As a rule, I don’t like the category “guilty pleasure” when it’s applied to music. You like the songs you like. No harm, no foul Most of the time, when asked to report their “guilty” music pleasures, people tend to pick from artists like ABBA or Neil Diamond or Boyz II Men— all of whom I love, by the way– but what…
Read MoreI’ve made no secret over the years about my dislike for NashVegas wunderkind and fake-country recording artist Taylor Swift. She even made it into my “Uncanny Valley” series on this blog (see here) as an example of what I called the very Form of the Fake. Now, I’ll admit I’ve been pretty harsh in my evaluations of Swift–…
Read MoreFirst, let’s just get something straight right away: The Rolling Stones is the greatest band of all time. Full stop. Several years ago, my favorite music magazine No Depression ran a contest they called “Exile on Main Street vs. The White Album Smackdown” and invited readers to write in and explain why one album was better than the…
Read MoreIf you’ve ever lived close to a train track, which I have for many of the years of my adult life, you know exactly what it means to love and to believe in the sound of a train in the distance. There’s something seductive and promissory about that sound, something that assures you that there…
Read MoreThere are any number of songs by the late, great Michael Jackson that make me want to dance. Most of them, in fact. In addition to being a phenomenal and innovative dancer himself, MJ also had a preternatural talent for producing songs with just the right mix of rhythm and groove to force listeners’ bodies to…
Read MoreFull disclosure: I am a huge fan of musical theater. This may be due in part to the fact that I seem to lack whatever aesthetic gene or neuron inclines us against corniness, but I like to think that it’s rather because I have a deep appreciation for storytelling in song. My favorite musical…
Read MoreI had some major blog snafus this past week, so I’m waaay behind on the 30 Day Song Challenge! What that means for you, readers, is that the entries are going to be considerably briefer for the next several days while I catch up. Today’s prompt was easy for me. I’m choosing Sam Cooke‘s “A…
Read MoreMy home, Memphis, is referenced in the lyrics of more recorded songs than any other city on the planet. In fact, several years ago, the Rock n Soul Museum began keeping a list of those songs, which now numbers over a thousand. So, it’s hard to pick just one song that reminds me of “home”–…
Read MoreI was really lucky to be surrounded by a lot of talented musicians (and devoted music-lovers) during my graduate school years at Penn State. I say “lucky” because, despite its popular sobriquet, “Happy Valley” is most definitely not a happiness-inspiring place to live, at least not for a city girl. State College is a tiny college…
Read MoreI have a certifiably unhealthy obsession with sad songs. I think they’re the most beautiful things that human beings create, and I think you can learn far more truth about the complex, convoluted tragicomedy that is human life and community from sad songs than from all the rest of our creations combined. Among the reasons…
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