Playlist: The Big 4!
- jamesgeraghty
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
30 April 2022. An auspicious day in musical history for sure. It marked the passing of country star Naomi Judd, not to mention Mac DeMarco's 32nd birthday.
But wait - what else happened that day?
Well, this labour of love for me, Dreaming of Birds That Are Blue, published its very first post on that very day! So, why don't we celebrate these last four years. As many of you know, it has never really been about the numbers - it is all about music being a safe and happy space for me (and many others, I know) - and so, listening to it, reading about it, and writing about it, provide some great solace.
But here are a few stats anyway:
343 posts (with around 2,500 total views)
701 unique site visitors
From 32 different countries (from Peru to Greece to the Dominican Republic to New Zealand and Singapore)
3 posts with more than 50 views (interestingly, including both Lemonheads live reviews)
So, happy fourth birthday to us - and a huge thanks to those of you who have been checking in every now and again, and hopefully enjoying at least a little of what has been written. And now, your playlist for the day - ten songs with the number four in the title....
1. Nina Simone: Four Women
We start with Four Women, which is, fittingly enough, about four women; they are archetypal African American women from the U.S. - Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Swet Thing and Peaches. Nina Simone uses these four to investigate themes of race, gender, class and the oppression felt by her generation (and many before). The song has a nice simple groove to it, building up to the final section (and some serious ivory tinkling by Simone), and is, as Thulani Davis noted in The Village Voice, "an instantly accessible analysis of the damning legacy of slavery, that made iconographic the real women we knew and would become."
Nina Simone: Four Women (live in Antibes, 1969)
2. MGMT: 4th Dimensional Transition
This track comes from Oracular Spectacular, the 2007 debut by New York psychedelic, electronic, funk, pop band, MGMT. Sitting at the start of side two, this song marks the transition between side one's mainly synth-pop sound, and the rest of the record's more psychedelic feel (it could be 1968 all over again).
MGMT: 4th Dimensional Transition (audio only)
3. The Moody Blues: House Of Four Doors
And 1968 is fittingly where we go next. The Moody Blues had been successful enough with their previous album, Days of Future Passed (the one with Nights In White Satin), that they were allowed a bit more creative freedom for the follow up - In Search of the Lost Chord. It has a conceptual theme of quest and discovery, both externally through travel and internally through self-realisation. This song particularly discusses opening doors to see where they take you (or what you let in) - and comes in two parts - and it also includes John Lodge playing a cello tuned like a bass.
The Moody Blues: House of Four Doors (Part 1) (audio only)
4. Led Zeppelin: Four Sticks
John Bonham decided that he wanted to drum with two sticks in each hand, and so following some simple maths, we get Four Sticks. The band had trouble with the song (which appears on Led Zeppelin IV) and ended up needing more takes than had been usual. It mixes up several difficult time signatures (5/8 and 6/8), which is perhaps the reason why this only ever appeared on their live set once (Copenhagen 1971).
Led Zeppelin: Four Sticks (audio only)
5. Elvis Costello: Couldn't Call It Unexpected No.4
Elvis Costello first intended to release 1991's Mighty Like A Rose under his own name, Declan McManus, having grown weary of his adopted name. But after pressure from Warner Bros, it did go out as Elvis. Crowded House go-to man Mitchell Froom replaced T. Bone Burnett as producer (from previous album, Spike). In the wake of the Gulf War, it was described as an angry album.
Elvis Costello: Couldn't Call It Unexpected No.4 (audio only)
6. Counting Crows: Four Days
Counting Crows third album This Desert Life was about, as lead singer Adam Duritz said, "sort of recognising that life is about confusion and change." Producer David Lowery noted that after several quite introspective albums, it was nice to "get at least a little bit of this humour and reverence to come through."
Counting Crows: Four Days (live in Maquoketa, IA, 2012)
7. Madonna: 4 Minutes
4 Minutes is a 2008 single featuring, confusingly, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on guest vocals. The song includes Timbaland's trademark bhangra beats and includes lyrics inspired by Madonna's trip to Africa, and would inspire the documentary I Am Because We Are, about Malawian AIDS orphans, that Madonna produced and narrated. It was a number one in the UK and three in the U.S., racking up over 4.5 million global sales and downloads along the way.
Madonna: 4 Minutes (official music video)
8. Calexico: Quattro (World Drifts In)
This is Italian for four, and is by Calexico - so it is in. The song though focuses on the plight on Mexico's Tarahumara people, caught up in the drug trafficking chaos of Northern Mexico. It is about survival, escape and social, environmental and political upheaval. These darkly themed lyrics are set against a back drop of 'desert noir' atmospheric music.
Calexico: Quattro (live in London, 2006)
9. Prince: I Would Die 4 U
The fourth single to come from Prince's epic Purple Rain, was a bit of a dance anthem. Billboard used the word "electrifying", Cash Box said, "passionate" - and how can we argue with that (and it gave him another U.S. top ten hit). This is like some serious funk - a high speed James Brown.
Prince: I Would Die 4 U (live in Maryland, 1984)
10. The Clash: Four Horsemen
Fittingly enough, Four Horsemen is on side four of one of the greatest albums of the last 50 years - London Calling. In it, we find our heroes comparing themselves to those mythical greats, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It could be about the change that punk had brought to music and society, or it could be about hedonism. Either way, here we find a tale of excess and dire destruction.
The Clash: Four Horsemen (audio only)
Comments