Here are my personal top seven songs of 2005, almost all of which are available for an amazing ninety-nine cents. Most can be heard on the following artists’ sites.
WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe (covered by Led Zeppelin).
No point in linking to Led Zep; their songs are not available on iTunes. But they deserve credit for bringing back a great blues tune by one of the first people, man or woman, to electrify the guitar, Memphis Minnie, who wrote this song with her husband after the Great Mississippi Flood of l927. The lyrics (somewhat reshaped by Led Zep) stand the test of time as well as can be imagined…
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When the levee breaks, I’ll have no place to stay.[cut to]
Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin’ about me baby and my happy home.Going, going to Chicago…going to Chicago…
MERCY NOW: By Mary Gauthier. An unforgettable plea. And gee, I wonder what this means:
my church and my country
could use a little mercy now
as they sink into a poison pit
that’s going to take forever to climb out…
AMERIMACKA: By Thievery Corporation. Electronica/reggae, but don’t let that stop you–it’s irresistible. The line that will haunt you:
Amerimacka…
oh what a beautiful lie…
FRUITS OF MY LABOR: by Lucinda Williams. Although the two-disk live recording was "heavy," as one friend said, this song is emotionally full as can be, and gorgeously sung. Williams says she wrote twenty-five new songs this year; I can’t wait to hear them.
AMERICAN IDIOT by Green Day Green Day, which came out in 2004, but remains a huge hit, and deservedly so. Inspirational lyric:
Don’t wanna be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information age of hysteria.
It’s calling out to idiot America.
STATIC ON THE RADIO by Jim White
I confess I’m not sure when this song came out; but I heard it first in 2005, on RadioParadise. It’ has to be one of the uncanniest rock songs ever, with a great call and response chorus by White and Aimee Mann, and lyrics that White told me took years to write. Check this:
3 A.M. I’m awakened by a sweet summer rain…
distant howling of a passing southbound coal train.
Was I dreaming,
or was there someone just lying here beside me in this bed?
Am I hearing things?
Or in the next room,
did a long forgotten music box just start playing?
IT’S A DREAM by Neil Young. His new movie will be out soon; if his performance a few weeks back on Saturday Night Live is any guide, this should be a highlight. I like it because in his gentle but stubborn way, Young circles around how we feel about life and passing on; I think it’s one of the loveliest songs he’s ever written. Here’s the second verse:
The Red River still flows through my hometown
rolling and tumbling on its way down
swirling around the old bridge pilings
where a boy fishes the morning away
his bicycle leans on an old tree
while the cars rumble over his head
an airplane leaves a trail in an empty blue sky
and the young birds call out to be fed
It’s a dream
only a dream
and it’s fading now
fading away
It’s a dream
only a dream
just a memory
without anywhere to stay…
Kit Stolz 