Song of the Day 3/25: Dan Wilson, “A Song Can Be About Anything”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona
About a week ago the‘’90s band Semisonic denounced Trump for using its Grammy-nominated song “Closing Time” in an anti-immigrant video that spread a message opposite to the one in the song.
Besides the righteous political statement, it was a reminder that “Closing Time” was a great song by one of the great (but short-lived) bands of the ’90s.
The statement was made by the band in general, but it surely came from Dan Wilson, the group’s leader and driving force. Wilson is used to flying under the radar. Post-Semisonic he has won a slew of awards you probably don’t know about for behind-the-scenes work as songwriter or producer for the likes of Taylor Swift, Adele and Jon Batiste. He co-wrote the (Dixie) Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice.’
But Wilson has flown so low under the radar as a solo recording artist he’s almost bumped the ground. This has also been some of his best work. For it, the Allmusic website called him “a cult hero of American smart pop music.”
The rousing and witty pop-rocker “A Song Can Be About Anything” from his 2014 album “Love Without Fear” is one of his best. Yes, he sings, a song can be about anything, like “the second grade or the TV news” or “love or war, or “the sins of industry.” But losing his lover takes up all the room in his head and he keeps obsessively coming back to that as the subject he can’t help wanting to write about.
Butt I’ll shut up about it now and let you hear it for yourself.
“Closing Time” is such a great song it’s worth hearing anytime. Hands off, Trump.
