Song of the Day

Song of the Day (224): Don’t Give Up on Me – Soloman Burke

In the darkest night, one can always find some hope. This is the title track to a comeback album from the King of Soul. You can listen to him sing, preach, beg his woman and his audience for one more chance: If I fall short If I don’t make the grades If your expectations aren’t met in […]

Song of the Day (223): Mother of God – Patti Griffin

Griffin’s singing and the ethereal, yet muscular longing of the music persists in memory and functions like the pebble in the oyster agitating its way to something beautiful. The song sounds less like a performance and more a woman talking aloud, as if hearing her own words will help her find some understanding and maybe […]

Song of the Day (222): Man in Black – Johnny Cash

It’s my youngest son John’s birthday. He got his name from hearing Van Morrison introduce John Lee Hooker and its echoes of Johnny Cash and Jack Kerouac. Our John has grown to be a fan of Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash earned the nickname, the “Man in Black” because he always wore black, quite a contrast […]

Song of the Day (221): Long and Wasted Years – Bob Dylan

How hard to reach a point your life when you see how much you have lost. Dylan, perhaps 70-years-old when he wrote this song, out walking and thinking about his life and the relationships at the core of that life reached that point. If that man is honest with himself, he will see both joys […]

Song of the Day (220): Song for You – Leon Russell

Imagine someone writing this for you, maybe you’re in an empty theater after the crowds have left, the roadies gone, just this singer alone on the stage, he runs through the piano keys, maybe stalling, maybe working up the courage to tell you what he can no longer hold back. And then you hear it, […]

Song of the Day (219): Stay a Little Longer – Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

You watch the bus pull into town and run outside to see Bob Will and his Texas Playboys step into your street wearing their nifty suits and big hats, bringing magic and joy with them. And when they take the stage, morphing big band music into western swing, you can’t stand still. As the song […]

Song of the Day (218): Blonde in the Bleachers – Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell understood the challenge of mixing love with rock and roll, it gave rise to this song and a few years later another tune, “Coyote.” For the singer, there’s so many opportunities, so many groupies, roadies and hangers-on. There are so many wanting you, sleeping with you, yet you feel so alone. You keep […]

Song of the Day (217): Let’s Go Get Stoned – Ray Charles

Ray Charles finally kicked a long-time heroin habit and then he cut this song. Released in 1966, the song reached the top of the R&B charts. While radio stations routinely banned lyrics referencing drugs, Ray Charles sings about alcohol, which made it acceptable. Your girl giving you trouble. Your job hard and no one appreciates […]

Song of the Day (216): Accidentally Like a Martyr – Warren Zevon

Paul Niles taught me this song while sitting on a bench in Estes Park, Colorado on a hitchhiking trip that took us up to Rocky Mountain National Park. I was a love sick, moaning over the girl I lost. Paul has always been ahead of me on the path towards wisdom, like a Buddha with […]