Archive for July 2010
July 27, 2010
Kathleen
Written and performed by Josh Ritter.
“All the other girls here are stars – you are the Northern Lights”
As long as poets have written their verses, they’ve sought metaphors to convey the beauty and spirit of the objects of their affection. So few succeed, yet here comes Josh Ritter out of Moscow, Idaho with an opening line to make you swoon. That he sticks to the metaphor speaks to the depth and conviction of his craft:
They try to shine in through your curtains – you’re too close and too bright.
They try and they try but everything that they do
Is the ghost of a trace of a pale imitation of you.
Posted in Josh Ritter |
Tags: Josh Ritter, Kathleen, Singer Songwriter
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July 22, 2010
Boom, Boom
Written and recorded by John Lee Hooker.
No throat clearing here, just the hard guitar beats and roughneck singing. “I’m gonna shoot you right down/Knock you off your feet/Take you home with me.” The way he sings could get John Lee arrested today. Add the primal guitar, the insistent beat, the pounding base and his desire overwhelms. “Boom, boom, boom.” He’s undeniable.
Posted in John Lee Hooker, The Blues |
Tags: John Lee Hooker, The Animals, The Blues
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July 21, 2010
Keep on Movin’
Written and recorded by Green on Red.
Here’s a road song that captures rhythm, joy, despair and rootlessness of roaming the interstates. From the opening strums of the guitar, this music keeps pushing the pedal, drums, piano, and propulsive guitar flying down the highway all lashed together by lead singer Dan Stuarts careening vocals. The pulse builds throughout the song until it explodes in a frenzy of ringing guitars, clashing cymbals and pounding piano. Call it cowboy rock without all the cowboy clichés: a man on the road compulsively moving. The song has a wiry and rugged sound as if putting music to the Arizona desert from where the band hailed, think rattlesnakes and endless stretches of blacktop.
Posted in Chuck Prophet, Danny and Dusty, Green on Red |
Tags: Chuck Prophet, Dan Stuart, Danny and Dusty, Green on Red, Keep on Movin', Paisley Underground
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July 5, 2010
Fourth of July – X
Originally performed by the band X and written by Dave Alvin.
In the relationships that matter, sometimes we need only the slightest glimmer of hope to keep trying. That glimmer can come in the oddest of ways – an off-hand conversation or the stirring of a memory. In this song, the epiphany arrives on the Fourth of July with the spark and sparkle of the Mexican kids shooting off fireworks. In that moment, which the chorus of this song captures, love becomes possible.
For us to understand the rejoicing in the glimmer of hope, we need to understand the sense of loss, the drifting apart and the failure of the relationship. Dave Alvin captures the poignancy of fading love in exquisite detail.
Posted in Dave Alvin, X |
Tags: Dave Alvin, Exene Cervenka, Fourth of July, John Doe, Love Song, X
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July 4, 2010
Songs for Independence Day and the Fourth of July
It’s the Fourth of July and here’s a pack of songs you might want to check out. You can find the patriotic songs elsewhere and the songs perfect for your backyard BBQ abound on the web. This list includes songs that make a direct reference to the 4th of July or Independence Day or speak about an Independence Day. Some do both.
Posted in Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Country Music, Folk Music, Singer Songwriter, Song Lists, X |
Tags: 4th of July Songs, Aimee Mann, Ani Difranco, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Alvin, Elliott Smith, Fourth of July, Independence Day Songs, Joe Whyte, John Doe, List of Best Songs, Martina McBride, Shooter Jennings, The and, Tom Paxton, U2, X - The Band
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July 3, 2010
Hats off (To the Big Queen City)
Music and Lyrics by Phil Cody from Phil Cody’s album Sons of Intemperance Offering.
Singer-songwriter Phil Cody resides in Los Angeles, but he grew up in Cincinnati and it’s an exile’s love for his lost home that fuels this high-energy love letter of a song. You can feel the energy right from the opening big strums of the guitar joined by a raucous B-3 Hammond organ followed by some backgrounds shouts, “Hey, hey what are you doing?” Cody steps front and center to the microphone, “Hats off to the big Queens City/She is the lifeline to my heart.” No irony here, no subtlety, just joy and love. Ringing guitars, propulsive drums and that voice, full of yearning, make the case. Even the nonsense lines (“la de da…do it do it”) convey meaning and heart.
Posted in Phil Cody, Singer Songwriter |
Tags: Cincinatti Song, Folk Rock, Hats Off (To the Big Queen City), Phil Cody, Singer Songwriter
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July 2, 2010
In a day when so many make sure they express their stand in the loudest way possible, a whisper can be powerful. The world is loud enough already and filled with dire arguments. Personal anecdotes become mere fodder for arguments and political stances. Sometimes we need stories that are personal and tender.
Catie Curtis delivers just such moments on her 1996 song, “Radical.” I imagine this song as the singer responding to her lover after an argument: meditative, generous and heartfelt. Arising from a lesbian relationship, the song avoids stridency and large political statements in favor of intimacy, a stripped down performance that centers on the voice and delivers lines that get to heart of this relationship.
Posted in Catie Curtis, Folk Music, Singer Songwriter |
Tags: Catie Curtis, Gay/Lesbian Love Song, Radical
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July 1, 2010
Spell of Wheels
Performed Peter Case and written by Peter and Joshua Case.
Two beats on a bodhran sets the pulse, then the pedal steel unwinds and a Mellotroncompletes the swirling enchantment as Peter Case’s “Spell of Wheels” envelopes in a dream-like state, flowing, kinetic, drawing us forward. Images appear “Kansas City as the first snow of the year begins to fall,” and you can almost see the fat white flakes against the black sky. In the first few seconds, you understand this is a true road song, not about the idea of the road, but it puts us on the road.
Posted in Peter Case, Road Song |
Tags: Folk Rock, Peter Case, Road Song, Spell of Wheels
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Nightly Song 