Song of the Day Aug 19-25

August 19 2024

A little history of this song... Late at Night                  by The Iguanas

The Iguanas is a roots rock band from New Orleans formed in 1989. Their sound has been described as combining Chicano rock, R&B, Conjunto and various Latin styles into a deep groove. They have been a fixture on the New Orleans Music scene for the the last 25 years. Today's Song of the Day 'Late at Night' is off their 2023 Self-Titled album "The Iguanas". The theme of the song is someone who behaves differently depending on the time of day. Late at night, he is carefree and does whatever he wants. He's "Mr. Party." But in the morning, he feels regret and tries to make up for his actions by praying for help. He realizes he has a problem with alcohol, drugs ... whatever, but that he may be fooling himself and wants to changea as he consistently keeps repeating the same mistakes and doing this night after night. Despite the consequences and complaints from his neighbors, he continues to have fun and ignore his responsibilities. And, unfortuneately, that's where the song ends. There is no resolution in the lyrics to his problems. All their influences in style combine to make this a very listenable song that I think you'll enjoy, but if you're looking for an end to the story... there isn't one.

August 21 2024

A little history of this song...  Good Old Days                  by The Revivalists

Continuing with our "Sounds of New Orleans" we'll switch gears and ngo with a group that has become the darlings of the NOLA Rock Scene--The Revivalists. I've blogged about them before, but they certianly deserve another entry as, in my opinion, they are consistently one of the best touring bands in the country. The show they put on for their audience is second-to-none and well worth seeing again and again. Today's Song of the Day 'Good Old Days' is from their latest 2023 album "Pour It Out Into the Night." The basic theme is is that "THESE DAYS" are the good old days. “The message is, ‘I have to appreciate this n. It might not last forever’,” said lead guitarist Zack Feinberg, who composed the song alongside vocalist David Shaw. “This song actually started in 2018. I was imbibing as one does on Mardi Gras. We were hanging with friends all day and probably walked the length of the city two times over. We went back to David’s house to unwind and ended up putting the basis for the tracks down on a demo. That melody stuck in my head when I went to bed. I was thinking about what an amazing day it was, and even though there’s always uncertainty about what the future has to bring, we just have to recognize and appreciate that these are the good old days. Now that I am a dad to twin babies, there are so many moments that are beautiful yet fleeting, and you can’t forget that. So it is a useful exercise in gratitude.” Should you get the oppurtunity to see The Revivalists "Live"... GO!!! They are a much better act in person than their albums and the energy they remit to their audiences is second to none in the Rock world.

Enjoy!!

August 23 2024

A little history of this song...  Kansas City                 by Basement Tapes

The New Basement Tapes is a British-American musical supergroup made up of members Jim James, Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith, and Rhiannon Giddens. The group is best known for their 2014 album "Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes", which consists of tracks based on newly uncovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the recording of his 1975 album with The Band, "The Basement Tapes." These 'lost basement tapes' by Dylan and The Band we re-discovered about 15 years ago and legenndary producer T Bone Burnett decided to get together an "A-list" band to record these lost songs. Today's Song of the Day 'Kansas City' is one such song from the 2014 album. Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes wrote the music to Dylan's lyrics for this song. Burnett feels the bittersweet tune was a riposte by Dylan to old associates. "There's a great line: 'You invite me into your house, then you say you got to pay for what you break.' I think that resonated very strongly with Marcus, because he has had a similar trajectory," Burnett added. "He came out of the box very strong, became internationally successful and suffered an extreme backlash. 'Kansas City' is his song as well." Marcus Mumford told Mojo magazine: "There's so many lines that just couldn't be written by anyone else other than him (Dylan). It was also fun to take a bit of a liberty with them as well. I probably did it a bit more than anyone else. It got to the point when I was trying to write songs around these lyrics and it felt like I needed another verse, so I dipped into one of the other songs and nicked what I thought was a relevant lyric."

Enjoy!!!

August 25 2024

A little history of this song...  Friendly Fire                  by Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an American rock band formed by 3 High-School friends in California in 1996, and is among both the best-selling bands of the 21st century and the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. They have won two Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards, and three World Music Awards. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. So we're talking some pretty big heavy-hitters here. 'Friendly Fire' Today's Song of the Day, is their latest 2024 single from a yet unpublished album. The cinematic song dives into the depths of self-doubt and the feeling of self-destruction. It serves as a narrative and metaphorical exploration of how conflicts, whether personal or larger in scale, often lead us to harm those we intend to protect. Lines like "Pullin' a trigger in a useless war" and "What are we fighting? It's just friendly fire" powerfully evoke the image of internal conflict. The late Chester Bennington's vocals add an emotional layer, leaving listeners to ponder the song's meaning and its potential connection to his own experiences.

Enjoy!!!