Five Songs, Chapter Twenty-Four

"What is Life" by George Harrison

I saw Built to Spill perform this song at Irving Plaza in 2001, and it was one of the best live covers I've ever heard. The original is great, too. iTunes just posted Harrison's catalog for the first time, so I highly recommend grabbing this if you don't have it already.

"Another Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill" by Jens Lekman

There are songs of his I like better, but gotta love this lyric:

I had a friend, a girl who looked sort of like a guy
I can't forget her dark painful eyes
And they burned her with a cigarette lighter
When the cops came they had to untie her
Another girl was free to grow up a cynical writer

"When Am I Gonna Realize" by Christopher Denny

I just discovered this guy and downloaded his debut, Age Old Hunger. He's a 23-year-old from Arkansas whose voice sounds like some photographs from 1880 look: Twangy, weary, but spirited. And it's surely affected, but who cares? He can also write a song, and after only a day or two of listening to him, this is one of my favorites. You can see him performing another song, which I don’t like quite as much, here.

"Love Has No Pride" by Bonnie Raitt

Beautiful song, gorgeous voice.

"Train Song" by Mindy Smith

Ditto.