16 February 2022 - Fetchin Bones - Stray

This song isn't actually about a dog.  No no, it's about a guy.

This song, the lead track from their 1987 album Galaxy 500, is one of my favorites by them. Produced by the great Don Dixon, it's kind of like a country grunge romp - that, in 1987, the world was not ready to hear yet.   

The version here is a later live version of the song, which captures perfectly the energy that Hope Nichols brought to literally everything she did. 

15 February 2022 - The Jody Grind - Eight Ball

The Jody Grind were from Atlanta.   They made a couple of great albums and then their band was struck by tragedy, when they lost two members in a car crash.

This ended the band.  It didn't end the music - a group called Kick Me rose out of the ashes, and then vocalist Kelly Hogan (Hogan Murray at the time) has had a solid solo career on the strength of her smoky vocals since.  

However, the music of The Jody Grind lives on.  They did a lot of wild and obscure covers, but this original song has something of an old-timey feel, which felt fresh and new in 1990. 

14 February 2022 - The Judybats - Daylight

It's amazing to me that The Judybats - from Knoxville, TN - weren't a bigger deal than they were. Their music was delightful and deep.

This song, which wasn't a hit for them at all, is a sweet song about depression.  The subject matter is a woman who has recently 'up and disappeared' - presumably by suicide.  The tailspin she fell into is captured in this song that seems a little too chipper for the subject matter. 

Mental health is a real problem, and holidays such as the one being celebrated today can be a trigger. If you or a loved one finds yourself in a situation where suicidal ideations are apparent, please call the toll-free, 24-hour hotline of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) to be connected to a trained counselor at a suicide crisis center nearest you.

11 February 2022 - Louane - Aimer à mort

This song, by French star Louane, is about a love that doesn't die, even without touching, even without breathing, even from afar, and is so strong it hurts.  You don't need to speak French to feel the emotion of this song. 

From her 2020 album, Joie de vivre, the song became yet another hit single for the French hitmaker, who in 2020 also gave birth to her first child, Isabel - which drove a lot of the subject matter of this album.   

10 February 2022 - Madonna - Crazy For You

Do you remember the movie Vision Quest?  Released in 1985, it was a romantic drama starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino.  It was a moderate success, grossing $13 million at the domestic box office, with rental revenue doing a little better than that.

However, it wasn't called Vision Quest everywhere in the world.  In some countries, the movie was titled Crazy For You, and this song was the reason.  A young Madonna appeared in the movie and performed this song, which ended up being her 2nd number one hit in the US and her biggest hit to date.  The title change was put in place to capitalize on the success of the song.

When the song was recorded, Madonna was an unknown, but by the time of its release, she had a couple of big pop hits under her belt.  This was her first ballad - and broadened her appeal.  The song itself is a sweet, straightforward love song that captures that feeling that so many have experienced.  

9 February 2022 - Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale

What happens when Bach's "Air on a G String" is turned into a popular song?

Apparently, it becomes an anthem that's considered one of the greatest anthems of the 20th Century, and one of the theme songs of the Summer of Love of 1967.  Procol Harum's debut single, it is one of the best selling physical singles of all time - selling more than 10 million copies - and was one of the first SONGS induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

All this, from a little song about drunk sex.  

8 February 2022 - Beyoncé - Hold Up

Some days, I have a clear plan for what I'm going to post.   Sometimes, I don't.  Today's post is the latter.  

I'm not generally a huge fan of Beyoncé.  I mean, she's all right.  However, when I was writing this post about the song "Maps", by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I found that this song made a direct reference to it.  Repeatedly.  "They don't love you like I love you."  Karen O and the rest of the songwriters got a songwriting credit on this.  This song also interpolates "Turn My Swag On" by Soulja Boy, who ALSO gets a songwriting credit.

Since the song was Grammy nominated, that would have been a lot of statues had it won.  

The song is something of a joyful calypso.... musically.   It's really chill, really cool.  Lyrically, though.... whoa.  It's angry and heavy and, well, it explains why Bey is walking around with a goddamn baseball bat beating the shit out of everything.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of this song.   Check it. 

7 February 2022 - Rage Against The Machine - Freedom

This song, an early hit single by Rage Against The Machine, clearly states "anger is a gift."  It's a great song, and you should enjoy it.  

That's not what we're going to talk about here, though.  

No, we're going to talk about Leonard Peltier, Native American activist and mainstay of the American Indian Movement.  On June 26, 1975, two unmarked cars - which were driven by FBI agents who were investigating AIM - drove onto private property on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  A fire fight began, with two FBI agents and one Indian killed.  

A huge manhunt followed, and three AIM members were arrested.  Two were acquitted, but Peltier was extradited from Canada - based on documents supplied by the FBU that contained false information - and convicted, sentenced to two life sentences in 1977.  Key witnesses did assert that their testimony was coerced and later recanted their testimony against Peltier.  Evidence of Peltier's innocence has been brought to light, but ignored by the appellate courts and by Presidents Clinton and Obama, both of whom denied Peltier's appeals for clemency. 

There is worldwide support for clemency for Peltier, including from Pope Francis, the attorney who supervised the prosecution of Peltier, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Dalia Lama, and many others.  

Even the cop that arrested Peltier is convinced that justice was not served here.  

So, Rage Against The Machine used their MTV platform to bring attention to the Peltier case, and I'm going to honor that by bringing that attention here as well. 

4 February 2022 - The Cure - Lovesong

The Cure were a leading alternative band in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  They didn't really get a lot of mainstream success..... until this single in 1989 vaulted them into the Billboard Top 10.  

It's not like they altered their style to get that hit.  The song was someone morose-sounding, but its subject matter.... well, it was a love song.  This wasn't a typical Cure song, because it was lyrically upbeat, and not trying to be clever - it was just a straightforward love song.  

And, it's one of the most beautiful, lyrically simple songs ever written and performed.  

3 February 2022 - Kelly Willis - Baby Take A Piece Of My Heart

In hindsight, MCA Records did a really REALLY bad job marketing Kelly Willis.  She recorded three albums for them, plus there was a compilation (which included her fantastic version of Dave Alvin's "Little Honey").

Take this video, which was a minor country hit in 1991.  The song is an emotional powerhouse, about an imminent breakup, with some significant snark included.  How many wardrobe changes does she need for that?  Because there are no less than six of them, and probably a lot more. 

Still, the video does NOT detract from the great musical performance that is typical of Kelly Willis.  

2 February 2022 - Lennon Stella - Older Than I Am

Yeah, I felt guilty about yesterday's post, because there are two Stella sisters and they are both fantastic.

If you are - were, I guess - a fan of the ABC/CMT television show Nashville, then you already recognize Lennon Stella.  She and her sister Maisy played sisters on the show - and are sisters and musicians in real life.  We featured them several years ago on Totally Covered.  

Well, these sisters, from Ontario, Canada, like so many of our greatest actors, still perform together, but they also have solo careers in their own rights.  Here is one of the great singles from the elder Stella sister's solo debut, Three. Two. One. Perhaps surprisingly, her music isn't generally seen as country music, but more quiet pop music.  This song's video features a lot of home movies featuring both Stella sisters.

1 February 2022 - Maisy Stella - Riding Free

The Stella Sisters got way more than their share of musical talent. Her older sister has the more current record as of this writing, but Maisy Stella has multiinstrumental and vocal talent in spades.   

This was the younger Stella's debut single, her take on the theme for the Dreamworks series Spirit Riding Free.  It is an uplifting, happy song, and her youthful voice (she was 13 when it was recorded) is perfect for the feeling the song is trying to convey.  

I know it's technically a cover - she took over the existing theme song in season 3 of the show - but it's here.  Don't @ me.  

31 January 2022 - The Clique - Superman

This song was recorded in 1969 by The Clique, who hailed from Austin, TX.  Their sound was a little trippy, and this song was originally a B-side.  

The song is a little combative.  The narrator is expressing his feelings for a girl, who happens to be with someone else.  

The Clique were not at all keen on recording "Superman", which they did not write (Gary Zekley and Mitchell Bottler get the songwriting credits).  They saw it as a bubblegum pop song, but also, they wanted a hit, so, there you go.  The music industry was no less seeking sellouts in 1969.  

But, anyway, it was important to me that you didn't think this was R.E.M.'s song.   

28 January 2022 - Liz Phair - H.W.C.

This is very much not a post we've done before, but I felt like you all deserved something hot and fresh this week. 

So, here are Liz Phair's beauty tips.  

Was this a spunky choice for a post? Maybe.  But come on.  

We couldn't not post this.  

Needless to say, this was never a single, but it's a fan favorite song.  Because who doesn't love a song about semen?

This isn't a post we'll ever revisit.  I think we've said enough.  

28 January 2022 - Liz Phair - Why Can't I?

For my final entry in WGP:Revisited Week, I decided not to revisit one of my posts, but one of Scott's.  Why did I choose this song?  Two reasons.

1)  Scott did a short post about it and I thought it deserved a better write-up

2)  I was pretty disrespectful of it in the comments.

When this song was released in 2003, it was widely touted as a sellout - a label that Phair EMBRACED.  She wanted a hit.  And, with this song hitting #32 on the Billboard Hot 100, she got a hit.  But the reason she wanted a hit was not your typical reason, which she explained to Vice on the occasion of the 25th anniversary reissue of her debut Exile in Guyville:

"Despite all the horrible things people were saying—I didn’t even think they were horrible, I honestly thought I was doing therapy. I would do interview after interview and I’d try to talk them down off the ledge because they were so mad. I just had to calibrate, explaining that I was on a major label, that’s where I got left, and I had to sink or swim and so I swam. In actuality, promoting that record exposed me to far bigger audiences and I learned how to get my sea legs on stage and learned how to do a ton of things. Those were heavy times but that was really fun, to be part of a band, and that camaraderie, and our tours were so great. I just experienced so much that I would never, ever give back. So I don’t have regrets."

In essence, this "sellout" caused a spike in sales of her three previous albums, which means more people were exposed to her pre-"sellout" music.  

The song itself is one I have gained an appreciation for in my old age.  It is a sweet love song that isn't afraid to use the word "fuck".  This version of the video does censor that.

Here she is, performing a completely acoustic version of the song.  Sure, it sounds less like a sellout on acoustic guitar.  She did shy away from the F bomb in this version.

THERE WE GO, LIZ!

27 January 2022- Bonde do Rolê - Picolé

I originally posted about this song, and really about its video with 45 directors, more than three years ago.  

I stated that the word "picolé" loosely translated to popsicle in English, although a picolé tends to be alcoholic.  I also inferred that the song might not be about popsicles.  Mostly because I didn't want to overtly make a sexual reference - and I still don't.

What I did NOT say is that this was part of a larger effort, from their album Tropical/Bacanal, to move away from the funky sound of With Lasers and into a sound that more represented their Brazilian roots.  They did so quite successfully and to great critical acclaim.  

Also, this song is really, REALLY dirty.  Yes, it is about exactly what you think it is. If you can't figure it out from the video, I can't help you here.    

26 January 2022 - The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl

Not all my short changes were long ago.  This one happened in 2020. 

It wasn't hard to short-change it, though.  The song is less than two minutes long.  How much can you say about a song by a drum/guitar duo that is so short? 

A lot, actually.  

The song is incredibly fast - Jack White fits a LOT of words - breathlessly at times, which give the song a desperate feeling - in those two minutes.  Despite the frantic guitar and dense drumming, the vocals are the highlight of the song - the music is there for rhythm, with the guitar taking a rhythm guitar role, rather than lead.  

Lyrically, it's somewhat beautiful, illustrating perfectly the feeling of falling in love, hard.

Also, about that video.  It is mostly REALLY Lego bricks, purchased by Jack White.  There is a small computer animated section of the video, but it's mostly really Lego bricks.  Don't call them Legos.  That's a brand.  

This alternate interpretation of the song, from a live performance in Nova Scotia... I'm going to not focus on Jack, but on Meg White.  She's got such subtly to her drumming - she doesn't get enough credit for that - but it certainly shows here.

25 January 2022 - Toto - Africa

I know, it's surprising, but in 2012, I shortchanged this song.  

.

In my original post, I talked about the lyrical gymnastics of the 2nd verse of the song.  They are great, but what is greater is the story of the composition of this love letter to a continent.  David Paich wrote the lyrics, which came to him in a flash, and initial brassy flutey synth intro.  Jeff Porcaro wrote the rest of the music - and it was a long process..... to write a love letter to a continent.  

You see, the song is not romantic.  It is about Africa.  And it was their biggest hit - even as others got more critical acclaim - and it is still beloved.

A sound installation in the Namib Desert in Africa plays this song on an infinite loop.  It is run by solar batteries and designed to be durable against the environment, and although the desert landscape will eventually swallow it whole, it will, until then, play for eternity.   

24 January 2022 - Tasmin Archer - Sleeping Satellite

This week, I'm revisiting songs that I gave not nearly attention to on the first go around.  

I originally posted about this song in 2013, after I heard it in a Food Lion in Delaware.  I wrote a really short post about it, with a couple of small details, such as chart position.  

What I neglected to address was the subject matter of the song.  Overtly, it's about the Apollo missions to the moon - the moon being the titular satellite.  And, there are a lot of moonscape references - the eagles fly, the dry seas.   However, the song is also a metaphor for anything one might want to shoot for - the stars, a goal, anything.  

It is also one of those songs that is a persistent favorite of mine, since its release in 1992.   

I wanted to include a live version here - Tasmin Archer is still performing, and of course performs her biggest hit.  I did not find a more beautiful version than this one from 1993, with less production and a simple acoustic accompaniment.  

21 January 2022 - Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy

Nothing worth having comes easy.  Life is a tough trial, and so is love, but it gets better.  Push forward.  "Use a little love and we will make it work out better."

So is the message from Ringo Starr's first post-Beatles single, produced by George Harrison.  It remains one of Ringo's biggest solo hits - and no one expected him to have solo hits.  Starting and ending somewhat quietly, the tune gets more bombastic, becoming a beautiful, uplifting song - and one of my personal favorites.

Ringo Starr and George Harrison famously performed this song at the Convert for Bangladesh, the first time that any two Beatles had performed together since the breakup.  Ringo did forget the words..... but everyone still loved him, because how could you not?

20 January 2022 - Aimee Mann - Wise Up

From the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Magnolia, for which Aimee Mann did most of the soundtrack, this song comes at a sad, emotional crossroad in the movie. In fact, let's open this post with that very sad, emotional crossroad.  The moment could have been absurd, but it wasn't.  

But this song is so so much more than a soundtrack song - especially since it wasn't written for the soundtrack and had PREVIOUSLY appeared on the Jerry MaGuire soundtrack.  It is in and of itself an emotional powerhouse with a real downer of an ending.  P.T. Anderson has said that Aimee Mann's music inspired Magnolia, so it is likely that this song was part of that inspiration. 

Listen to Aimee sing it herself, without the cast accompaniment.   

She still performs the song, which is a fan favorite. Because of course it is.  

19 January 2022 - The Replacements - I'll Be You

The Replacements had been indie darlings for the better parts of a decade in 1989.  This song was the closest they got to breaking out of that.

From the album Don't Tell A Soul, this video was in heavy MTV rotation, even during the day.  Which is good.  Because The Replacements were actively seeking a hit after many years of that indie fame.  They didn't quite make it there - this song peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 - but it did spread their sound to a broader audience.

18 January 2022 - Roberta Flack - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

This might be one of the most beautiful songs ever written.  Written by Ewan MacColl about his third wife, Peggy Seeger (he was still married to his second wife), this is a cover - but a cover that was the biggest hit of 1972 and won the Grammy for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. 

What was written as a folk song was reinvented with soul by Flack, and for that, the song was her own. Originally released in 1969, it went nowhere until Clint Eastwood found it and used it in his movie Play Misty For Me.  After that, Atlantic Records released it as a single and it exploded. 

17 January 2022 - The Pursuit of Happiness - I'm An Adult Now

Moe Berg and Dave Gilby moved from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to Toronto, Ontario, Canada and formed a band called The Pursuit of Happiness in 1985.  Since then, they've been making fun, power-pop music.

One of their first singles was this one.  This song was self-produced and self-pressed, and became a grassroots hit.  This led to their major label record deal and some measure of success.  It was eventually released in 1989 as a single in the US, and amazingly, it was a minor hit.  

Also, it's great to be an adult.  

14 January 2022 - Guided by Voices - Bulldog Skin

 Do you know who would be really happy to be called a guilty pleasure?

Robert Pollard.

From the Dayton, OH band's 1997 album, Mag Earwhig!, this song and video are probably about as close as Guided by Voices has gotten to actual guilty pleasure territory.  It's a song that clocks in at 3:00 on the dot, has a significant guitar solo, and a video with significant production value.  

The title is in reference to being tough - having a thick skin.  Clearly, the video's protagonist, Larkey Parka, had to have a thick skin as he was bullied in his pursuit of the girl, eventually winning her over at the Rock Show Tonight.  

Thankfully, after all these years, Guided by Voices is a band that still tours, and still performs this song.  Here they are in 2017, with Bob Pollard acting like the rock star he absolutely is.  

13 January 2022 - Iggy Azalea - Iam The Stripclub

Amethyst Kelly is back.  And she came back with a really good album in 2021 - The End of an Era - preceded by three good singles.  The best was this, the third single that was a short club banger.   

Admit it, you're dancing right now.   I am!  

By the way, watch for the "Work" throwbacks in the video.  This album in general and this song in particular was meant to bookend the first phase of her career - kind of a recap of the last decade, if you will.  In that context, it really works.  

12 January 2022 - Hoobastank - The Reason

In 2004, this song was absolutely everywhere.  It's a hard rockin' song that brings the melancholy hard.  A worldwide hit, it was Hoobastank's high water mark from a chart success standpoint - reaching #2 in the US and #1 in several other countries. 

Nominated for two Grammys, the song was probably made more popular by the iconic video, which tells an elaborate story of what looks like an accident but ends up being a heist.  It, of course, has zero to do with the subject matter of the song - but it's a cool story.  

11 January 2022 - Georgio feat. Cœur de Pirate - Concept Flou

For once, I'm going to ignore the œ here - and it's for this reason I've held off on posting this. How much Cœur de Pirate do you actually need?  She adds a little to the song, but it's Georgio's song.  

The song is about the uncertainty of love in the modern era - a fuzzy concept in the narrator's eyes.  He's been waiting for a sign from the girl he loves - someone he should probably just let go of.  He eventually gets there, but the song is painful and sad while he does.  

10 January 2022 - Olivia Newton-John - Magic

Most of you know that I am a huge ONJ fan.  Always have been. Perhaps part of it is the greatest movie musical involving roller-skating.  I am, of course, speaking about Xanadu. 

This song, a huge hit for Newton-John in 1980, was used in the movie when her character, Kira, whose origin you don't know at the time, meets Sonny, the Michael Beck character, and they fall in love.  The song, although, in the context of the movie, is a lot more than this, stands alone as a love song - a love that's always been there, predestined.  

Wikipedia considers this song "disco" and "soft rock".  OK, I guess so, but it came at the tail end of the disco era, and still spent 4 weeks at #1 - finishing 1980 as the 3rd biggest hit of the year.  

DJ Dan Murphy and Steve Peach remixed the song in 2011, for ONJ's charity, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre.  She did reenter the studio to rerecord the vocals for this project, which also featured a music video with a large cast.

7 January 2022 - Paramore - Misery Business

I didn't want to let the day go by without acknowledging this.

You might have noticed in my last post, about an hour ago, that I included a songwriting credit.  All I have to say that, if you noticed that, good 4 u.  

Yes, Hayley Williams and Josh Farro from Paramore got a songwriting credit on Olivia Rodrigo's song because Olivia Rodrigo interpolated the chorus of "Misery Business" into "good 4 u".  The two songs are distinct enough that there isn't overt stealing - but the right thing was done by giving the songwriting credit to Williams and Farro.  

The lyrics of THIS song were written by Williams, about Farro, on whom she had a crush.  

If you still don't hear it....

7 January 2022 - Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u

Olivia Rodrigo is PRESENTLY nominated for seven Grammy awards, including one for this angry, sarcastic, biting song that she wrote - more specifically, THIS music video.  

The song itself, co-written by Rodrigo along with Dan Nigro, Hayley Williams and Josh Farro, was her 2nd #1 hit from her debut album, Sour - a feat that had never happened before.  Musically, it flows between pop-punk, grunge, and, well, music that Taylor Swift could be making.  In addition to its #1 performance on the US pop charts (where it also spent 11 weeks at #2, tying the record), it topped charts around the world and cemented Olivia Rodrigo as a superstar.

Here she is, performing the song on Saturday Night Live in 2021. Clearly, she couldn't drop the crowd-pleasing f-bomb in the 2nd verse, but her laugh right after stayed in.  

6 January 2022 - R.E.M. - Pop Song 89

Released on their 1988 album Green but intended for 1989 single release (hence the title), the story of this song isn't really the song - which is a pretty standard pop song parody lyrically, and unimaginative in its simplicity musically. The video featured three topless women and a topless Michael Stipe dancing.  This is the age restricted video you can't see below.   

However, you can't show nipples on MTV.  So, Michael Stipe put black bars on all the nipples, including his - because, as he said, "a nipple is a nipple."  

It's rare that a B-side to a single is the same as the A-side, and yet, an acoustic version of "Pop Song 89" was the B-side.  It is, in my opinion, a better version of the song - showing the beauty of the arrangement and the biting parody of the lyrics a little more pointedly.  

5 January 2022 - Ashlee Simpson - Boyfriend

Ten years ago from this very point - 3:36 PM, Eastern Standard Time, January 5, 2012 - I started a blog.  It was born of a shared appreciation of a particular former sister-in-law of Nick Lachey and star of Melrose Place 2.0, and a thought that she got way too much shit for the SNL debacle.  

I didn't know what the hell I was doing back then.  I made a few sus style choices that I've stuck with (I'm not changing the font, people). I didn't know that I should be researching these songs a lot more.  So, this is what I said:

"Let's open up this blog with one of the guiltiest pleasure songs ever performed.  It's hard to be bad-ass in argyle, but Ashlee Simpson tries, and pulls it off to some extent.   It's really hard to say "Ashlee Simpson" and "bad-ass" in the same sentence while keeping a straight face."

For our tenth anniversary, I am PURPOSEFULLY revisiting this song that started it all.  It deserves a full treatment.

This song was based on real life experience, and is being sung to a very specific person. When you hear Ashlee singing "I didn't steal your boyfriend", she's singing it to Lindsay Lohan.  And the boyfriend in question was Wilmer Valderama.  That's right.  THAT Lindsay Lohan.  Simpson did deny it for many years, but she has finally come clean.  

The song, which came after her "career-ending" turn on Saturday Night Live, would be a worldwide hit, reaching the top 20 in many countries.  

You know what?  Before we get into this video, I'd like to address the SNL thing, directly.  Ashlee had a  SECOND SNL performance.  That's right.  She came back after the debacle.  And performed THIS SONG.  This song, the second biggest hit she had, came AFTER her career was supposedly destroyed.  Video of that performance appears on nbc.com - but they keep their rights pretty tight, so I can't post it here. 

I also want to apologize to Ms. Simpson-Ross (Diana Ross is her mother-in-law now).  I no longer have trouble calling her a bad-ass, argyle or no argyle.  

Also, I wish a video existed that included the original lyric. Because, it's important to note, Lindsay Lohan bought a lot of shit to Ashlee's door. 

Stop hating on Ashlee, people.  She's the Simpson we all need. 

4 January 2022 - Randy Newman - Short People

Despite what you might have heard, this song is NOT at all against short people.  You are not supposed to sympathize with the narrator.  He's supposed to be seen as a bigot.

But a lot of people didn't understand that.  Including the Maryland legislature, who attempted to BAN the song. Clearly, on First Amendment grounds, that was a failure. 

Still, this was Newman's first big hit. And it endures to this day. 

3 January 2022 - Asia - Heat Of The Moment

John Wetton was the lead vocalist for King Crimson.   Geoff Downes was in a band called the Buggles.  They both wrote this song - John Wetton as a lyrical apology to a woman he had wronged.  Together with members of Yes and ELP, they made up Asia, a prog rock supergroup.

This was their biggest and only major hit - but it was a really big hit, making the top 5 in the US and charts around the world.  I mentioned the lyrics earlier - it was a lyrical apology - but you might notice that it has a very country feel.  That's because it was originally written as a country song.  

31 December 2021 - Cœur De Pirate - Oceans Brawl

I usually dedicate the last post of the year to a song by an artist that defined my year or otherwise was a huge song - sometimes an anticipated release.  This year, this was an easy choice, despite what I literally just said.

I started writing this in March, anticipating that this song would be the most significant one of the year for me, and this one was going to be tough to beat. Perséides, the whole album,by the same artist came close to beating it.  Also, this song beat it in significance that I spoke of at length - but it's still significant enough that I'm keeping it here.  

But also, I thought I'd give you a peek behind the curtain of my process.

While researching a post for the song "Toes", by Toronto artist Lights (aka #1000), I listened to that artist's entire Siberia albumS - as she released an acoustic version of the album a year or so after the original.  Doing THAT led me to another song of hers, "Peace Sign", which is the one that is the most dramatically different in its two versions (which I covered well on March 3rd).  The acoustic version, a highlight of Siberia Acoustic, was reimagined as a bilingual duet, with Béatrice Martin, who is also known as Cœur De Pirate, who happens to be from Montreal, doing the French translation.  I was desperate for a couple of Quebec artists for my #MapleLeafMarch that weren't Céline Dion, so I did some listening. 

That discovery changed how I had the whole MONTH laid out, beginning to end.  It also forever changed my Spotify stats, as she quickly became one of my top five listened to artists of all time, and them my MOST listened to artst, in like three weeks. 

A couple of her albums have quickly become favorites of mine, despite me not understanding a word of French.  The 2015 album Roses rises to the top, 1) probably because it's half in English and I can understand English but 2) because the songs on there in both English and French are both lyrically and aurally interesting.  

I posted a song for which there is no official video, and so I start with the original album version of "Oceans Brawl", the best song off the best album.  It is an epic piece, with a 10-second pregnant pause at about the 1:23 mark, so you can listen to the oceans.... brawl.  The song itself builds in desperation to an impassioned crescendo before rolling back with the tide. 

Any doubts about the real passion that goes into writing and performing this song need look no further than the CBC Music festival, where she cannot stay seated at her piano while performing the song.  It is not the type of song to be merely sung.  It is a whole body experience.

This live session was released prior to the release of Roses, which means it's a quieter and unproduced piece, and while it's not as bombastic at its crescendo, it's still a powerful version of the song.  

31 December 2021 - Lights - Don't Go Home Without Me

My last post of 2021, which is the biggest this blog has seen, came down to me trying to choose which artist would go last.  You see, there were two who really bubbled to the top for me, and they both got there in very much the same way.

The little project I did in March - #MapleLeafMarch - gave me a catalyst to give an artist for whom I had a serious blind spot for years.  I spoke about this at length in post #1000.  I don't need to rehash it.  

Well, unlike other artists I discovered this year, whose catalog I just dove into head first, I spent much of my year in the Lights catalog listening to Siberia.  And, about a month ago - even though I had branched out a little bit beyond that, especially to a few collaborations she did with deadmau5 and Felix Cartal, for example - and yes, I know, #1000 was from a different album, too - I realized my blind spot was still there. 

So I branched out more.  I listened to her whole catalog, end to end.  Most of it was pretty great.  A few pieces bubbled to the top.  One of them was the whole Little Machines album, which is a real gem and represents the highest US chart position to date Lights has achieved (#34 on the album chart - but she's still making music, so jury's still out on this one). 

So, what you might be curious about is, from an album that had several videos and singles, why, exactly, did I pick a non-single song that closed the album?  It's an absolutely beautiful love song about a love that lasts a very long time, written by someone who hasn't reached that far yet but knows they will.  Musically, it's unusual and compelling.  Who cares if it was a single?!!   It's a great song.  

If you've been reading all my Lights posts all year, you know that she usually does electronic and then acoustic versions of everything.  While we wait for the acoustic version of "Prodigal Daughter", why don't we just enjoy the quiet beauty of this one?

As I was researching a Totally Covered post you don't know about yet - but check back in a few hours - I found this beautiful version that was neither acoustic nor electronic.  It's mostly Lights and a piano (there's a bit of a string accompanyment, too).  However, it's one of the most beautiful versions of the song I've heard.

30 December 2021 - Taylor Swift - All Too Well

Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Swift dated for three months.  I'm not sure if you were aware of that.

The original version of this song, which pretty much covers that relationship, was a top 20 Country hit in 2013.  It was from her Red album, which really sparked Taylor's transition from country to pop artist.  

Famously, she's rerecording her Big Machine catalog and retaining control of her catalog.  This version of "All Too Well" TOPPED the POP charts in November 2021.  This ten minute version of the song, which is now the longest #1 song in history, was accompanied by this short film.

It was also accompanied by this SNL performance of the song.  The performance was, in a word, great, and this is coming from someone who is NOT Taylor's biggest fan, like Scott Colvin.  

By the way, we've added Taylor's Version to any past post that has one: here, here, and here so far.  As this and this get rerecorded, we WILL update them.  They're honestly richer and better versions of the songs.

29 December 2021 - X Ambassadors - Renegades

I was kind of thinking about saving this song for a Western/Central New York week.  It's not common for Western/Central New York bands to have top 20 hits all over the world, but that's exactly what happened with X Ambassadors, from Ithaca NY, in 2015 with this song.  

It's not surprising that this song is a hit.  It's mellow, it's cool, it builds brilliantly, it uses fiddle judiciously. The song is simply great and deserves the acclaim it received.  The band is brilliant!  It's great that they got the attention they did.

Also, #290.  Patting ourselves on the back here.  

28 December 2021 - of Montreal - it's different for girls

Today's post is a milestone.  

You see, it is post #289 in 2021.   We previously reached 289 posts in a single year in 2012, the year we started this blog.  Back there, two of us were doing the writing.  While Scott has come back to contribute this year, most of the writing belongs to Tony now.  

There are three days left in the year.  Spoiler alert - Friday's writing is already done at this point.  This is going to be the biggest year we have had on Wicked Guilty Pleasures.  

I wanted to make #289 a bit of a blooper.  You see, in March, I did a thing where literally every song was by a Canadian artist.  So, I wanted to represent as many provinces as possible.  So, early on, I was looking for a Quebec artist.

So when I found out that of Montreal were from Athens, GA, I was temporarily disapponted.  Now, I happened to find another artist, thankfully, but I was bummed, because this song was so dark and witty and different.  Clearly, I saved the draft, and I'm posting it today, but, well, now you know my process.  

27 December 2021 - Charli XCX - Good Ones

I have been dragging my heels posting this song.  I really overdid the Charli XCX back in the day.  I mean, seriously, how much could I post?

OK, Scott posted that last one, but do you see my point?  Luckily I don't do that anymore.  

I'm sure I have learned my lesson. Also not getting beaten to the punch anymore.

OK, enough schtick.    

I really REALLY like this song.  I wasn't dragging my heels because I didn't like the song. (I probably had a Cœur de Pirate song to post or something.) (OK, NOW enough schtick) Post #288 of 2021 is the new Charli XCX single, and it's a banger that reminds me of the Sucker album.  The core of the song is a throwback synth that sounds like it is suited more for 1987 keytar and less like 2021 pop charts. This song is great musically, and great lyrically.  Give it a go.  

25 December 2021 - Lights - Deck The Halls

Why exactly are you reading my blog on Christmas morning?!

Well, since you're here, Merry Christmas!  Here's Lights, one of our #MapleLeafMarch highlights, with her take on a Christmas classic.

24 December 2021 - Cœur de Pirate and Adam Cohen - Silent Night

I have this œ on my clipboard from when I wrote another post you haven't seen yet, so I didn't want to waste that.  

And I decided this should be a Christmas post, because this beautiful bilingual version by two bilingual Canadians is perfect for this very holy night.  

23 December 2021 - Cyndi Lauper - I Drove All Night

This song was originally intended for Roy Orbison.  And he recorded it - first!!!!!!!!   So, I guess this should be on Totally Covered?

I didn't put it there.  I put it here.  I did that for two reasons.  

First, this version was released first, by several years.  It was a big hit for Cyndi Lauper in 1989, and it was written by frequent songwriting partners Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg.  

Second, it's so lyrically brilliant that it warrants the higher visibilty that this blog brings.  I know people are going to read this here.  And, it's lyrically brilliant, if I wasn't clear.  Because it illustrates the desperation of love - what someone in love might actually do.  We've all been there.