Music Diary, Vol. -71

For the rationale behind this mad effort, explanations here. The full series of Music Diary posts are here. The full playlist is above, also here.

Week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2022

LYRICS: Willie Nelson (Carl Stutz/Edith Lindeman), "The Red-Headed Stranger"

SONG: Opening with a riveting poly-chord as distinctive as the one that opens "A Hard Day's Night," this stirring Revueltas piece, composed in protest/tribute when Lorca was killed by Spanish fascists, is a three-act play unto itself.

LYRICS: Stephen Trask, "Wicked Little Town"

SONG: With its Afrique percussion sample, "Hey Bulldog"-esque piano hook, and swooping Martha Wash vocals, this is the Black Box track that always gets me on my feet.

LYRICS: Beck, "Loser"

SONG: The B-side to Patsy Cline's "Crazy" was this sunny lament written by Sammy Masters. It's partly the sweet harmony vocals on the chorus that pull me in; probably also the sharp contrast between the song's downbeat lyrics and its upbeat sound.

LYRICS: Ethel Merman (Styne/Sondheim), "Some People"
SONG: "It's not how you swim. it's how you hold your breath." If you haven't checked out the gritty, witty Americana of Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, this smoking track, administering tough love with a bluesy wink, is a great intro.

LYRICS: Madonna (w/ Guy Sigsworth & David Torn), "What It Feels Like for a Girl"

SONG: I swear I don't love this iconic Mingus jam only because it evokes the "Spider-Man" theme...but I'd be lying if I said that's not part of it. The horn chart certainly spins a web.

LYRICS: Liz Phair, "Dogs of L.A."

SONG: I won't defend it too strongly but I've always had a soft spot for this unapologetically glib U2 track, which sounds for all the world like the theme song for a late-'90s wannabe hipster sitcom and has an irresistible fuzz guitar solo.

LYRICS: Leonard Cohen, "If It Be Your Will"

SONG: I first heard this great, unsettling Dylan blues on the 1985 compilation Biograph, and it's stuck with me. It sounds like a howling gateway out of his Christian period into Old Testament surrealism—i.e., a return to form.