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The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 30

June 8, 2011 Tara Seetharam 16

And so it comes to a close, with the final category:

A Song That Makes You Want to Be a Better Person.

Here are the staff picks:

Tara Seetharam: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Aretha Franklin

Maybe it’s the way the gospel arrangement evokes a guttural reaction or the way the lyrics are shamelessly selfless. As with the best songs, I can’t quite put my finger on why it moves me – but this song makes me want to live for others.

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The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 29

June 7, 2011 Dan Milliken 21

Today’s category is…

A Song That No One Would Expect You To Love.

Here are the staff picks:

Dan Milliken: “3 Peat” – Lil Wayne

My friends all think I’m a big wimp. They’re right. But I do like Wayne. (Though even in this case, I’m drawn to the vulnerability in the song more than the aggression.)

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The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 26

June 4, 2011 Tara Seetharam 29

Today’s category is…

A Song About Time.

Here are the staff picks:

Tara Seetharam: “For the Good Times” – Jamey Johnson

About a man spending one last night with his lover, frozen in the “good times” instead of thinking about the pain that will inevitably ensue. There are plenty of versions of this song that I enjoy, but Johnson’s hits on the exact swirl of genres that just gets to me.

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The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 25

June 3, 2011 Dan Milliken 17

Today’s category is…

A Great Song That You Discovered After Everybody Else Already Heard It.

Here are the staff picks:

Dan Milliken: “Lord I Hope This Day is Good” – Don Williams

What can I say? I like to think I have a strong overview-type knowledge of country music, but I guess everyone’s got some inexplicable holes in their cultural patchwork. I’ve known of this classic by name for years and have listened through a fair amount of other Don Williams, but I’d never actually bothered to fire the song up until Leeann used it as her pick for one of these categories the other day. Good stuff, though.

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The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 24

June 2, 2011 Leeann Ward 21

Today’s category is…

A Great Song You Just Discovered.

Here are the staff picks:

Leeann Ward: “The Last Bus” – Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers

One of my favorite moments is when I put my iPod on shuffle and discover a song that I’ve never heard before and fall in love with it. Such an occasion occurred a few weeks ago. I’ve had this Zoe Muth album for quite some time, but as often happens, I bought the album and hadn’t gotten around to listening to it yet.

The song has my favorite kind of gentle instrumentation and Muth’s performance exudes the kind of melancholy that is easy to get wrapped up in, which is a testament to a well interpreted and well crafted song.

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Single Review: Dolly Parton, “Together You and I”

June 2, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 5

When Dolly Parton writes a song, chances are it’s going to be a great one. Only Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson rival her in that regard.

“Together You and I” is no exception to the rule. It’s a beautiful love song, with imagery that’s sweet without being sappy. She sings it wonderfully, with those little trills that have caused more goosebumps in the past forty years than a million cool breezes on warm summer nights.

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