Song of the Day

Song of the Day (110): John the Revelator – Blind Willie Johnson

Gospel music and the blues, the sacred and the profane, often ride parallel tracks. In1930, Blind Willie Johnson smashed them together and we get “John the Revelator,” growling with this urgency of the blues, driving with the conviction of his devotion to God. IT is a performance of this earth, yet sounds other worldly. This […]

Song of the Day (109): Sweet Thing – Van Morrison

There’s an insistence in this song as Morrison pushes the lyrics into an incantation as if he could physically break through from this corporeal world into a mystical kingdom. And what a testament to his love, the longing, the desire the energy and fierce force we feel when in throes of passion. And I shall […]

Song of the Day (108): It’s Too Late – Carole King

This song seemed to fill the summer air in 1971. I have this distinct memory of a moment in time: hearing this song blaring out of speakers from the bobsled ride at Palisades Park, an amusement park. I had travelled there as part of the annual St. Elizabeth’s altar boys outing, thirteen years old with […]

Song of the Day (107): Hats Off (To the Big Queen City) – Phil Cody

A paean to Cincinnati, “Hats Off (To the Big Queen City),” mashes up history, legend and the personal with enough infective energy to light up the entire Ohio River Valley. We can be shaped by our places and the history we inherit. “Hats Off (To the Big Queen City),” is one of those under the […]

Song of the Day (106): What’s He Building In There? – Tom Waits

More spoken word, then sung against a cacophony of sounds, Waits takes on the persona of the paranoid, nosy neighbor creating fantasies about the strange neighbor. Part Edgar Allen Poe, part Alfred Hitchcock, it’s both scary and hilarious and a commentary on community, privacy and the conspiracy theories running rampant. The refrain worms itself into […]

Song of the Day (105): A Coat of Many Colors – Dolly Parton

Sometimes the big, fun public image of Dolly Parton obscures her talent as a songwriter and singer. “Coat of Many Colors” takes inspiration form her impoverished childhood in Tennessee. It’s a wonderful story song with the details that bring it too life and it goes right to the edge, but does not fall into sentimentality. […]

Song of the Day (104): When a Man Loves a Woman – Percy Sledge

Look what a song can do for an artist: “When a Man Loves a Woman” took Percy Sledge from live as a hospital orderly to the top of the chats and eventually to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s been covered by too many (Bette Midler, Michael Bolton, Aaron Neville, Journey, etc.). In […]

Song of the Day (103): Jolene – Ray LaMontagne

Sometimes we can’t get out of our own way, losing love because of our own self-destructive choices. This is an achingly beautiful song with the narrator falling and failing and thinking of a love he once had, but lost through his addictions. He knows what to do and can’t, making everything worse. LaMontagne sings with […]

Song of the Day (102): Heavy Metal Drummer – Wilco

Ahh, we were young once. In this song, being young meant catching the heavy metal bands at their summer concerts and for the girl in the song, a romance with the drummer. The lyrics are light with just the right mix of nostalgia, humor and poignancy. And that melody is so catchy, manifesting the lighthearted […]