I’m really, really diggin’ the new Volvo that came to live at our place this week. It’s name, of course, is Ingmar. I know two other people with Volvos named Ingmar, and one with a Volvo named Ingrid, but damn it all, it’s just right.
A very busy weekend with family in from various places, and lots of grading and running to do. And I make no apologies for loving #6 on this list. I sang it in my junior high school choir.
1. “Come On, Come On”, Mary Chapin-Carpenter
2. “Malibu”, Hole
3. “I Bid You Goodnight”, Aaron Neville
4. “Over the Hills”, Lucy Kaplansky
5. “Postcards from Mexico”, Girlyman
6. “Annie’s Song”, John Denver
7. “Strong Hand” (for June), Emmylou Harris
8. “Walk Forever by My Side”, The Alarm
9. “Foolish You”, Kate and Anna McGarrigle
10. “Polyester Bride”, Liz Phair
Bonus Track: “Underneath your Clothes”, Shakira
That’s off to Orland, not Orlando. Reasons why on Monday; I’ll be incommunicado for the weekend. #2 and #6 are covers, both of which I confess I often prefer to the originals.
1. “Spectacular Views”, Rilo Kiley
2. “Sin City”, Dwight Yoakam
3. “Your Life is Now”, John Mellencamp
4. “Tangled and Wild”, Oh Susanna
5. “Lost in the Supermarket”, the Clash
6. “Ol’ 55″, Don Campbell
7. “Tonight You’re Gonna Lose Me”, The Lonesome Sisters
8. “Sunny Day”, Deana Carter
9. “Take a Chance with Me”, Roxy Music
10. “Country Comfort”, Elton John
Bonus Track: “Sweet Savannah”, Shooter Jennings
The bonus track is all over America now as a result of its perfect use in the JC Penney ad campaign. #6 is as good a neo-traditional track as you could ask for; #8 is the catchiest thing I’ve heard from Norah Jones. And I first heard #2 playing on an American Airlines flight as I was boarding a few weeks ago. And though my wife likes her Luther Vandross, for my money no one in music today gets longing and desire into a song quite the way Me’Shell Ndegeocello does. She’s indispensable for uh, “mood music.” Here endeth the TMI.
1. “Bitter Love Song”, Kris Delmhorst
2. “Sing Along”, Virginia Coalition
3. “Definite Maybe”, The Kinks
4. “Daughter of Heaven”, Kate Rusby
5. “Before the Deluge”, Jackson Browne
6. “Down by the Quarry”, Oh Susanna
7. “Colors of Your Heart”, Emmylou Harris
8. “Long Way Home”, Norah Jones
9. “Take to the World”, Derek Webb and Dan Haseltine
10. “Bitter”, Me’Shell Ndegeocello
Bonus Track: “Killing the Blues”, Allison Krauss and Robert Plant
The only new artist here is Vienna Teng, another “Pandora discovery.” Posting resumes on Monday.
1. “One More Dollar”, Gillian Welch
2. “Back of Your Hand”, Dwight Yoakam
3. “Cry For Me”, Catherine Feeny
4. “Two Pink Lines”, Eric Church
5. “Forever”, Third Day
6. “City Hall”, Vienna Teng
7. “Bittersweet”, Big Head Todd and the Monsters
8. “Holiday Inn”, Elton John
9. “Gillian”, The Waifs
10. “In Spite of All the Damage”, Be Good Tanyas
Bonus Track One: “Clear as a Bell”, Rosie Thomas
Bonus Track Two: “Billy 4″, Bob Dylan
We’re off for the Easter weekend, posting will resume Monday. A joyous Purim and a holy Good Friday to all! And hurrah for Spring; family folklore suggests that if it is warm enough, today is an especially auspicious day to plant in the garden.
Lots of goodness on this FRT, heavy as always on female artists. Missy Higgins and Catherine Feeny are both recent happy discoveries.
1. “Scattered Leaves”, Be Good Tanyas
2. “Roses in the Snow”, Emmylou Harris
3. “Logtown”, The Peasall Sisters
4. “No One”, Alicia Keys
5. “Walk Down this Mountain”, Bebo Norman
6. “If I Had a Hammer”, Sam Cooke
7. “Come Away with Me”, Norah Jones
8. “Rock Me on the Water”, Jackson Browne
9. “Goodbye”, The Waifs
10. “Scar”, Missy Higgins
Bonus Track (the one I’ve been listening to all week on repeat) “The Shape You’re In”, Catherine Feeny
My beloved will be back on Monday, and then all this traveling without me stops and we can start going places together again.
Both Girlyman and the Duhks are artists I discovered via Pandora; the first bonus track breaks my heart, and while #5 takes me back to high school, #8 brings me back even further.
1. “God Walks the Dark Hills”, Iris DeMent
2. “This Is Me”, Girlyman
3. “Samson”, Regina Spektor
4. “Dance Hall Girls”, The Duhks
5. “Two Suns in the Sunset”, Pink Floyd
6. “Umbrella”, Rihanna
7. “Tomorrow”, Rosie Thomas
8. “Summer, Highland Falls”, Billy Joel
9. “Radiation Vibe”, Hem
10. “Up to the Mountain” (MLK Song), Patty Griffin
Bonus Track One: “Promise, The”, Tracy Chapman
Bonus Track Two: “Breakin’ the Chains”, Dokken
Lots of goodness here on a day when I’m too busy to post anything else. I think I’ve had all these artists appear before, except for the Meat Purveyors (whom I discovered in the last few weeks) and Al Stewart, whose classic is one of those songs that can take me back to junior high in a heartbeat.
1. “When You Were Mine”, Prince
2. “Tangled Up in Blue”, Bob Dylan
3. “Up Against the Wall”, Be Good Tanyas
4. “Last Waltz”, Meat Purveyors
5. “Bad” (live version), U2
6. “The Battle”, Caitlin Cary and Ryan Adams
7. “Year of the Cat”, Al Stewart
8. “Brothers in Arms”, Dire Straits
9. “Going Through the Motions”, Aimee Mann
10. “Plainest Thing”, Tift Merritt
Bonus Track One: “Dead Flowers”, Rolling Stones
Bonus Track Two: “Londinium”, Catatonia
We’re heavy on the traditional music this week, with a little bit of Contemporary Christian goodness for seasoning. The bonus track is one of the first folk songs I remember listening to as a small boy. And lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Hole and a lot of Don Gibson, who have nothing much in common except their capacity to comfort me this week. Mac Powell and Iris Dement have voices that make me shiver. Axl Rose haunts my dreams every once in a while, and the Robert Cray track strikes very, very close to home.
And even my worst enemies think better of me because I am so hopelessly devoted to Emmylou Harris.
1. “(Right Next Door) Because of Me”, Robert Cray
2. “Tangled and Wild”, Oh Susanna
3. “Touch the Morning”, Don Gibson
4. “Wasteland of the Free”, Iris Dement
5. “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind”, Keith Whitley
6. “Violet”, Hole
7. “Jamaica, Say You Will” Jackson Browne
8. “Civil War”, Guns n’ Roses
9. “Wish We Were Back in Missouri”, Emmylou Harris
10. “Restore to Me”, Candi Pearson-Shelton and Mac Powell
Bonus Track: “Sailing on the Lonesome Sea”, June Carter Cash
Lots of old favorites here; Mary Gauthier and Oh Susanna are two artists I’ve been listening to a lot lately, and they’re the only ones making a FRT debut.
1. “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome”, Bob Dylan
2. “Mercy Now”, Mary Gauthier
3. “John Henry”, Bruce Springsteen
4. “Tears of God”, Los Lobos
5. “I’m on My Way”, The Proclaimers
6. “Pretty Face”, Oh Susanna
7. “A Little More”, Jennifer Knapp
8. “Swallow”, Wailin’ Jennys
9. “Don’t Tear Me Up”, Mick Jagger
10. “No One Like You”, Scorpions
Bonus Track One: “One Part Be My Lover”, Bonnie Raitt
Bonus Track Two: “Gleams of that Golden Morning”, Forbes Family
What may be the last FRT of 2007 features some old favorites (#1 was a song I listened to over and over again after my second divorce, in the midst of a particularly bad relapse) and some new things I like. Leigh Nash was the front woman for Sixpence None the Richer, and her solo efforts have been rich and rewarding. I’ve already mentioned my devotion to Rosie Thomas, and the Jackson Browne track is off that still-divine debut album of his.
1. “Don’t Tear Me Up”, Mick Jagger
2. “Take a Chance with Me”, Roxy Music
3. “Along the Wall”, Leigh Nash
4. “Did She Jump or Was She Pushed”, Richard and Linda Thompson
5. “Wedding Day”, Rosie Thomas
6. “Umbrella”, Rihanna
7. “From Silverlake”, Jackson Browne
8. “In the City”, the Jam
9. “Drive South”, John Hiatt
10. “Ice Cream”, Sarah McLachlan
Bonus Track: “Mirrors and Smoke”, Jars of Clay
Two bonus tracks on this week’s FRT, because you won’t see another FRT until December. New stuff, old stuff, all good stuff. If you’ve never heard Melissa Ferrick, check her out. And though #5 is surely one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded, I have very happy — and very different — associations with tracks 2 and 6.
1. “The Lucky One”, Alison Krauss
2. “Burning Down One Side”, Robert Plant
3. “I Will Dream”, Emmylou Harris
4. “With Arms Outstretched”, Rilo Kiley
5. “Tiny Dancer”, Elton John
6. “Do Me Baby”, Prince
7. “Selwood Farm”, Bebo Norman
8. “Never Give Up”, Melissa Ferrick
9. “Movin’ Out”, Billy Joel
10. “When the Stars Go Blue”, Ryan Adams
Bonus Track: “Jesse James”, Bruce Springsteen
Bonus Track Two: “Go Leave”, Kate and Anna McGarrigle
I’ll bet a Starbucks card or a PETA donation that none of my readers own each of the eleven artists here. I came to Rilo Kiley just within the past year, but most of these songs are old (or ageing) favorites. (I suppose #6 is the track that doesn’t fit.)
1. “Spectacular Views”, Rilo Kiley
2. “Your Life is Now”, John Mellencamp
3. “Martyrs and Thieves”, Jennifer Knapp
4. “The Weakness in Me”, Joan Armatrading
5. “The Wind and the Mountain”, Liz Phair
6. “Holy Diver”, Dio
7. “The Last Resort”, The Eagles
8. “Hurt Me Bad In a Real Good Way”, Patty Loveless
9. “Lie to Me”, Depeche Mode
10. “Better than You”, Terri Clark
Bonus Track: “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, Kris Kristofferson
Nothing else to post today: boxing, running, grading — and a trip to the dentist — will consume all available blogging time.
1. “Come Pick Me Up”, Ryan Adams
2. “If I Had A Hammer”, Sam Cooke
3. “House of the Rising Sun”, Be Good Tanyas
4. “Boys on the Radio”, Hole
5. “Breakin’ the Chains”, Dokken
6. “Colorado”, Stephen Stills and Manassas
7. “A Little Past Little Rock”, Lee Ann Womack
8. “Fifty Miles of Elbow Room”, Iris Dement
9. “Ease Your Feet in the Sea”, Belle and Sebastian
10. “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next”, Manic Street Preachers
Bonus Track: “I’ve Seen it All”, Bjork and Thom Yorke
I didn’t plan both #7 and #9 to show up here, and no, there’s no Oedipal theme at work this week. Or is there? #4 was my favorite song of 1993, a widely-held opinion that year. I listened to #9 over and over again on the plane back from Britain last month; it made me happy. #10 is my current favorite “soothe-me” song, and #6 is heart-breaking.
1. “A Question of Lust”, Depeche Mode
2. “I’d Be Better Off in a Pine Box”, Doug Stone
3. “Heart of Gold”, the Kinks
4. “Runaway Train”, Soul Asylum
5. “Family”, Dar Williams
6. “Must Be Sinking Now”, Cheryl Wheeler
7. “Mother”, Tori Amos
8. “Summer, Highland Falls”, Billy Joel
9. “If You Want a Mother”, Gretchen Wilson
10. “Rockabye Dixie”, Abigail Washburn
Bonus Track: “Going Through the Motions”, Aimee Mann
I’ve always liked The Innocence Mission, but only recently started downloading some of my favorites, two of which show up here. This is a softer, more melancholy Random Ten than I’ve had in a while, but all are wonderful songs… even #7, which is a fine tune to which to lift weights or box.
1. “I Shall Be Released”, The Band
2. “Crush in the Ghetto”, Jolie Holland
3. “Lonesome Valley”, Joan Baez
4. “Follow Me”, The Innocence Mission
5. “I Want a Broken Heart”, Derek Webb
6. “The First Cut is the Deepest”, Cat Stevens
7. “Civil War”, Guns n’ Roses
8. “I Wonder Where to Find You”, Merle Haggard
9. “Some Clear Joy is Coming”, Innocence Mission
10. “An Exception to the Rule”, Dwight Yoakam
Bonus Track: “One Tree Hill”, U2
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