Music Diary, Vol. -54

The rationale behind this mad project is here. The full playlist is above, also here.

Week of Dec. 26, 2022-Jan. 1, 2023

LYRICS: Elvis Costello & The Chieftains, "St. Stephen's Day Murders"

SONG: One of my favorite Christmas songs isn't really about Christmas at all—it's an ode to the Celtic tradition of hunting a wren on St. Stephen's Day (today). This spirited Chieftains rendition is the definitive version.

LYRICS: Bob Dylan, "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" 

SONG: If you're looking for a fist-pumping singalong anthem about a ménage à trois that also doubles handily as an ode to soul-sick ambivalence, might I recommend this exuberant track from Dodie.

LYRICS: Elvis Costello, "Watching the Detectives"

SONG: I love everything about this pitch-perfect opener to Los Lobos's Kiko, but only just noticed the way the guitar sings the melody along with David Hidalgo. This band's instruments have always sounded human, but this makes it nearly literal.

LYRICS: Lonzo and Oscar (Latham/Jaffe), "I'm My Own Grandpa"

SONG: Something about this yearning, long-lined song from A Little Night Music makes it eminently coverable; it was the one that Eleri Ward started her Sondheim journey with, and decades before it inspired this delicious Grover Washington jazz take.

LYRICS: George Jones (Bobby Braddock), "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

SONG: You haven't lived till you've heard Marlene Dietrich's German-language take on this signature tune from Oklahoma! Who could resist a fahrt in her Schlitten?

LYRICS: John Hiatt, "Your Dad Did"

SONG: I knew him for half a century but never knew my dad's musical tastes very well. I do know he loved Nat King Cole; so in his honor here's Nat's loose, punchy 1939 rendition of a song that would be a signature hit of his nearly 20 years later.

LYRICS: Regina Spektor, "Laughing With"

SONG: My flirtation with '80s-era CCM was fleeting and shallow, but this Steve Taylor song, inspired by John Paul II's meeting with his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Ağca, is one I'm happy to hold onto from that period.