A great title track is par for the course when it comes to great albums. If the title track doesn’t cut it, what does that say about the album itself? This month, the Mental Jukebox will be playing some of my favorite title tracks – inspired by @NicolaB_73’s music Twitter challenge, #TopTitleTracks.
Some of the most powerful songs we have are the ones written about the songwriter’s hometown. The majority of songs take on an authenticity and a personal meaning that go far beyond the stereotypes and expectedness. It’s those elements or raw and real that seap into a song’s bones, like John Mellencamp’s “Small Town”, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication”, Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”, and the list goes on. This takes me to Andrew Bird’s title track off I Want To See Pulaski At Night.
I’ve seen Bird perform this a handful of times at various venues—from Terminal 5 to Brooklyn Steel. What strikes me most about the song is its versatility. It was the beautiful violin arrangements that won me over at first. While I’ve seen both full string performances and stripped-down versions, later I came to realize it’s Bird’s love letter lyrics to his hometown of Chicago and the melody that it dances along to that I love most about “Pulaski At Night”.
“I PAINT YOU A PICTURE OF PULASKI AT NIGHT. COME BACK TO CHICAGO. CITY OF, CITY OF LIGHT.”