Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 12/5: Mark Knopfler, “Sailing to Philadelphia”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Two Englishmen sail west across the Atlantic and finally spy “the capes of Delaware.” They have a big job ahead. As this Mark Knopfler song about them says, they’ve come to America to “draw the line.” They are the surveyors Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason. They spring to life in […]
Song of the Day 12/4: The Beatles, “Rocky Racoon”
Things are so bad in this country that even the wildlife is getting hammered. A liquor store in Virginia was ransacked by a raccoon that was found passed out drunk on a bathroom floor. This comes on the heels of a report in Scientific American that urban raccoons are showing signs of domesticating themselves. Now […]
Song of the Day 12/3: The Byrds, “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”
Alina Habba, the pride of Widener Law School, has been disqualified as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey after an appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration’s ploy for appointing her is illegal. It’s the second such ruling in recent weeks, bad news for Trump’s Lawfare Revenge tour but a rare-enough win for the rest […]
Song of the Day 12/2: Green Day, “Brain Stew”
Trump’s rapid unraveling is getting hard to ignore, but I’m not seeing many stories about the man-child rage-tweeting into the wee hours to spout ever-more-incredulous fabblegab. My personal favorite: in the waning days of Biden’s administration, Michelle Obama wielded the Nefarious Autopen to “pardon key individuals.” Maybe he should take something for that insomnia. That’s […]
Song of the Day 12/1: Cat Stevens, “King of Trees”
The march of development can seem unstoppable, especially in eastern Sussex County. Most protests about it take the form of debates about traffic impact and emergency response times, but sometimes the stakes are more sentimental. In Milton, the site of increasing development as beach development spreads north, a convenience store that’s been approved for a […]
Song of the Day 11/29: “The Rebels”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona In his new PBS series about the American Revolution, Ken Burns doesn’t pull any punches when he describes many of the people who supported or fought for independence from England. They were not a glorious bunch. He calls this faction ne’er-do-wells, teen-age runaways and felons, among other types. Many demanded […]
Song of the Day 11/28: Jesse Welles, “Join ICE”
Jesse Welles might seem like an overnight sensation, but like most overnight sensations it took him more than a decade to get to the big night. Now he’s there, capturing four Grammy nominations, equalling the number of albums he’s released this year. The nominations are for “Horses” as the best Americana performance, “Middle” as best […]
Song of the Day 11/27: Big Star, “Thank You Friends”
Finding stuff to feel thankful for might be more difficult than usual this year, but you can take some inspiration from Alex Chilton, who wrote “Thank You Friends” for Big Star’s third album and then saw it sit on a shelf unreleased for years. Big Star’s first two albums were widely admired but sold miserably […]
Song of the Day 11/26: Darrell Scott, “The Day Before Thanksgiving”
Some years you just can’t get into the holiday spirit. Darrell Scott knows just how that feels, and he wrote a song about it that appeared on his 2010 album “A Crooked Road.” He uses his doubts about the Thanksgiving story to express doubts about his own. There’s not much chance of it turning up […]
Song of the Day 11/25: Jimmy Cliff, “Many Rivers to Cross”
Jimmy Cliff, who died last week at 81, did more than anyone outside Bob Marley to popularize the music of Jamaica, and not just with his songs. His fame came in large part from his cinematic star turn in “The Harder They Come,” a 1972 crime drama about a musician-turned-drug runner whose song becomes a […]
Song of the Day 11/24: Weezer, “Undone – The Sweater Song”
MAGA men sure are easily ruffled. The latest threat to MAGAsculinity is…a pink sweater. J Crew, known for its preppy aesthetic, is selling one in wool, with a Fair Isle yoke. Its very existence has offended the delicate sensibilities of the manly men of MAGA. We learned this when an outrage-seeking influencer on the RWNJ […]
Song of the Day 11/23: Elton John, “Friends”
Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani shocked most people by getting along – not just politely coexisting, yukking it up together like old friends. Josh Marshall of TPM pointed out that Mamdani arrived with a press gaggle in tow, something bound to impress Trump who is, as LGM’s Scott Lemieux noted, an “incorrigible starfucker.” So maybe […]
Song of the Day 11/21: Booker T. and the M.G.’s, “Hang ‘Em High”
Donald Trump’s filter, badly atrophied to begin with, appears to have disappeared entirely with his call for six Democrats in Congress to be hung as traitors. Their “crime”? They recorded a video reminded members of the armed forces of their Constitutional duty to disobey illegal orders. Somebody should tell him panicked screeching isn’t a good […]
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