Volume 18, Track 14
“Stratford-On-Guy” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "Shine A Light"] “I was flying into Chicago at night Watching the lake turn the sky into blue-green smoke The sun was setting to the left of the plane And the cabin was filled with an unearthly glow In 27-D[1] I was behind the wing [...]
Volume 18, Track 13
“Johnny Sunshine” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "All Down The Line"] At about the 1:15 mark “Johnny Sunshine” changes from a typical, early ’90′s alternative-sounding song to a sound that wants nothing more than to evoke pain: Phair’s choruses of “you left me nothing” are at a higher volume than normal, [...]
Volume 18, Track 12
“Divorce Song” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "Ventilator Blues"] “Divorce Song” might be one of the most brutally honest songs about a relationship that is falling apart that I have ever heard. The lyrics are so blunt and so great (without ever getting metaphorical or cryptic) that for what will quite [...]
Volume 18, Track 11
“Mesmerizing” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "Loving Cup"] Every great band or artist has a couple of songs that, when you hear them (either for the first time or for the hundredth or thousandth time, except that this time an unknown gravity about the song hits you in the face), you [...]
Volume 18, Track 10
“Explain It To Me” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "Torn And Frayed"] What a beautiful song, musically and vocally speaking. The guitar and drums emanate from the speakers in an elliptical manner like a carousel of mellow and soft thunder; Phair’s voice, so soft and natural, and operating on an octave [...]
Volume 18, Track 9
“Soap Star Joe” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "Sweet Virginia"] The strength of “Soap Star Joe” is the lyrics. If women quoted songs like men quote movies, “Soap Star Joe” would be their This Is Spinal Tap or Airplane! I could easily see any of the following lyrics being thrown around [...]
Volume 18, Track 8
“6’1″” by Liz Phair (1993) [This is Phair's response to "Rocks Off"] With a few coordinated wrist and finger movements, the metallic riffs on the first track of Liz Phair’s debut album commence and with it the first set of lyrics are sung: “I bet you fall in bed too easily/With the beautiful girls who [...]
Volume 18, Track 7
“Soul Survivor” by The Rolling Stones (1972) How do you end an album in which the first seventeen songs leaned pretty heavily on pianos, organs, and an array of horns for texture? You record a song that limits those instruments, of course. With “Soul Survivor,” the track that ends Exile On Main St., the Stones [...]
Volume 18, Track 6
“All Down The Line” by The Rolling Stones (1972) Reason #17 as to why I hold Exile On Main St. as being the greatest rock album ever made: the back-to-back placement of “Let It Loose” and “All Down The Line.” “Let It Loose” was a gospel-inspired track and the longest song on the album; to [...]
Volume 18, Track 5
“Let It Loose” by The Rolling Stones (1972) “Let It Loose” is the longest song on Exile On Main St., clocking in at over five minutes. It is one of the more mellow songs on the album, as well as being one of the few tracks to leave out any of the power that Keith [...]
Volume 18, Track 4
“Happy” by The Rolling Stones (1972) Keith Richards has sung lead vocals on about a dozen Stones songs over the years[1] and while you may be more familiar with “Before They Make Me Run” (off of Some Girls) it is “Happy” that is probably the best song that he was the lead on[2]. In its [...]
Volume 18, Track 3
“Sweet Virginia” by The Rolling Stones (1972) I do not think I can properly assemble the right string of words to explain how much I love this song. The previous sentence is not an admission of defeat but rather a preface that this post will be unabashedly and wholly subjective. “Sweet Virginia” is a mellow [...]
Volume 18, Track 2
“Rip This Joint” by The Rolling Stones (1972) “Rip This Joint,” the second track on Exile On Main St., is at its core like a late ’50′s/early ’60′s style rock song except that it is louder and more full-bodied. The opening riff, if it wasn’t so heavy and instead was played higher or with more [...]
Volume 18, Track 1
“Rocks Off” by The Rolling Stones (1972) Say what you want about The Rolling Stones (insert any complaints you may have with the band here) but one thing is really not up for debate: they know how to start an album. “Gimme Shelter” starts Let It Bleed, “Sympathy For The Devil” starts Beggar’s Banquet, “Brown [...]
Volume 18 Introduction
“Well you can’t say yes, and you can’t say no Just be right there when the whistle blows I need a sanctified mind to help me out right now. Be my baby for a little while. Won’t you be my little baby for a while?” — “All Down The Line,” the 15th track on Exile [...]
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