The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

If you haven’t seen The Last Waltz, you should. Even if you’ve never even heard of The Band, the movie is directed by Martin Scorsese(!) and it’s The Band’s last concert combined with documentary footage. The guest musicians are blues and rock giants. The thing that I love about the documentary, though, is that it is all about music. The music is the star. Everyone else is a supporting cast member.

The song is historical, it tells the story of the last days of the Civil War from the point of view of a few Confederate solders. When I posted this up, I was surprised to find it was an original song, I had assumed for years it was a cover. That’s just how true it feels. It was later covered by Joan Baez and Johnny Cash.

Like my father before me, I will work the land
And like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand

The Lovin’ Spoonful - Summer in the City

Originally written as a poem by Mark Sebastian, Summer in the City is one of the perfect summer songs (besides, of course, summertime). You recognize the keyboard riff immediately. It’s only two and a half minutes long, but the flow of the song is interesting anyway. After only two short verses, the song breaks for literally sounds of the city. It’s all good, though, 2:37 is all you need to get the song stuck in your head for the whole day. My guilty pleasure from this song is listening to people try and sing along with it. “Hot taaoo, summer in the city, mrffrmmfmffrm…” then giving up and just dancing along. Leave the poetry to Mr. Sebastian.

Come-on come-on and dance all night
Despite the heat it’ll be alright

Sly and the Family Stone - Underdog

Sly Stone writes about things that are quite stinging, but he almost seems to walk right past it. They’re wrought with the tension of the current time, and also no big deal. Old hat. This the first song, side A, on A Whole New Thing. And these are the very first words you hear after the horns punch in:

I know how it feels to expect to get a fair shake
But they won’t let you forget
That you’re the underdog and you’ve got to be twice as good

But he moves right past it. This song kicks me in the ass. Sly and the Family Stone was a compelling, prolific group, and they’re basically the reason for me starting this blog.