I was driving to work this morning, listening to The Loft, my new favorite SiriusXM station. The DJ listed the songs he’d just played, including some before I tuned in. One was Thunder Road by Cowboy Junkies. Holy magic in the night! I didn’t know that existed! I got to work and immediately looked...
List: Top Five Story Songs—No. 5
“You see, I knew that song so long before we met, that it means so much more than it might” —Elvis Costello, King Horse Elvis is onto something here, I think. There are certain songs that take on meanings that are far beyond whatever the songs are “about.” Surely everybody has their own songs...
Lyrics In Exile
One of my favorite lines from a music review comes from way back in 1977, after Linda Ronstadt released the Simple Dreams album. About her version of the Rolling Stones’ song Tumbling Dice, the reviewer wrote something to the effect that “the lyrics meant so much more when when we couldn’t understand them.” I’ve...
Covers
As a music lover (aren’t we all?), I’m sometimes surprised when I find out that a song I’ve listened to dozens or hundreds of times turns out to be a cover of someone else’s song. Surprised and embarrassed, because as a fan, I always feel I should have known better. My most spectacular faceplant...