun, uptempo bop.
  6. Huey Lewis & The News, “It’s All Right”: I had a Huey Lewis button on my jean jacket growing up. It was awesome.
  7. Carole King, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”: This woman writes a song better than damn-near anybody. I will fight you on this.
  8. Carly Simon, “You’re So Vain”: You probably think this song is about you. It’s not.
  9. The Band Perry, “If I Die Young”: I heard this song in the doctor’s office earlier this week. I then recalled that a coworker had me learn how to play this song for our school talent show several years ago.
  10. Don Henley, “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”: And make romance.

Playlist #10

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This past weekend was my mother’s birthday! Now, it is to my great shame that I really do not know much about my mom’s musical tastes. I know growing up that she listened to Simon and Garfunkel and Barry Manilow (ew), but beyond that? It’s just a big ol’ shrug emoji from me. So, with that in mind, I’ve compiled a list for this week that contains songs I think my mom would appreciate. It’s mostly Swedish death metal (kidding!).

  1. Alexi Murdoch, “All Of My Days”: So if I’m completely honest here, I first heard this song in a commercial. And really liked it! I like the guitar work especially. It’s a very simple song, but quite lovely despite (or maybe because) of that.
  2. Greg Feldon, “Incoming”: Strummy acoustics? Check. Heartfelt, earnest singing? Check. Semi-country-ish tone and style? Check. Yup, this song checks a lot of boxes for me.
  3. Sara Bareilles, “Armor”: “You think I am high mighty, mister?/Wait ’til you meet my little sister” is just a badass line.
  4. The Shins, “Gone For Good [Alternate Version]”: I like this stripped down version of the song, possibly even more than the usual album version. Sure, it lacks the pedal steel and the high and lonesome harmonies, but it makes up for it with a more subdued reading of the lyrics.
  5. Simon & Garfunkel, “Cecilia”: I can’t tell you if this is my mom’s favorite Simon & Garfunkel song. It probably isn’t. But it’s fun and I dare you to not sing along with the chorus. You can’t, can you? Of course you can’t.
  6. Tracy Lawrence, “Time Marches On”: This is the sort of song country music does best. The lyrical content is simple, tells a story, and focuses on a family as it ages through the years. I really dig it.
  7. Lake Street Dive, “Bad Self Portraits”: I’ve been drawing and cartooning for decades now. Every single drawing I’ve ever done of myself is a bad self portrait, so I can relate to this song.
  8. case/lang/viers, “Best Kept Secret”: Yeah, I could’ve gone with the soaring “Atomic Number” instead, but I really like this song and the whole “guitar teacher saves the world” vibe it has going.
  9. David Gray, “Stella the Artist”: Is my mom an artist? Not with pencil or paintbrush or chisel. But that woman can bake a batch of cookies that’ll make you see God.
  10. Semisonic, “Gone To the Movies”: A sad song about a sad man in a snowbound apartment who was just listening to the Wallflowers and thinking about a girl. Haven’t we all felt that way at some point? Okay, probably not, but still, it’s a good song.