Song a Day 2020

Pink Moon by Nick Drake

My reaction to hearing Nick Drake for the first time was just like this guys, but I didn’t take ten years to figure out how to sound like him:

Rite of the Ancients by The Budos Band

Love the Lo-Fi horn section juxtaposed with the funky beat.

Mirror in the Bathroom by The English Beat

Did I mention I played in a band that opened for The English Beat?

Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

According to Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 500 Songs, June Carter wrote this song while driving around aimlessly one night… Not long after hearing June’s sister Anita’s take on the song, Cash had a dream that he was singing it with Mariachi horns. Cash’s version became one of his biggest hits, and his marriage to June 4 years later helped save his life.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/johnny-cash/ring-of-fire

Hideaway by Eric Clapton, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers

Originally written and performed by Freddy King, this is the version of Hide Away that inspired Clapton:

Longview by Green Day

Punk rock for guys like me who wanted to be into punk rock in the late 70s and early 80s, but still lived with their parents…

Beautiful World by DEVO

Released in 1981 but still shockingly relevant today.

The song was written with the video in mind. “The video idea preceded the song,” Jerry Casale told Songfacts. “We start off with silly imagery taken from archival film libraries of just stupid stuff – Americana pop culture stuff from the past and silly imagery of silly people, then slowly start warping it over darker and darker things – Ku Klux Klan race riots, war, suffering, atomic bomb, starvation. It transforms from one thing to another.”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/devo/beautiful-world

Energy by The Apples in Stereo

Groovy vibe makes me smile.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen

Snare drum triplets.

Jet by Wings

I remember Richard and Karen Carpenter ringing me up to tell me about ‘Jet’ – they were like the last people on Earth I thought who’d like ‘Jet’! But they were like, ‘Oh, great record, man!’ So, you know, it was actually resonating with people. — Paul McCartney, Clash

https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/song/jet/