2 November 2021 - Dr. Hook - When You're In Love with a Beautiful Woman

In 1978, Dr. Hook (which was the name of the BAND) released what would be their biggest hit worldwide and one of their biggest in the United States. Their look really gave away their easy listening/country crossover song, but for this single, penned by Even Stevens, the traditional sound gave way to one that was a little more disco-tinged.   

The song sounds like it's sweet - and in some ways, it is - but it's really about jealousy.   It's about the lingering self-doubt that comes with dating someone who is better looking than you.  

1 November 2021 - John Wesley Harding - The Devil in Me

Wesley Stace is a British folksinger and author of four novels.  You might not know his name as a musician, though, because most of his music is under the stage name John Wesley Harding.   This was his debut single, from his debut album Here Comes The Groom.  

The song, as the rest of the album, draws comparisons to Elvis Costello - and since a couple of The Attractions make up part of his backing band here, that's understandable.  Lyrically, the song compares the attrocities of human behavior to, well, the devil.   It is a brilliant and sardonic take on the subject.  

29 October 2021 - The Libertines - Music When The Lights Go Out

A popular album track from their second eponymous album, this song was written by Pete Doherty, who also sings the song. 

The song uses music as an analogy for love.  When you hear "I no longer hear the music", think "I am no longer in love with you."  However, the song is much more than that.  It is about the pain of loss, even if the loss is so right - but it doesn't ever erase the good times. 

Still, it's one of those songs that make me tear up just a little bit, because we've all been there.   

28 October 2021 - Willie Nelson - Buddy

Let's not beat around the bush.  This deep cut was made popular on the television show Parks and Recreation.  It was one of Ron Swanson's favorite songs and appears twice during the series.

A tribute to the value of a good friend and how they can help with the pain of a heartbreak, Willie Nelson wrote it for his 1986 album, Good Times.  The whole album was meant to be a departure from the Nashville sound that had pigeonholed him for the first decade of his career.  In that respect, it was a success - Nelson became a superstar.

27 October 2021 - Jessica Simpson - With You

I know what you're thinking.  

We posted the wrong Simpson.

Don't worry.  I'm thinking it, too.

This song, which came out about the same time Jessica was on the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, was accompanied by a video that kind of mirrored the action on the show.  Lachey himself appears in the video.  

The song itself was a sweet love song, extoling the good feeling when you find that one person who is perfect, with whom you can be yourself.  Written by Simpson, Billy Mann and Andy Marvel (her producers), it's not a remarkable or different pop song.  It's just a solid midtempo pop tune with an element of funk to it. 

26 October 2021 - Nanci Griffith - From a Distance

You probably thought this was a Bette Midler song, didn't you.

Nope.  Nanci Griffith did it two years earlier.  It's a little bit folkier, with a different feel.   This version of the Julie Gold-penned song was a big hit in Ireland, of all places.   

Griffith passed away this past August, after two separate bouts with cancer.  Her voice will be sorely missed.

25 October 2021 - 50 Foot Wave - Clara Bow

50 Foot Wave are a power-pop trio founded in 2003.  Principal lyricist Kristin Hersh (the other band members share songwriting credit), also the founder of the closest thing to open source the music industry has ever had, CASH Music, sees this project as somewhat mathematical - 50 feet is the wavelength of the lowest audible (to humans) F tone.  But it's more than that - it's very much an emotional roller coaster.

This song, an early single by the group, is very much a bombastic thrill ride from start with finish, with unabated guitar and raspy growl by Hersh, bass by Bernard Georges, and the drumming of Rob Ahlers.  The personal nature of the song - the lyricist tends to write and perform in first person - is clear.