Steve Earle - "Halo 'Round The Moon" (Live)

Two different live versions of Steve's great "Halo 'Round The Moon" from Transcendental Blues (2000). I personally prefer the audio-only version posted here.

Georgie James - "Need Your Needs" - Places (2007)

The Replacements - "Bastards Of Young" - Tim (1985)

Payday Playlist: Beauty Walks A Razor's Edge

This time around I dusted off a classic playlist from summer 2002. I had a friend who was about to take a business road trip with a female co-worker. My buddy thought there were some sparks and he wanted to try to take things to the next level. He asked me for a covert mix for this purpose. By all accounts, the girl's then-boyfriend was a jerk, and they were an on-again, off-again kind of thing. So a third friend and I concocted this mix for the road trip. The title comes from a line out of "Shelter from the Storm."

Amos Lee - "Colors" (live)

Beth Orton - "Anywhere (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix)" - The Other Side Of Daybreak (2003)

My Morning Jacket - "Off The Record" - Z (2005)

The Samples - "Everytime" - The Last Drag (1993)

Mary Gauthier - "I Drink" (live)

Marshall Crenshaw - "Someday, Someway" (live)

William Shatner (feat. Joe Jackson) - "Common People" - Has Been (2004)

Bruce Springsteen - "Sad Eyes" - Tracks (1998)

Ane Brun (feat. Ron Sexsmith) - "Song No 6" - A Temporary Dive (2004).

Orphan of the Storm

Mudcrutch - "Orphan Of The Storm" - Mudcrutch (2008).

Shady Grove

Mudcrutch - "Shady Grove" - Mudcrutch (2008).

Scare Easy

Mudcrutch - "Scare Easy" - Mudcrutch (2008).

Dress Blues

Jason Isbell - "Dress Blues" - Sirens Of The Ditch (2007). Isbell's gut-wrenching tribute to high school friend Matt Conley, one of over 4,000 Americans killed in the Iraq war and occupation.

Payday Playlist: Blood and Rust

There's no real theme to this installment of the Payday Playlist. It's primarily a mash-up of stuff I've been listening to lately. You'll see a lot of the same artists who appeared on the last playlist (Little Red Bullets) and/or in the daily posts. There are a few too-cute word associations here ("The Funeral" leads into "Down In A Hole"; "Sad Eyes" leads into "Still Water," which repeatedly uses the lyric "sad eyes"; "Scare Easy" is followed by "don't know why I'm still afraid," the opening line of "Honey And The Moon" ... you get the picture). But mostly its just thrown together based on flow. The mix turned out a bit more mellow than I anticipated after opening with the mighty "I'm Amazed," and I'm not entirely happy with the second half. But I promised to put these things up every other Thursday, so here it is, half-baked as it may be. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

1. My Morning Jacket - "I'm Amazed" - Evil Urges (2008). With Evil Urges, MMJ molted, trimming their unruly beards, shredding their tangled tresses, and casting off convention, reinventing their sound and stretching boundaries. That said, "I'm Amazed" is a throwback to another time in American rock 'n' roll as well as to MMJ's own reverb-laden, classic rock back catalog. This track is my favorite rock song of the year to date.
2. Fleet Foxes - "Mykonos" - Sun Giant EP (2008). If My Morning Jacket listened to nothing but old Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young vinyl for a year, and added layers of honey-drenched vocal harmonies to Jim James' lead, they might put out something that sounds like Fleet Foxes. These guys are the real deal. I just got turned onto them about two weeks ago, and I already feel like I've been listening to them for years. I mean that in a good way -- it's not that they don't sound fresh, it's that their songs already feel like they've stood the test of time. In addition to the warm harmonies, unexpected melodies, and classic soft rock song-within-a-song structures, their lyrics take you there:

   The door slammed loud and rose up a cloud of dust on us
   Footsteps follow, down through the hollow sound, torn up
   And you will go to Mykonos
   With a vision of a gentle coast
   And a sun to maybe dissipate
   Shadows of the mess you made
   

3. The Avett Brothers - "The Greatest Sum" - The Second Gleam (2008). The Avett Bros.' new EP came out on July 22. I've already listened to "The Greatest Sum" like a grillion times. It's that good. The Avett Bros. are that good. While capable of some very heavy music ("dark and lonely is the ride, the devil always by my side"), they almost always sound like they're having more fun than you. I want to be an Avett Brother.
4. Band Of Horses - "The Funeral" - Everything All The Time (2006). While Band of Horses' 2007 effort, Cease To Begin, owned my iPod for a long time, lately I've been looking back to their first album. It still rocks me.
5. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Down In A Hole" - Follow The Light EP (2007). Lest you think I have a beard-band fetish, here is man-mane-free Ryan Adams. The first of several covers on this playlist, Adams does to Alice in Chains' "Down In A Hole" what he previously did to Oasis' "Wonderwall" -- turns it into a brilliantly plaintive country rocker. When I saw AIC at the (now defunct) Edge in Orlando in November '92 (Screaming Trees opened), this eerily prescient song rocked the house, even though Layne Staley performed alternately from a wheelchair or on crutches.
   
6. Radiohead - "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" - In Rainbows (2007). In the hands (mouth?) of Thom Yorke, "words are blunt instruments, words are a sawed-off shotgun." No surprise that the opening, welcome and seductive as Friday night out after a long week ("Just as you take my hand/just as you write my number down/just as the drinks arrive/just as they play your favorite song/as your bad day disappears/no longer wound up like a spring..."), gives way to darker thoughts ("wish away the nightmare").
   
7. Blind Pilot - "Go On, Say It" - 3 Rounds And A Sound (2008). I don't know much about these guys. I think I found this as a free iTunes song of the week or something. Probably unfair for them to follow a great song by Radiohead. It's not in the same league as "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," but its a nice, catchy little piece of folkish indie-pop that immediately reminded me of The Shins' "New Slang."
8. Mudcrutch - "Scare Easy" - Mudcrutch (2008). The name Mudcrutch invokes early-90's Seattle grunge acts, but its actually Tom Petty's early 70's Gainesville southern rock outfit. "Scare Easy" is vintage Petty.
9. Joseph Arthur - "Honey And The Moon" - Redemption's Son (2002). Didn't know about this guy until I heard the Michael Stipe/Chris Martin Hurricane Katrina relief cover of his song "In The Sun." Solid singer/songwriter stuff. "Right now the sun is trying to kill the moon." Which naturally leads us to....
   
10. Sun Kil Moon - "Kentucky Woman" - Elizabethtown: Songs From The Brown Hotel [Soundtrack] (2006). I don't think Neil done it this way. Seriously, crap, I suffered through "Elizabethtown" by largely ignoring everything but the great music, and still didn't realize that "Kentucky Woman" played in the movie until I came across this little gem recently. That's how different Sun Kil Moon's cover is from Neil Diamond's original. For my money, though, the definitive take on this classic is my own epic live version, performed regularly at Big Daddy's Roadhouse in Orlando via karaoke at least weekly for the better part of '04-'05.
11. Justin Townes Earle - "Lone Pine Hill" - The Good Life (2008). Steve Earle's kid is a self-professed Civil War buff, and it shows in this haunting ballad. It's a great story song. I assumed it was an updated take on a traditional piece from the 1800's until I read this interview with young JT Earle. The kid gives good interview:

    Q: So, when writing these story songs, it’s more about reinterpreting and modernising age-old tales? A: That’s what Springsteen did to Woody Guthrie’s music and that’s what Dylan did to Woody Guthrie’s music and that’s what made them the writers that they were. They didn’t sit down thinking they were writing the Great American folk song. As Dylan said in No Direction Home, he was not creating anything new, he was just working with existing forms and putting them into the words of the times.

12. Jason Isbell - "The Magician" - Sirens Of The Ditch (2007). Terrific song equating Isbell's singer/songwriter art with the prestidigitation and illusions of a stage magician. "You know it's what I do, but never who I am" reminds me of the "What do you do?"/"I'm a human being, not a human doing" exchange from Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. At least, that's where I think it's from. Could be mistaking it for the way an old friend used to introduce himself when we worked a music store together. I'll research this and get back to you. Not really.
    
13. The Wood Brothers - "Postcards From Hell" - Loaded (2008). Another song about a singer. Dammit, just realized that I should have followed this with Skynyrd's "Ballad of Curtis Loew."
    
14. Jackie Greene - "Travelin' Song" - Gone Wanderin' (2002). A fun bit of folk from Jackie Greene's debut.
    
15. Jakob Dylan - "Will It Grow" - Seeing Things (2008). OK, so it's Dylan-lite, but it's still Dylan. Listening to this album, it's easy to imagine that Jakob Dylan's work with the Wallflowers was largely an effort at distancing himself from his father. On Seeing Things, he's come home to claim his inheritance. Ah, Rick Rubin, is there no one you cannot strip down to their roots?
16. Amos Lee - "What's Been Going On?" - Last Days At The Lodge (2008). "There goes her old beat-up car/outside of our old favorite bar/she's probably in there playing her guitar/with stars in her eyes/those are some of my favorite memories/all those carefree melodies/while I'm out here on this raging sea/about to capsize." Pretty straight-forward singer/songwriter stuff here, but Lee makes the material sound better than it is.
17. Billy Bragg - "The Only One" - Workers Playtime (1988). I'm not sure this one fits on this set, but I've found myself clicking on it a lot lately and so included it.
    
18. Bruce Springsteen - "Sad Eyes" - Tracks (1998). Why do I like this song? It is Bruce, but that's some really cheesy production. But it is Bruce.... I clicked on it a few weeks ago while looking for the next song on this list, "Still Water," which I always convince myself is called "Sad Eyes." And then I found myself listening to the Boss' "Sad Eyes" several times, thoroughly enjoying a tune I glossed over when first I delved into his Tracks compilation. Still, damn, that's some cheesy production. I may cull this one from the herd if/when I burn this mix to CD. Can Springsteen ever be a guilty pleasure?
19. Daniel Lanois - "Still Water" - Acadie (1989). Lush and replete with Lanois' signature ethereal sound.
    
20. Ron Sexsmith - "Ships Go Out" - Real: The Tom T. Hall Project (1998). From French-Canadian Lanois to Toronto songsmith Sexsmith. Sexsmith. Awesome name. Literally means that he makes sex. When it comes to the names of Canadian singer/songwriters, Ron Sexsmith made out way better than Bruce Cockburn.
    
21. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - "Into The Mystic" - Once [Soundtrack - bonus DVD version only] (2007). Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic" is one of my favorite songs - maybe even the favorite song, depending on when you ask. So I'm not inclined to swoon for a cover version. But this one is pretty solid, as those things go. It's a pretty straight-forward acoustic take, not really a reinvention or new interpretation. I really dug the quirky little movie "Once," casting these musicians as the leads, and that more than this cover is probably the source of my affection.

I'm Amazed

My Morning Jacket - "I'm Amazed" - Evil Urges (2008). Here's a little sneak preview of tomorrow's playlist. Nice POV video of Jim James and the boys. Feel the pogo. Lately concert videos make me jealous. I just bought tickets for an event for the first time in two years -- Sesame Street Live. I'll be getting my pogo on to "Rubber Duckie."

White Winter Hymnal

Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" - Fleet Foxes (2008). Stop-motiony goodness from Fleet Foxes.

Paranoia In B-Flat Major

The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia In B-Flat Major" - Emotionalism (2007). I love the Avett Brothers' hillbilly-hippie sound. Enjoy.

Hate It Here

Wilco - "Hate It Here" - Sky Blue Sky (2007). The experimental, alternative pop of Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (and to a lesser extent, A Ghost Is Born), earned Wilco critical accolades. And although I love Summerteeth and YHF, it was good to hear Wilco revisit the roots rock of 1996's Being There on their latest, Sky Blue Sky.

Fruits Of My Labor

Lucinda Williams - Fruits Of My Labor - World Without Tears (2003). Enjoy the fruits of Lucinda's labor here, even if her mournful, longing voice tells you that she can't.

He Doesn't Know Why

Lover Of The Bayou

"The thrill that'll get you when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone..."

Senator Barack Obama is on the cover of the Rolling Stone ... again. The magazine's conversation with Obama is interesting, though mostly fluff (what's on his iPod, what it means to be endorsed by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen -- you know, the kind of stuff that Radio Free Mo thrives on). The article does probe a bit into Obama's views on ethanol. Obama has been labeled, not unfairly, as a corn ethanol advocate. He has supported subsidies for corn ethanol, and a tariff against far more efficient Brazilian sugar cane ethanol. As explained by the New York Times in June, this has been a sharp point of contrast between Obama and Senator John McCain, who opposes the corn ethanol subsidies and the sugar cane ethanol tariff. While I prefer Obama's overall energy policy to that of McCain's, I have disagreed with Obama's previous support of corn ethanol. My scientist friends have long warned that corn ethanol is a "false alternative." Corn is an inefficient ethanol source, it's not particularly green, widespread use of corn for fuel would drive up food prices and inflation in general, etc. All of their predictions have come to pass. Recently these same scientist friends have put their money where their mouths are, leaving jobs largely driven by the defense industry to join a new venture, PetroAlgae. PetroAlgae aims to produce algae oil, a sustainable, renewable, and carbon neutral petroleum fuel substitute. The good news about the Rolling Stone article is that Obama acknowledges that corn ethanol is a "transitional technology. We've got to invest in alternative fuels. ...[W]e're going to have a transition from corn-based ethanol to cellulosic ethanol, not using food crops as the source of energy. ...What I foresee is us transitioning into other ways of developing these energy sources. The fact that we had corn-based ethanol, and that industry has matured, provides us with distribution networks and infrastructure that can ultimately be used for other ethanol sources."

Now back to the important stuff -- what's on Obama's iPod? His musical hero is Stevie Wonder. “When I was at that point where you start getting involved in music, Stevie had that run with Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Innervisions, and then Songs in the Key of Life. Those are as brilliant a set of five albums as we’ve ever seen.” Spoken like a true music geek, Obama. He grew up on Earth Wind and Fire, the Rolling Stones and Elton John. His favorite Dylan album is Blood on the Tracks, and he has frequently played selections from Springsteen's The Rising during his campaign (along with Stevie, Aretha Franklin, and U2). His iPod also includes John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Howlin' Wolf, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow and Jay-Z. The Rolling Stones' epic "Gimme Shelter" (Let It Bleed, 1969) was one of the few songs Obama identified specifically, and so that classic track is included here.

Radio Free Mo asked Senator McCain what was on his iPod. McCain responded: "iPods are like fat chicks. They are fun to ride, but you wouldn't want your friends to see you on one." His wife Cindy quickly elbowed him, hissing, "That's a moped, not an iPod!" McCain retorted, "Lighten up." (It's unclear whether the Senator was suggesting that Mrs. McCain relax, or that 'fat chicks' lose weight). Then, he asked this reporter: "What the hell's an iPod? And can you use it to kill Iranians?" In the interest of giving McCain equal coverage, we've include a track we're sure he loves -- the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" (Beach Boys Party!, 1965). (No, Senator, they are not singing "Bomb Iran").

Long Walk Home

Bruce Springsteen - "Long Walk Home" - Magic (2007). Back in April, Bruce Springsteen eloquently endorsed Barack Obama on his website. The endorsement referenced lyrics from "Long Walk Home."

Dear Friends and Fans:

Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.

Bruce Springsteen

Lillywhite on War

If you listen to NPR, you're probably familiar with WXPN's World Café with David Dye. Back in June, Dye did a great interview with Steve Lillywhite on producing U2's landmark 1983 album, War. Listen to the interview here. When you get back here, check out the video for U2's live performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at the Red Rocks in '83. "This song is not a rebel song...."

Goddamn Lonely Love

Drive-By Truckers - "Goddamn Lonely Love" - The Dirty South (2004). Since I included recent songs from both Jason Isbell and the Truckers on Little Red Bullets, it seemed to make sense to revisit my favorite Isbell tune from his time with DBT.

Stick With Me Baby

Broken Radio

Jesse Malin (feat. Bruce Springsteen) - "Broken Radio" - Glitter In The Gutter (2007). This song appears as track #14 on the Little Red Bullets playlist. After my own "broken radio" difficulties this week, I dedicate this video to Last.fm. Enjoy. (Click here for a direct link to YouTube if you can't get the embedded player to work.)

Payday Playlist: Little Red Bullets

UPDATE: Last.fm blows. Almost comically, they completely overhauled their free playlist feature on the same day I launched this blog. If you checked in Thursday morning, you were able to listen to the playlist on shuffle. By afternoon, it didn't work at all. As it turns out, this is a good thing. It caused me to find a superior service, imeem.com. The embedded imeem playlist allows sequential play instead of just shuffle. Plus, I can upload songs from my own library. The only snag is that if you want to listen to full versions of songs I've loaded, you have to be logged into imeem.com with my user information. If you're not logged in, you'll only be able to hear 30 second previews. But it's really simple to log in and worth it if you want to hear the full tracks. Here's all you have to do:

(1) Go to www.imeem.com.
(2) Log in with the e-mail: radiofreemo@gmail.com; password: dolphins.
(3) Refresh the Radio Free Mo blog page once you are logged into imeem. You should now be able to listen to full tracks in the imeem player.



The inaugural Payday Playlist features some road songs, some songs about change, and a whole lot of twang. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

1. Robbie Fulks - "Let's Kill Saturday Night" - Let's Kill Saturday Night (1998). It's the economy, stupid. Robbie Fulks' desperate weekend anthem from ten years ago rings true today. "Well a dollar I make is a buck I owe, and a 40-hour week leaves $10 to blow," our hero laments. "Something in the big frame's moved oh it never was so hard, to keep a 20-inch tube and a fenced-in yard." But fuck it, "give me one night with the moon high and the radio pounding, and brother this town's gonna go down kicking and shouting." Unfortunately for Fulks, with today's gas prices, he might not be able to afford to ride down the main drag with his engine open.
   
2. John Hiatt - "Drive South" - Slow Turning (1988). We started off ten years in the past. Now we go back two decades to revisit John Hiatt's twangy road anthem, "Drive South." It follows well after "Saturday Night," with classic lyrics like: "We could go down with a smile on, don't bother to pack your nylons, just keep them pretty legs showin', it gets hot down where we're goin'."
   
3. My Morning Jacket - "Golden" - It Still Moves (2003). Gettin' lucky in Kentucky. MMJ brings another great road song. This atmospheric joint would feel at home on the radio in 1973 between the Allman Brothers' "Blue Sky" and Skynyrd's "Free Bird."
   
4. The Avett Brothers - "Pretty Girl From Cedar Lane" - Mignonette (2004). Greenville, North Carolina's Avett Brothers combine traditional bluegrass and folk to bring another fine entry in their "Pretty Girl..." series.
5. Mary Gauthier - "I Ain't Leaving" - Between Daylight And Dark (2007). Beautiful and unflinching. If Lucinda Williams had penned and performed Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down," it probably would have sounded something like this. (Unfortunately, the title reminds me of McCain's Iraq policy).
   
6. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - "I Won't Back Down" - Full Moon Fever (1989). Now that I've mentioned it, why the hell not? Classic track, and one of the greatest driving songs ever.
   
7. Steve Earle - "Tennessee Blues" - Washington Square Serenade (2007). Steve Earle's red state blues drive him out of Tennessee, and the hardcore troubadour sets out for New York, a blue dog on his floorboard and a redhead by his side. This song serves as a book-end to Earle's signature song, "Guitar Town," which is explicitly referenced several times. Goodbye, Guitar Town.
   
8. Justin Townes Earle - "Faraway In Another Town" - The Good Life (2008). Steve's kid is good. If you're the son of Steve Earle and named in part after Townes Van Zandt, expectations are high. The younger Earle exceeds those expectations with a fine debut album.
9. Tony Lucca - "Devil Town" - Friday Night Lights [TV Soundtrack] (2007). This is a great cover of a Daniel Johnston song that most people associate with an earlier cover by Bright Eyes. Lucca's version became the definitive version for me after it was featured prominently in an episode of Friday Night Lights.
   
10. Whiskeytown - "Inn Town" - Stranger's Almanac (1997). Whiskeytown did songs about small town wasted time better than anyone.
    
11. Jason Isbell - "In A Razor Town" - Sirens Of The Ditch (2007). Former Drive-By Truckers guitarist/songwriter Isbell gives great acoustic on this mature, understated number.
    
12. Drive-By Truckers - "Two Daughters And A Beautiful Wife" - Brighter Than Creation's Dark (2008). Speaking of the Truckers, Patterson Hood and (Jason Isbell's ex-wife) Shonna Tucker sound amazing on this track.
    
13. John Fogerty - "Broken Down Cowboy" - Revival (2007). "He's bad news in a pickup truck." World-weary Fogerty does the broke-down cowboy bit better, and more convincingly, than all of the white-hat, mainstream country acts on CMT.
14. Jesse Malin - "Broken Radio" - Glitter In The Gutter (2007). Great ballad from former glam rocker and D Generation frontman Malin. This one features guest vocals from some hack named Bruce Springsteen.
    
15. Lucinda Williams - "Are You Alright?" - West (2007). This set wouldn't be complete without some Lucinda. Her voice is the sound of car wheels on a gravel road. A sexy gravel road.
    
16. Jeff Tweedy - "Simple Twist Of Fate" - I'm Not There (2007). Wilco's frontman does Dylan, from the soundtrack to Todd Haynes' unconventional biopic.
17. Jimmy Cliff - "Hard Road To Travel" - Jimmy Cliff (1969). This song kicks off a mini-set of four thematically related songs that bring this mix to a close. "It's a hard road to travel and a rough way to go, but I can't turn back, my heart is fixed, my mind's made up, I'll never stop, my faith will see me through."
    
18. Norah Jones - "The Long Way Home" - Feels Like Home (2004). This is a cover of a Tom Waits' track (oddly, Waits' is simply called "Long Way Home" -- Jones added the definite article in the title). Don't mistake my inclusion of Jones' version over Waits' as an indication of preference -- the Waits' track isn't available on Last.fm. You can find it on Waits' 2006 compilation, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Ballads (it originally appeared on the 2002 soundtrack Big Bad Love). I recently watched the Jude Law/Norah Jones flick My Blueberry Nights. The movie sucks. Avoid it. Jones can't act, but she can sing. While her voice doesn't carry the same gravitas as Waits' crusty pipes, it's easy on the ears.
    
19. Bruce Springsteen - "Long Walk Home" - Magic (2007). New York Times critic A.O. Scott wrote this about Springsteen's "Long Walk Home":

    In the first verse, the speaker travels to some familiar hometown spots and experiences an alienation made especially haunting by the language in which he describes it: “I looked into their faces/They were all rank strangers to me.” That curious, archaic turn of phrase — rank strangers — evokes an eerie old mountain lament of the same title, recorded by the Stanley Brothers.

    “In that particular song a guy comes back to his town and recognizes nothing and is recognized by nothing,” Mr. Springsteen said. “The singer in ‘Long Walk Home,’ that’s his experience. His world has changed. The things that he thought he knew, the people who he thought he knew, whose ideals he had something in common with, are like strangers. The world that he knew feels totally alien. I think that’s what’s happened in this country in the past six years.”

    And so the song’s images of a vanished small town life (“The diner was shuttered and boarded/With a sign that just said ‘gone’ “) turn into metaphors, the last of which is delivered with the clarity and force that has distinguished Mr. Springsteen’s best writing:

    My father said “Son, we’re
    lucky in this town
    It’s a beautiful place to be born.
    It just wraps its arms around you
    Nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone.
    You know that flag
    flying over the courthouse
    Means certain things are set in stone
    Who we are, and what we’ll do
    And what we won’t”
    It’s gonna be a long walk home.

    “That’s the end of the story we’re telling on a nightly basis,” Mr. Springsteen said. “Because that’s the way it’s supposed to be. And that’s not the way it is right now.”

20. Sam Cooke - "A Change Is Gonna Come" - Ain't That Good News (1964). Simply one of the best songs ever. "It's been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come." Let's hope these words prove prophetic in November '08.
21. Bonus Track: "Long Way Home" - Tom Waits - Big Bad Love [Motion Picture Soundtrack] (2002). Freed from the shackles of Last.fm, I can now share Tom Waits' weightier original version of this track.