20. Traveling Wilburys — “Handle with Care” — George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne singing about heartache around the same microphone. ‘Nuff said.
19. Dire Straits — “Walk of Life” — I remember this song, with its wonderful Hammond organ intro, was in heavy rotation in the family room of my childhood home. In the ’80s, my dad was more of a song guy than an album guy, and the songs he picked probably influenced my own tastes. Lucky for me, he had good taste.
18. The Wallflowers — “Here He Comes (Confessions of a Drunken Marionette)” — An intoxicatingly sad story song with great lines like “Who will ignore me when you’re gone?”
17. Electric Light Orchestra — “Hold on Tight” — Generally I wouldn’t put songs from car commercials on my list. But when this song popped up in a Honda ad a couple years ago, I just wished the commercial went on for the whole length of the tune.
16. Drive By Truckers — “Goddamn Lonely Love” — The title says it all in this brilliantly written downer about a guy who bellies up to the bar and disappears. (But he’s not really drowning in his sorrows, because he can see the beach from here.)
15. “Glee” cast — cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” — The original is great but a little too downbeat. The “Glee” cast’s multi-part harmonies add energy while the lyrics keep the song rooted in the dark place it came from.
14. Heartless Bastards — “Sway” — This entry from the second “Friday Night Lights” soundtrack is one of those gritty, bluesy numbers you could listen to for about an hour straight.
13. Third Eye Blind — “The Background” — If a heart breaks, does it make a sound? The answer to that riddle is yes, and this San Francisco-set song about a lost loved one is what it sounds like.
12. Joe Ely — cover of Tom Russell’s “Gallo Del Cielo” — One of the best story songs ever written gains new levels of brilliance on each listen, especially if it’s Ely’s passionate version. The song is about cockfighting — not a topic that usually interests me — yet it almost brings me to tears with it’s beautiful Spanish phrases and twists of fate.
11. Camera Obscura — “Swans” — My favorite band of Glaswegians delivers a delicious ode to America (“I really think you’d like it there,” Tracyanne intones, before singing the virtues of deer).
Comments
GREAT commentary on 20!# Posted By chance | 8/3/10 2:12 PM
Chance, on the songs you don’t comment on, does that mean you disagree with them or are just kind of indifferent?# Posted By John Hansen | 8/3/10 7:15 PM