September 25: Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds – Don’t Pull Your Love (1971)

Something fun for the weekend… I love the horns in this song, they are so distinctive and they get you up for the chorus each time.  Yes, I do realize the theme of the song is actually rather sad – a bit of dissonance with the musical structure – but that’s alright.

September 24: Bryan Adams – Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven (1992)

I’ve rather fortunate to have most Fridays off again this fall (although that means Monday through Thursday is packed and busy) and I appreciate this because my weekends are often filled as well.

The ethereal nature of this video makes me want to take a nap and dream as well… although I’ve already been blessed to have someone wonderful by my side.

September 23: Plumb – In My Arms (2007)

No-thought Thursday.  Most parents can probably relate to this song.

September 22: Restless Heart – Let the Heartache Ride (1985)

This goes out to my very close friend Val who I’ve known for well over 20 years now… one of my few friends who has as great of an appreciation of 1980’s country music as I do.  We have a mutual affinity for this song which was Restless Heart’s first radio single 25 years ago.

September 21: Johnny Gill – Rub You the Right Way (1990)

Inside joke between my wife and I.  Sorry I can’t share the story… I’ll leave it to your imaginations.  🙂

September 20: The Williams Brothers – Can’t Cry Hard Enough (1992)

This song goes out to a long lost friend, Will, and one of my favorite stories from high school.

I met Will at a honors program the summer before my senior year.  We seemed to be kindred spirits and he struck up a relationship with a mutual friend of ours, Jennifer.  We kept in touch after the three week program ended, despite living a couple of hundred miles away in the pre-Facebook era, and at some point he lent me his cassette single of this song.

Forward to October of that year… I had decided to visit a college in Missouri and had been given permission to go up there alone (my parents were quite trusting and I’m happy to say their trust was well served on that trip).  To minimize the length of the drive, I made plans to spend the night with Will who lived along the way to Missouri.  Will’s father was a Methodist minister in the Mississippi Delta and his family was very gracious to host me on a week night.  The night I stayed there ended up being a very famous day in sports history.

For many of us growing up in the south, the Atlanta Braves were our baseball team.  We endured the mostly wretched ’80’s and were rewarded with the incredible success (although mostly lack of ultimate success in winning the World Series) throughout the ’90’s.  One of the most famous moments in Braves history was winning the 1992 National League championship in dramatic fashion; in game seven versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Braves won the game in the bottom of the ninth inning when an injured first baseman named Sid Bream was able to just beat out a tag at home plate and make the final score 3-2.  In Braves’ lore, the play is nicknamed “When Sid Slid” and at times in Atlanta there have been billboards that asked the question “Where were you ‘When Sid Slid’?”

I can answer that question.  I was in the living room of a good friend and his Methodist minister father and I’ll never forget the image of Will’s dad jumping on the couch and all of us celebrating.  It was an incredible beginning to a long trip that I very much enjoyed.  While I was regretful about not being able to attend the college in Missouri, I know now it was not meant to be… but I’ll never forget that night in the Delta.

September 19: Needtobreathe – Washed By the Water (2008)

I love the style of this song… it’s so southern in so many ways, from the organ, to the southern rock vocals, to the gospel choir… and it has great lyrics to go with it.  It is important to let the truth win out… sometimes it takes a while for it to come but with trust in God, doing the right thing will always make us sleep well at night.

Though it might be painful
You know that time will always tell
Those people have long since gone
My father never failed

September 18: Ben Harper – Steal My Kisses (2000)

Today was a very busy day with me taking my son to a cross country meet in the morning and a soccer match in the afternoon.  Additionally my wife was taking our daughters to a local fair which culminated with fireworks tonight.

I was drawing a blank on a good song for the day before I went to bed when I thought about this song… with so little time for each other, my wife and I had to steal some kisses when we could.  It’s a tenuous link to the song I know but well its after 10pm and frankly I’m tired, so get over it, heh.

September 17: Nelson – (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection (1990)

I had picked out a song for today and was all ready to roll with it… and then decided at the last minute to save it for next week because the story I had in mind to go with it was too good to get buried over the weekend.  Thus I’ll save it for Monday and fill the day with a song that always makes me smile.

Music trivia… the Nelson family (starting with Ozzie and Harriett Nelson of the 30’s and 40’s, onto Ricky Nelson in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and concluding with Matthew and Gunner Nelson of the 90’s) is the only family to have three successive generations all top the musical charts.

Entertainment trivia… the Nelson twins have a very famous uncle: Mark Harmon, currently famous for his role on the tv series NCIS (a favorite of my wife and I).

September 16: Parachute – She Is Love (2009)

No-thought Thursday… good song.  🙂