It’s wednesday, time for another issue of TypeCast. This little experiment in music writing is leaving some people puzzled, which is fine in a way (it means the concept is not so obvious) but odd in another, as it seems pretty simple to me: every issue includes three songs, with text, links and all. The songs are only connected by their theme, so obviously one of the fun aspects is to put very diverse music on the same page. Perhaps this is what puzzles people, The Smiths and Bessie Smith together. If you have any suggestion, please let me know: I often like to challenge audiences, but I prefer to do it on purpose – and this is not the case (maybe just a bit).
However, me being me, I’ve decided to add another layer of complexity to today’s issue. The theme is Songs about Songs. It turns out no one seems to have dedicated a song to another song. Isn’t that strange? Music, especially for a musician, should be a great source of inspiration. Yet it’s understandable: if you think a song is great, is very difficult to express it in a different song – maybe not as good (while there are many tunes about musicians and singers). There are many instances of musical or lyrical citations, but always in passing, the topic never being the song itself. The three tunes I’ve included are Spanish Moon by Little Feat (not about a song, but with very poetic references to one), Can It be Done by Willie Tee (the Weather report version), perhaps the best song ever written about trying to write a song, and the amazing and paradoxical Tennessee Waltz, the only tune I know that talks about itself.