There are many great love songs. But I am not sure there is a better one specifically about Valentine’s Day than Steve Earle’s song, “Valentine’s Day” from his 1996 album, I Feel Alright.
In this live version of the song below, Earle has The Fairfield Four providing backing vocals. And I’m not sure anyone has ever made a better video of a song.
The beauty of the song is how it turns the cliches around, reminding us that the things we associate with Valentine’s Day are things that really do not have much to do with love. The singer tells how he forgot about the holiday so does not have a card, flowers, diamonds or gold to give.
Finally, the singer offers an IOU and to make it all up to the person, concluding, “Until then I hope my heart will do.”
One of the highlights of this year’s Grammy Awards was Paul McCartney closing the show by singing the Beatles’ classic “Golden Slumbers”/”Carry That Weight”/”The End” set from Abbey Road (1969). Sir Paul also had some help on vocals and guitar from some other great artists, including Joe Walsh, Bruce Springsteen, and Grammy-winning Foo Fighter Dave Grohl.
The guitar work at the end is a treat, but the best part is the final strains of the lyrics where Grohl is standing behind McCartney singing. Grohl has no microphone, but with a smile on his face he sings anyway for the joy of it, the way many of us have done in our bedrooms as kids listening to the album. But Grohl gets to do it onstage with a look on his face that shows he is thinking, “I can’t believe I’m playing with Paul McCartney!” On a night tinged with sad tributes to Whitney Houston and Glen Campbell (who gave his final Grammy performance on stage as he succombs to Alzheimer’s disease), that image of Grohl captures perfectly the point that host LL Cool J made at the opening of the show: It’s all about the music.
“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
[February 2013 Update: The entire performance is no longer available, but in the short clip below you may see Grohl singing behind McCartney.]
What did you think of last night’s Grammy Awards show and this closing set? Leave your two cents in the comments.
For our funny video of the week, check out the highlight from this week’s Saturday Night Live where the real Nicolas Cage appeared with Andy Samberg’s version of the actor. In several past episodes, Samberg has appeared on his “Get in the Cage” segment during Weekend Update with other actors as a running joke about Cage’s acting style, poor choice of movies, and legendary craziness.
Sure, Cage is promotingGhost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012), where like all classic Nicolas Cage action movies: (1) “all the dialogue is either whispered or screamed;” and (2) “everything in the movie is on fire.” But he was a good sport for going along with the funny segment, which was one of the best parts of Saturday Night Live this week.
Does Cage seem a little subdued about the bit? What is your favorite Nicolas Cage film? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Today we look back at a campaign song that used new lyrics set to an old tune to support Abraham Lincoln’s run for president in 1860. Jesse Hutchinson Jr., part of a group of family singers, wrote the lyrics to the 1860 campaign song “Lincoln and Liberty.” I like the lines reminding the listeners that the candidate from Illinois also grew up in Kentucky and Indiana: “We’ll go for the son of Kentucky,/ The hero of Hoosierdom through.” Hoosierdom?
The music to “Lincoln and Liberty” comes from an old English drinking song going back at least to the 17th Century, “Rosin the Beau.” The tune had already been used in campaign songs for William Henry Harrison in 1840 and for Henry Clay in 1844. Before Lincoln’s campaign, the tune also had been used in an abolitionist song (“Come aid in the slave’s liberation / And roll on the Liberty Ball!”). So listeners’ familiarity with the tune might have helped the Lincoln version of the song become so popular.
In this video, singer Ronnie Gilbert explains some of the background of the song, “Lincoln and Liberty” before singing the tune:
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won 40 percent of the popular vote, which was enough to easily beat the three other candidates, John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), John Bell (Constitutional Union), and Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat). The election was not the end for the music to “Lincoln and Liberty.” The tune continued to be used after Lincoln’s presidency, including a song for Ulysses S. Grant’s reelection in 1872.
I doubt we will hear the tune during elections in the near future, but you never know. The use of an old song might help avoid the problems of presidential candidates angering rock stars. Still, I suspect that most of today’s musicians would be proud to have their music used to celebrate the former president born in February 1809.
Whitney Houston has passed away at the age of 48. At this point, the cause of death or where she died has not been revealed. Despite all of her troubles in recent years, you cannot argue that she had a great talent. In the 1980s when she was on top of the world with songs such as “The Greatest Love of All,” it would have been hard to imagine the troubled last part of her career and her early death.
