I’ve been obsessed with the idea of identifying critical moments in popular songs for a long time, but have been struggling with defending what that exactly means. One friend dismissed my ever-growing playlist of songs with identifiable pinnacles of brilliance as just “good songwriting.” I tried to tell her that, no, wait, good songwriting is one thing, but being able to completely change the composition of a song, the whole understanding of the joy that a song can bring, in one critical moment, is not just good songwriting, it’s genius. Nor was I talking about anything as simple as climax and release. As was found with Adele’s “Someone [...]

I recently attended a wedding, and it was, as weddings are wont to be, an almost transcendentally beautiful occasion. It was held on the grounds of a giant sandstone Federation house (who can honestly call something with guest quarters off-site a house?) sitting on miles of pristine green acreage. Fairy lights in the shape of love-hearts hung from the trees. The air smelled of freshly cut grass. Butlers stood with umbrellas armed for the possibility of rain to escort you the few feet to the bathrooms. The food was unlike any food I’d ever tasted. The country estate on which is was held, several hours outside of Sydney, was [...]

Charlie

A Children's Treasury of Terrible Tea Party Songs!

So here we are on the 2056th anniversary of the day that Julius Caesar died. If only they'd had YouTube back then. (Oh, coincidentally, the very first .com on the internet,

11. I wish cats were a little bit taller, I wish cats were a baller.

10. Two of cats. Two cats that beat as one.

9. Little cat Corvette. Gato, you've got to slow down.

8. I'm looking at that cat in the mirror. I'm asking cats to change their ways.

169. He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)

168. Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)

167. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

166. Hemorrhage (In My Hands)

165. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)

164. Truckdrivin’ Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)

163. Money (That's What I Want)

162. (Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice

161. (Just Like) Starting Over

160. (Keep Feeling) Fascination

159. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

I have slowly been falling for Beach House this winter, moving from that stage of "huh what is this, let's fastforward on my iTunes" to "oh hmm?" to "singing along," and so am gratified to hear a new song today from their forthcoming fourth record.

20. Evangeline

19. Georgia

18. Sara

17. Gloria

16. Kimberly