Brothers Four: Yellow Bird (1960)
Adapted from a Haitian poem in 1883. There is something to be said about songwriting from “way back when”. Iʼm not going to bother comparing apples with oranges here, I just want to show my appreciation for a beautiful melody with good clean lyrics and a clear direct metaphors. I love how a lot of these songs are very minimal, yet rich. Again, not saying one format and/or aesthetic is better than the other (or that “nobody does that anymore”), itʼs just refreshing to hear every once in a while. Sure, itʼs a tune that draws parallels between women’s behavior and the natural tendencies of a certain yellow bird. Why not?

P.S – I canʼt stop picturing an idea I have for a future scene of Breaking Bad where Walter is calmly planning and then acting out a murder while Yellow Bird plays in the back ground.
Blue Magic – I Just Donʼt Wanna Be Lonely (1974)
The vibes on this one are one part “carefree”, one part “optimistic” and one part “deep and pensive”. With the repeating theme of potential loneliness, this one gets stuck in your head for days, so watch out.
Yay, another soulful and soft spoken preachy breakdown ! Just my style!
Shelley Duvall – He Needs Me (Remixed By Jon Brion) (1981)
It feels pretty great to get surprised by the fact that two of my favorite tracks on this list were written by the same guy. Had no idea till just now! Harry Nilsson wrote the whole soundtrack for the poorly-received live action movie musical Popeye. It was later used for one of my favorite films, Punch Drunk Love.
Man, I really donʼt know what to say here. Itʼs just magical. If you can imagine singling out any instrument on a mixer (maybe besides the strings) I wouldnʼt imagine it to sound very inspirational. A lot of them would probably just sound slightly out of place, but when they all come together, itʼs totally wonderful. Those vocals are so perfect! Ahhh! I donʼt know how he did this. Imagining the process would be like watching a painter work on a portrait because Iʼm sure itʼs the kind of thing that seems messy until itʼs done.
Tony Bennett – Cold Cold Heart
This is a great example of what I mean when Iʼm talking about classic, wholesome and clever poetry. I really appreciate and can identify with songs like these. This is probably because I tend to concentrate more on beats, pitches, arrangements and the general mood of songs rather than the lyrics. Thatʼs just the way my head works I guess. I can easily lose attention with words if they donʼt grab me by the throat and threaten to not let go, but on Cold Cold Heart this was not a problem.
It is the song that plays for Googleʼs Valentineʼs Day “doodle” today.

Tom Waits – Alice
Nothing says “lonely” like this whiskey-soaked song by the raspy crooning of Tom Waits. It was a toss up between two songs on the same album (Alice). Iʼm Still Here has great lines like “You dreamed me up and left me here” and “What was it you wanted me for?” and sounds like Tom Waits is 30 seconds from blacking out. Alice boasts imagery like “a murderous silhouette”, “I must be insane to go skating on your name” and “I will think of this when Iʼm dead in my grave”. The deciding factor was the sad accompanying saxophone on the title track. Everything about this track says “hang it up buddy, youʼre done in this town.”

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