A Couple of Musical Things

Now here’s an interesting topic on one of The Guardian (UK) blogs… “what’s the best song about infidelity?” The judges will choose the winners sometime next week, and the deadline for submission is this coming Monday. That said, there are already over 300 comments in the thread. Some good stuff, too. Tune-titles that caught me nodding slowly up and down in agreement:

"Cry Me a River" - Julie London
“Lying Eyes” - The Eagles
“Layla” – Derek and the Dominoes (and the whole album, coz it’s ALL about infidelity)
"Tempted" – Squeeze
“I Would Rather Go Blind” – Etta James

Speaking of Etta…

Ain’t she just frickin’ GREAT? And Dr. John, too, for that matter.

But, back to the subject at hand…the best song about infidelity (for my money) is Lyle Lovett’s “Nobody Knows Me.” Your mileage MOST certainly will vary…

And yet another music-oriented diversion, also from The Guardian, “50 songs for 50 states.” They’re pretty danged good, for the most part. There are some lame choices, though, as one might expect, and some oh-so-predictable ones, too - like Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" for NY. I'd have gone with Sinatra, which just might be called predictable, too.

Their choice for New Mexico?

Johnny Cash — New Mexico
In which a cow puncher kindly invites Mr Cash to spend a pleasant summer in New Mexico, only to encounter a troublesome time with hail storms, thistles and Indians.

Well, OK. One cannot go wrong choosing Johnny Cash as music to accompany virtually anything. Period. The only song that comes to MY mind about NM is Michael Martin Murphey’s “Crack up in Las Cruces,” and it’s too obscure for most people to know, let alone hum along with. So obscure, in fact, that Google can’t find the song lyrics…but the song is on his superb “Geronimo’s Cadillac” album.

I got a chuckle out of their choice for Montana:

Frank Zappa — Montana
In which Mr Zappa claims "I might be movin' to Montana soon/ Just to raise me up a crop of Dental Floss." He never did.

Not that one has a whole helluva lot of choice when it comes to songs about Montana… Yet there was a time in the waaaay-back when I could sing along with this tune and not miss a single word. Don’t ask, Gentle Reader.