Songs about missing someone can express emotions that ordinary conversation often makes difficult to explain. Sometimes the person is simply far away. Sometimes a relationship has ended, but the emotional connection has not. In the most painful songs, the person being missed has died, leaving the singer with memories that can no longer become new…
The best Nat King Cole songs combine technical control with an unusual sense of ease. He could swing lightly with the King Cole Trio, transform an old standard into a private confession or sing over a full orchestra without allowing the arrangement to overpower him. His voice was smooth, but it was never emotionally blank….
The best song to walk down the aisle to should make the entrance feel personal before anyone hears a single vow. Some couples want a sweeping romantic ballad. Others prefer an intimate acoustic song, a traditional classical piece or an unexpected track connected with their own relationship. The right choice is not necessarily the most…
The best Crosby, Stills & Nash songs combine intimate songwriting with harmonies that make three separate voices sound like one emotional instrument. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” captures the excitement of the trio’s formation. “Helplessly Hoping” strips their sound down to almost nothing but language and breath. “Long Time Gone” turns political exhaustion into a dark…
The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton contains 46 songs, divided evenly between Act One and Act Two. The songs are meant to be heard in sequence. Together, they tell Alexander Hamilton’s story from his arrival in New York and participation in the American Revolution to his political rise, personal scandals, family tragedies and fatal…
The best walk-up songs do three things quickly: announce confidence, energize the crowd and give the player a recognizable identity before the first pitch arrives. A player usually has only a brief entrance, so the entire song matters less than the exact section that plays. A powerful opening riff, memorable beat drop or instantly recognizable…
The best songs about growing up are rarely simple celebrations of becoming an adult. They capture the strange mixture of wanting independence, missing childhood, fearing the passage of time and slowly realizing that adulthood does not provide all the answers people expected it to. Some songs look forward from childhood. Others look back after years…
Jelly Roll’s best songs turn addiction, shame, faith, grief and recovery into music that feels communal rather than private. His catalog stretches across Southern rap, hard rock, country, gospel and acoustic balladry. Yet the strongest recordings share one quality: they sound as though he is telling the truth before he has time to make that…
The best Stevie Ray Vaughan songs combine explosive guitar technique with the direct emotional force of traditional blues. “Pride and Joy” captures his famous Texas shuffle. “Texas Flood” turns a slow blues standard into a dramatic guitar showcase. “Crossfire” and “Tightrope” reflect the recovery period behind In Step, while “Lenny,” “Riviera Paradise” and “Little Wing”…
Benny Blanco has produced or co-produced some of the most recognizable pop songs of the past two decades, including Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” Kesha’s “TiK ToK,” Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” and Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.” His productions do not all sound alike. Some are built around enormous electronic hooks. Others use little…
The best David Allan Coe songs combine rebellion, dark humor, regret and traditional country storytelling. His most recognizable recordings include “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” “The Ride,” “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile,” “Longhaired Redneck” and “Willie, Waylon and Me.” He was equally important as a songwriter: Johnny Paycheck made “Take This Job…
Christopher Plummer did sing while making The Sound of Music and recorded his own versions of Captain von Trapp’s songs. However, most of the singing heard in the finished 1965 film was performed by professional vocalist Bill Lee. The most accurate answer is: Plummer supplied some brief vocal moments, but Bill Lee dubbed the longer…