Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 4/20: Charlie Worsham, “I Hope I’m Stoned (When Jesus Takes Me Home)”
John Carney’s attitude toward cannabis is the same as Nancy Reagan’s — he just says no, and there’s no way that will change today. Especially not today. Mississippi singer-songwriter Charlie Worsham sang this tune he calls “stoner gospel” music in concert for years before he released this official version in 2019. He was touring with […]
Song of the Day 4/19: The Bar-Kays, “Soul Finger”
Is Bear man the local version of Florida man? Back in the Before Times, in December 2017, Bear man Michael Rohana went to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party at the Franklin Institute. The then-24-year-old drank too much, snuck into the roped-off display of 10 of China’s famous terra cotta warriors and, horsing around, broke off […]
Song of the Day 4/18: George Thorogood and the Destroyers, “I Drink Alone”
Get-well wishes go out to homeboy George Thorogood, who announced the cancellation of the first month of his 50th-anniversary tour due to “a very serious medical condition that will require immediate surgery and quite a few weeks of recouperation [sic] and healing.” The 73-year-old blues guitarist’s reps told the News Journal he’s aiming to be […]
Song of the Day 4/17: The Beatles, “Tomorrow Never Knows”
The Dominion-Fox lawsuit has been postponed until tomorrow. Will it even happen, or will the parties reach a settlement first? As Ringo Starr once put it, tomorrow never knows, an observation that became this song’s title when John Lennon thought its working title, “The Void,” would be off-putting. Lennon’s trippy meditation on his LSD experience, […]
Song of the Day 4/13: Eric Clapton, “Let It Rain”
Fort Lauderdale got two feet of rain in about 6 hours yesterday, so I think this should be the city’s new tourism song/slogan. Eric Clapton included this now-classic track on his first solo album in 1970. When released as a single until two years later, to promote his compilation LP “Eric Clapton at this Best,” […]
Song of the Day 4/12: Manic Street Preachers, “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona In times like these, you’d think there’d be more protest songs with lyrics about shooting fascists. You’d expect more songs with titles like “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next,” though probably not as long. What we need is a band like the Manic Street Preachers, who stood […]
Song of the Day 4/11: Bob Dylan, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
This song ran through my head after a visit to the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The Dutch master was only 43 when he died in 1675 in Delft, and outside of official records very little is known of his life. He remained admired but obscure until the mid-18th century. He was popularized […]
Song of the Day 4/10: The Turtles, “Outside Chance”
Donald Trump has always skated beyond the law’s reach, and this has always been his motto: You don’t stand an outside chance, but you can try. They seem to be trying harder than ever. Stone walls surround me I’m surprised that you even found me Whatever you do girl You know that you can’t get […]
Song of the Day 4/9: The Swan Silvertones, “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep”
The Swan Silvertones were one of the seminal gospel groups of the 1940s and ’50s. “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep” dates from antebellum times, when slaves sang spirituals with coded messages of hope for freedom. Claude Jeter’s ad-lib, “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name,” inspired Paul Simon’s “Bridge […]
Song of the Day 4/7: Nathalie Merchant, “Tower of Babel”
With apologies to El Somnambulo, who’s in charge of new music here, Natalie Merchant is releasing a new album, “Keep Your Courage,” next week, her first in nine years. The normally publicity-shy singer even sat for an interview with the New Yorker to mark the occasion. This song, a comment on the state of the […]
Song of the Day 4/6: The Buckinghams, “Don’t You Care”
No crowd of supporters appeared in New York for Donald Trump’s arraignment. Television networks cut away from his whiny speech afterwards before he finished. People were leaving his Waco rally after half an hour. If he had a trace of self-awareness he’d be asking the question the Buckinghams set to music in 1967, when it […]
Song of the Day 4/5: Matthew Sweet, “Girlfriend”
Human-Shar Pei hybrid Rupert Murdoch, age 92, got engaged on St. Patrick’s Day to the woman who would have been his fifth wife. The timing didn’t bring him the luck of the Irish. This week the news broke that the wedding is off. He’s back on the market, gals! You could be his next girlfriend! […]
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