Most December holidays are about putting others before yourself; finding the perfect gift for someone,… The post Week 764: “Mansion” by Nina Nesbitt appeared first on Beautiful Song Of The Week ..read more

As we all know – well, most of us – the earth isn’t the right… The post Week 757: “Ends of the Earth” by Lord Huron appeared first on Beautiful Song Of The Week ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Coleridge-Taylor-Sometimes-I-Feel-Like-a-Motherless-Child.mp3 Like many spirituals with roots in the era of slavery in the United States, this song has two key emotions at its heart: a bones-deep melancholy and an unshakeable strength. Because its pain is so accessible (what image could be more hopeless than a child without a mother?) this song has been performed by an unbelievably wide range of artists. Here’s a list of artists I bet you’ve never heard in the same sentence before: Paul Robeson, Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, Prin ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/JBM-years.mp3 In North America, today is eclipse day. School days are cancelled or shortened, everyone’s scrambling to buy glasses, and we’re all giddy about the rarity that we are privileged to experience. Not to burst any bubbles, but total solar eclipses aren’t actually all that rare. There have already been 14 of them this century, with another 54 to come before the century is out. The only rarity is that this one passes over several major population centres, and will be visible (at least partially) from everywhere in the co ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Collector.mp3 Several times during my childhood, I tried to start a specific type of coin collection. The goal was to accumulate one type of coin for every year. It didn’t matter whether that was quarters or nickels or what; I just wanted a complete set. After scouring my own coin jar (and that of my parents) I quickly realized that such a collection would be very difficult to complete. Finding coins minted in the past twenty years was easy, but finding coins from the 1960s, 50s, 40s…with each step further into the past, it beca ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Belle.mp3 Any musician famous enough to amass a large fan base inevitably amasses some haters. If it’s not for their music, it might be their look, their politics, or their personas. When Jack Johnson’s fame peaked in the mid-2000s, he had plenty of hatred aimed his way, and I never fully understood why. He seemed like a pretty likeable guy. He married his college girlfriend and steers clear of tabloid drama. He’s quietly active with charity work in his home state of Hawaii, environmentally conscious without being preachy, and u ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Hold-On-Magnolia-Demo.mp3 This week’s song was recommended by a reader. Thanks, Mia! Do you ever look at an old photo of yourself and wonder when that version of you became the current version of you? You can see that you look younger in the photo. Shockingly younger. But when, precisely, did those changes happen? When did your eyes change? When did that line appear? Did you wake up one morning with an older-looking face? Of course, other than a drastic haircut or a removal of braces, the changes that come with age are increment ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Sonny-Smith-Wolf-Like-Howls-from-the-Bathhouse.mp3 Plenty of musicians have recorded albums of covers, typically at the tail end of their careers, once the creative well has started to run dry and original material is in short supply. However, Sonny Smith’s 2013 album 100 Records, Volume 3 is not your standard album of covers, and it’s more of a creative peak than a trough. That’s because all 100 bands covered in the project are fictional. It began as a visual art project. Smith challenged 100 artists to create album art for non ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/HAPPY.mp3 If your goals for 2024 feel too far off to be attainable, take some inspiration from the sea turtle that graces the album art for Christian Wannerwall’s “Happy.” Just consider the obstacles facing a tiny sea turtle in the first moments of its life. Sea turtles are, of course, aquatic animals; but unlike most aquatic animals, they’re not born in the water. A freshly-hatched sea turtle emerges from its egg on the beach, buried in sand. But rather than getting to hang out in this safe little sand-cave, it must avoid poten ..read more

http://www.beautifulsongoftheweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/What-Child-Is-This-Greensleeves.mp3 Not only is Greensleeves a Christmas classic, but it’s likely the oldest song that could be accurately described as “widely recognizable.” Meaning that of all the songs that the average person knows, this one’s been around the longest. First published in 1580, it was worming its catchy way into listeners’ ears before any of Shakespeare’s plays. That’s closing in on 450 years of sustained popularity. As with anything that’s been very popular for a very long time, Greensleeves has picked up its ..read more