The Return of Recommend a Track

keith-urbanIt’s been a good long while since I’ve shamelessly plugged a favorite song, and far too long since all of you have made me break the bank to purchase your recommendations.

We’ve taken some heat for being a little hard on mainstream country lately, so I’m recommending a track tonight from one of today’s brightest stars: Keith Urban. Now, many of Keith’s best songs have already been radio hits, but he dug deep earlier this decade on his first multi-platinum album Golden Road with the closing track, “You’re Not My God.”

In the first verse, he confronts the addiction of money (“a little sure felt good, but a lot was not enough.”) In the second, he confronts his addiction and subsequent triumph over his cocaine addiction (“You almost had me six feet down, but I’m still breathing air.”)

It’s an unconventional religious song, to be sure, but he’s rejecting the false idols that the material world brings in favor of “the one that I will walk with in the end.” The blistering guitar work that follows sounds like a cathartic release of all of his demons in one fell swoop.

What do you recommend tonight?

20 Comments

  1. I always want to recommend a ton of songs, so I was wondering how to best recommend a few songs without going overboard. Thought it would be interesting to try and guess what our esteemed writers might like.

    Lynn:
    “Off To Sea Once More” Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Thought this might be a good fit for Lynn because it reminds me of the Seeger Sessions album.

    Leeann:
    “Traipsing Through the Ailes” Samantha Crane. Thought Leeann might like this and since she already did like it I figure that it is a safe bet.

    Kevin:
    “Mountain” or “Senorita” Chick Corea and Bela Fleck. Two parts jazz, one part bluegrass, and one part Nickel Creek. Instrumentals.

    Dan:
    “Got me Wrong” Alice in Chains (Unplugged). Just because Dan (I believe) mentioned he enjoyed the Nirvana Unplugged CD.

    Everything except the last song is on E-music.

  2. I love that Urban song, I need to listen to it more…

    Today I listened to my only Patty Griffin CD (Children Running Through) and I love the track “Trapeze”. It features Emmylou Harris on background vocals, and the song is about wanting to see others fail in love/life.

    It’s a great song with great vocals!

  3. I’d say that “Life” by One Flew South is an exceptional song and is worth hearing over and over again. I also think that “You’re Not My God” is great.

  4. Wow, a personal recommendation. I’ll definitely have to check it out. Thanks William!

    This week, I’ll recommend two songs that I’ve listened to a lot recently:

    “Whisky Rain” by Kelleigh Bannen
    “Acid Tongue” by Jenny Lewis

  5. Lynn,

    I haven’t heard the Miller’s version yet, but I like the George Jones/Vince Gill version from Jones’ Burn Your Playhouse Down album. So, I’ve been meaning to check this one out too.

  6. Well my recommendation comes from an artist who participated on this season of American Idol.

    I’ve been watching this season looking to see who’s going to be putting out a country album next year, when a girl on the second week caught my attention. She sang “Drops Of Jupiter” by Train and while not extrodinary I felt like she should have moved on, though she didn’t. I found an album that she released prior to Idol and bought it. She says her sound is country mixed with californian pop. The album is actually a pretty good listen and I’d recommend listening to “Edge Of The World”, it may not be traditional country, but it’s a fun blend of the sounds she was going for.

  7. Sorry accidentily hit submit before I finished editing my post…

    So yeah my recommendation is Mishavonna Henson “Edge Of The World”. It may not be for everybody but it’s a fun song, that I’d like to get people’s opinions on.

  8. A song I have always liked — I wish He’d Been Drinkin’ Whiskey by Terri Clark — just popped up on my ipod on shuffle and she also seems to get forgotten and this is one of my favorites by her.

  9. “Let Somebody Else Drive”

    I heard this old John Anderson song a couple weeks ago that I had not heard before and have been playing it ever since. I’ve always liked John Anderson’s stuff particularly his older stuff, but had never heard this one, probably because I was 3 when it came out. Check it out.

  10. I kind of made it a point in my Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists segment on Linda Ronstadt that she is much more than just a “cover” singer, but here I recommend listening to hers and Ann Savoy’s take on “Walk Away Renee”, from their 2006 album ADIEU FALSE HEART. This was originally a Top Five pop hit for the Left Banke in October 1966, done in a baroque/pop version then; here, Linda and Ann adopt a folk/chamber approach that is quite delicate and very acoustic. It probably isn’t going to be for everybody, but if you’re adventurous enough, or already have this album, listen to this track closely.

  11. Written by Rory Feek

    “Feeling more than a little frustrated by the music industry’s over analyzing of songs and singers… I wrote this song a few years ago just to vent. Until Joey decided to have us sing it at the audition for Can You Duet, I never really expected it to be heard by anyone, let alone be part of a record we would make. But here it is… the lead off track to our album. Our producer Carl Jackson absolutely loves this song. He says it’s our ‘Murder on Music Row.’ I don’t know about that… feels more like a small ‘stabbing on 16th Avenue’ to me, LOL Anyway, I get tired of hearing that song is ‘too country’ or ‘too serious’ or whatever. Hey, somebody just play the dang song. Let’s stop guessing what people want hear (and letting it effect what we write and record), and let them make up their own minds. Bet we’ll all be surprised by what we find out…

    http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/joey_and_rory_lyrics_45689/the_life_of_a_song_lyrics_87713/play_the_song_lyrics_861144.html

    If your looking for a song that sums up the problem with the recording insustry and radio…
    Look no futher.

    The entire album is fantastic.

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