"VCR" THE XX (2009)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2009

The XX created a world where minimal instrumentation, nearly comatose vocals and pregnant pauses came together beautifully. A case where certainly the whole is great than the sum of its parts. The debut album was something that had to be listened to from beginning to end. It was a new musical expression that needed time to truly sink in. “Intro” and “Crystalised” are the more recognizable and ambitious tracks. So I’ll go with a less obvious pick: “VCR”.

“VCR” is about dreaming of big moments while living in these seemingly insignificant ones, like watching VCR tapes. The song meanders with the sleepy vocals where Romy and Oliver take turns. The super simple guitar line miraculously works. Everything on a superficial level may appear to be underwhelming. But the song is transcendent. Any other band plays it, and you might dismiss it. But this is all part of what The XX was trying to accomplish in space. Less is more.

“WATCH THINGS ON VCRS WITH ME AND TALK ABOUT BIG LOVE. I THINK WE'RE SUPERSTARS. YOU SAY YOU THINK WE ARE THE BEST THING. BUT YOU, YOU JUST KNOW. YOU JUST DO.”

"ROSE QUARTZ" TORO Y MOI (2013)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2013

Continuing my journey down south with a stopover in Columbia. It’s Chaz’s hometown. Where he went to high school - and formed a band. He also stayed local for college, majoring in graphic design at the University of South Carolina, before turning his focus to music. These are not the kinds of sounds you expect to come out of the region. Chaz didn’t just borrow the template. He’s one of the first names I think of and associate with chillwave and ambient.

Toro y Moi has always surprised me with what he’s able to accomplish with a synthesizer, extracting sounds and arrangements I’ve never heard before. “Rose Quartz” is maybe one of the best examples of his experimental side. It explores. It grooves. The synth orchestration washes over you in one instance and delicately brushes past you in another. It’s one of those tracks that defies genre labeling because there’s simply nothing like it.

“And if I fall into the sea, don't let me go.”

"FALLING ASHES" SLOWDIVE (2017)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2017

The eponymously-titled album was the band’s first studio output in over 20 years. It’s highly unusual for a band to come back to record like that after such a lengthy hiatus. It’s even more unusual for a band to arrive in such spectactular form as Slowdive did in 2017, like not a single day passed since 1995’s Pygmalion. Their most recent studio album not only held up, it became my favorite Slowdive record. A big part of that is due to the strength of the final track, “Falling Ashes”.

What’s great about “Falling Ashes” is that it doesn’t depend on distortion and pedal effects to create the atmosphere. There’s an overwhelming expansiveness to the whole album where Slowdive uses some of their tried-and-true techniques, but “Falling Ashes” shows us a maturation to the band yet this is still undeniably Slowdive in every way. Impossibly beautiful. Unflinchingly contemplative. Utterly immersive.

“Love of my life, GRACE of my night.”

"THIS IS AMERICA" CHILDISH GAMBINO (2018)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2018

The relationship between images and music has always been a powerful, inescapable part of the music listening experience. Album art. Music videos. Full-length concert documentaries. And now NFT collectibles. In 2018, Childish Gambino produced a music video for “This Is America” that was intricately and artistically tied to the track with perfection. There are few music videos that have left as powerful an impression as this one.

It’s easy to let the music video steal the thunder of this song itself. Which would be a shame. “This is America” blends hip hop with gospel and afrobeat textures, making the musicality completely different than anything else out there. Then there’s the message. Gun violence. Police brutality. Discrimination. Childish Gambino took this raw, honest commentary and the most un-pop-like track all the way to #1 on the charts. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime song.

“Look how I'm geekin' ouT. I'm so fitted. I'm on Gucci. I'm so pretty, yeah, yeah.”

"LIGHT YEARS" THE NATIONAL (2019)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

Year: 2019

A couple of months before the pandemic, I saw The National at NYC’s legendary Beacon Theater. They showed excerpts from a short film directed by Mike Mills, featuring songs from I Am Easy To Find—and ended with just a small handful of the fan favs. That night, I saw an evolution of the band that I’ve loved for many years. It’s not that they lost their edge, but they were older, wiser and more contemplative now—and “Light Years” was their beautiful banner statement for this new era.

The National will be back in NYC this summer, and it’s almost certain they will play “Light Years”. It represents an aspect of what they do best: ballads that speak on a deeply personal level, not some contrived set of words. I do miss the harder, louder, faster side of the band which has taken a back seat on the last two albums. But “Light Years” – with Berninger’s masterful lyrics, the piano interludes and atmospheric accents – is a reminder that few bands do ballads better than The National.

“I was always ten feet behind you from the start.”

"YELLOW IS THE COLOR OF HER EYES" SOCCER MOMMY (2020)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2020

After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, Soccer Mommy was the first concert I attended. It felt like I was getting reacquainted with an old friend. At the time, people weren’t used to standing in crowded spaces. But there we were at Brooklyn Steel. The concert didn’t disappointment. The music was there to heal wounds and revive us – even as Sophie Allison sang songs of loss and remorse, including “Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes”.

The Color Theory album – and this song in particular – reflect on Allison’s mother’s terminal illness. It’s deeply reflective and personal, and seemed perfect for the times as people were losing loved ones to COVID-19 at the same time. Allison was an indie pop artist that we could easily identify with. The lyrics in “Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes” seem so sad and hopeless, but the treble notes on her guitar add just enough levity to remind us we’ll get through this.

“Loving you isn't enougH. You'll still be deep in the ground when it's done.”

"RITCHIE SACRAMENTO" MOGWAI (2021)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2021

Now onto a band that I was much too late getting into. Somehow these largely instrumental post-rock geniuses evaded my radar for far too long. Some of my favorite music come from bands that make songs I can get lost in. Songs that make me forget about my circumstances, or the opposite, help me to see my circumstances with even greater clarity. Mogwai’s music does this for me. I’ve mostly been drawn to the instrumental stuff. But on As The Love Continues, an album born out of the pandemic, Track #4 has vocals, and the song is just so good.

“Ritchie Sacramento” is a track that I treat just like all of Mogwai’s great instrumental tracks. The vocals are pretty spot on, and they even make me wish Mogwai sang more and wrote more lyrics. But I also listen to those vocals like they’re an instrument, interwoven with those shimmery guitar hooks. The vocals and instruments are like soulmates on this one. It may not happen often, but when Mogwai adds lyrics like they did on “Ritchie Sacramento”, the results are absolutely worth it.

“Rise crystal spear flied through over me. Suddenly gone from here, left alone on the road. What brings you back? Promises of a memory. Your own ghost running away with the past.”

"DARKNESS FADES" SHARON VAN ETTEN (2022)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 2022

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is the first album from Sharon Van Etten that I’ve listened to repeatedly from beginning to end. Van Etten’s trademark near-catatonic vocals are elevated on her newest album. Much more ethereal. Much more impactful. Each song takes my breath away. The track sequence plays a big role in this. Ebbs and flows built to lash out to and get lost in. “Darkness Fades” ushers us in, beckoning us to fall in line. Or just get out.

The opening guitar strums are so unassuming and so forgetful. Honestly, they require a bit of patience to get through. But the waiting is paid off tremendously at the 1:22 mark. From there, the immense instrumental layering of synth parts, guitar effects and ominous drum beats jostle you into a state of liberation. You can’t slow down this momentum or counter this force. After over a hundred listens, it still catches me off guard as I wait with bated breath for what’s next.

“I'M LOOKING AT OUR GRASS. I'M STRUGGLING FOR WORDS. I'M DREAMING OF A PLACE. I HELD CLOSE IN A STATE. DARKNESS FADES.”

"TO BUILD A HOME" THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA (2007)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

Music discovery is often happenstance. At times, we can find music when we’re proactively searching for it. But most of the time, it’s about being in the right place at the right time with the right people when a song comes on and our minds are blown. A lot of the music I’ve discovered is thanks to the recommendations of friends and coworkers. One coworker, in particular, introduced me to The Cinematic Orchestra and “To Build a Home”. He called it the most beautiful song in history. And I don’t think that enormous claim is very far from the truth.

The track never charted in the U.S. or in the U.K. But it has become larger than life in many ways. Ironically, it has played a background role, serving as the soundtrack in countless television soundtracks, most notably in a gut-wrenching scene from This Is Us. It was also featured in a figure skating performance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The irony is that it has been thrusted into the foreground, becoming intertwined with these TV show scenes and Olympic performances. It’s one of those songs that has the power to bring everything else around it to a standstill. Most beautiful song in history? I can get agree to that.

“This is a place where I don't feel alone. This is a place where I feel at home.”

"CEMETRY GATES" THE SMITHS (1986)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

When I first discovered The Smiths, The Queen is Dead had already been released for about three years. I was late to the party, but it didn’t take long for me to absorb those songs into my brain. I played it nonstop. It’s probably one of my top ten favorite albums of all time. The Queen is Dead rocked with “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and the title track. It mastered mid-tempo with “The Boy With the Thorn in His Side”, “Some Girls are Bigger Than Others” and “Frankly Mr. Shankly”. It wallowed with “I Know It’s Over” and “Never Had No One Ever”. It elevated with “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”. And then there’s “Cemetry Gates”, arguably the quintessential Smiths song.

The song was built on the foundational paradox of The Smiths — this oddball and strangely irresistible juxtaposition between Marr’s bright and cheery riffs and Morrissey’s morbid lyrics. “Cemetry Gates” felt like the ultimate example of this pairing. Marr’s jangle-infused guitar playing netted a riff that lifted Morrissey’s vocals into a frolic through the graveyard. Inspired by a visit to a cemetery in Manchester, Morrissey wrote the song as a reaction to plagiarism. But more than that, “Cemetry Gates” allowed Morrissey to wear sadness, insecurity and bitterness on his sleeve — and do so with a little humor.

“A dreaded sunny day. So I meet you at the cemetry gates. Keats and Yeats are on your side.”

"FOURTH OF JULY" SUFJAN STEVENS (2015)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

In my mind, there may not be a more contemplative album on life and death than Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell and there may not ever be one in the future. The theme. The lyrics. The melodies. The production. Everything is working together so poignantly to help us know Sufjan’s mother and her second husband. It’s their life and their memories presented track by track like we’re flipping through an old photo album – and midway we stumble upon “Fourth of July”.

The ethereal quality in the song feels like the foggy cloud that we can’t shed from these moments even if we tried. It seems to be more beneficial to embrace the cloud – and even use it as a new lens from which to remember the moment even after it passes. To close out the song, Sufjan repeats one line “We’re all gonna die” several times as if it’s the only thing his family learned. But I would argue that the making of “Fourth of July” and the entire Carrie & Lowell album taught him much, much more about his family and himself.

“The hospital asked should the body be cast
Before I say goodbye, my star in the sky.”

"ALABAMA SONG (WHISKY BAR)" THE DOORS (1967)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

I’m running into the whiskey bar and stumbling out w/Jim, Ray, Robby and John. What a trip. What a mindblowing debut album. Such a powerful clash of rock, blues and psychedelia. “Twentieth Century Fox”, “Back Door Man”, “Soul Kitchen”, “Break On Through”, “Back Door Man”, “Crystal Ship”, “The End”, “Light My Fire”, every track is a classic. For obvious reasons, I’m going with their cover of “Alabama Song” today.

Listening to the song, we enter the whiskey bar. But this bar feels different. Spearheaded by Morrison’s vocals and Ray’s spritely keyboard flourishes, it feels like we stepped into a freak circus, lost in a drunken haze with these blues rock legends. “Alabama Song” is a perfect cover selection that seems to fit perfectly in the #5 slot on the record and is resolutely 100% Doors in its stylings. My only complaint of the song is that it ends at around three minutes. It seemed ripe for an epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”-length rendition.

“Well, show me the way To the next whiskey bar. Oh don't ask why. Oh don't ask why.”

"HOTEL CALIFORNIA" GIPSY KINGS (1990)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

One of my all-time favorite cover songs hails from one of the my all-time favorite movies. The Big Lebowski was never short on great music, epic story arcs, fascinating character development and comedic moments. And the Gipsy Kings’ cover of The Eagles hit “Hotel California” seemed to be somehow dropped down on the dusty intersection of all these elements.

John Turturro’s “Enter Jesus” moment at the bowling alley is one of the most unforgettable Big Lebowski moments. And the scene is queued up with this song. It’s an ironic choice because The Dude throughout the film makes it clear how much he hates The Eagles. In a cruel twist of fate, his bowling nemesis seems to arrive with his own personal soundtrack, flaunting The Eagles’ biggest hit on a bed of heartfelt flamenco. While I don’t care much for The Eagles, I love what the Gipsy Kings did with this mega hit. “Hotel California” was no longer just a place. It became a state of mind.

“Bienvenido al Hotel California, Such a lovely place.”

"ROUTE 66" DEPECHE MODE (1987)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

This cover is absolute perfection. It was the right cover song at the time and for the right place. Thematically, it coincided perfectly with Depeche Mode’s North American tour which culminated in L.A. and was chronicled famously in the documentary 101. It also worked perfectly as the b-side to the single, “Behind The Wheel”, incorporating a driving theme and instrumental elements from “Behind The Wheel” in between verses that made the b-side in lock step with the a-side.

I still remember the day I first heard “Route 66”. It was on the radio – and, for me, the preeminent station was WDRE/WLIR in Long Island. I was struck by how Depeche Mode it sounded. The band took an Americana original and truly made it their own. The synth hooks, drum machine, and guitar riff are all unmistakably DM. It made a resolutely American-as-American-as-it-gets song feel like it came from a band from Essex. Because it did.

“Well if you ever plan to motor west, Travel my way. take the highway that's the best. Get your kicks on Route 66.”

"BLISS" MUSE (2001)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

One of my all-time favorite music moments was taking my older son to his first concert. We saw Muse on the Will of the People tour in the spring. This wasn’t a compromise on either of our parts. Muse had fast become his favorite band – and I had become reinvigorated by the band’s catalog as he and I would share ear buds listening to album after album on the way to soccer practice. Going back to the concert, Muse is definitely one of the more entertaining acts I’ve seen live. The combination of performance, video narratives and lighting is phenomenal. And the band went way back to the early days for their fifth song on the setlist with “Bliss”.

I read somewhere that “Bliss” is about video games. This might be one of the things I love most about the band. Their ability to dial up the drama and intensity of pretty much anything, including gaming. Bellamy cries out “Give me all the peace and joy in your mind” and it feels like these mini moments of catharsis. The song is bookended with piano arpeggios – and in between Matthew, Chris and Dominic go on a musical rampage.

“Give me all the peace and joy in your mind.”

"YYZ" RUSH (1981)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

It’s quite appropos that one of the key entry points into the catalog of one of Canada’s greatest rock bands of all time is named after the international code for Toronto’s main airport. Moving Pictures – like The Wall or Led Zeppelin IV – was a gateway album for me. But here’s the difference for me. Not only did Moving Pictures get me into the greater Rush canon, it helped solidify my passion for music, for life. While it was much more mainstream than a 2112 or Hemispheres, it was still largely progressive in so many ways. The lyrics. The song composition. The experimentalism. Only “The Camera Eye” clocked in at over ten minutes. But “YYZ” felt like an epic, “2112 Side A”-level affair compacted into four minutes.

Absolutely mammoth. Geddy’s bass lines run at impossibly fast lightning speed. Alex takes full advantage of the song’s instrumental nature, delivering one monster riff after another, culminating in his solo at the 2:20 mark. As for Neil, no corner of his drum kit is spared on this track. He uses everything at his disposal. The piece's introduction, played in a time signature of 10/8, repeatedly renders "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements. From there, the greatest track lets loose, daring countless musicians to try their own rendition, including Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, Dream Theater, Primus and Muse. “YYZ” has become a sort of rite of passage for both musicians and fans alike.

"WAITING FOR THE WORMS" PINK FLOYD (1979)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

Few rock & roll moments can rival the experience of hearing The Wall for the first time as a teenager. I was obsessed with this album for quite a while – and the movie, too. The Wall is an extraordinary soundtrack because, first of all, it’s a true soundtrack filled with songs intimately woven into the scenes of the movie. These tracks aren’t just background noise. Beyond simple ear candy, this was music that indulged the head and the heart fully. There was no filler on here. “Waiting For The Worms”, as a deep cut, is all the proof you need.

“Waiting For The Worms” is a perfect example of the ingenuity and ambition of Pink Floyd. They gave their minds and hearts fully to the music. This track won me over from the first listen. It flaunts like Queen one moment, and trudges like Sabbath another. To call it a rock song is to overlook its complexity – this is more like a composition with four interconnected movements. The megaphone alone crawls under your skin and stays buried there for days.

“The Worms will reconvene outside Brixton bus station.”

"IN YOUR EYES" PETER GABRIEL (1986)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

If you’re an 80’s child, you simply can’t forget the scene. Lloyd Dobler hoists a boombox above his head outside Diane Court’s bedroom window. He doesn’t say anything. He just lets a masterpiece by Peter Gabriel do all the talking, to prove he loves her. Most teenage boys have pathetically tried to copy Lloyd’s move or at least thought about doing it. Which is ridiculous when you think about it. What made Lloyd cool was the fact that no one else thought of that before him. Everyone else post-Lloyd is simply uncool. The song he played, of course, is “In Your Eyes”.

This is not your average ballad. It’s a cultural phenomenon, partly due to its unique persona. It’s one of the greatest recordings ever to merge pop with worldbeat – and do so in a way that didn’t cheapen either genre. But it’s also a phenomenon because of the movie scene. Say Anything, without a doubt, gave “In Your Eyes” an identity that was attached to the movie’s hip. In fact, when Gabriel played the first few bars of the song during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl about ten years ago, John Cusack walked onto the stage, handed him a boombox and took a bow, before quickly walking off again. The scene and the music are forever inseparable.

“I SEE THE DOORWAY TO A THOUSAND CHURCHES IN YOUR EYES.”

"THERE SHE GOES, MY BEAUTIFUL WORLD" NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS (2004)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

Nick Cave is one of those artists that I somehow missed out on for far too long. If I could turn back the clock, I would’ve devoured his catalog a good twenty years before I finally discovered him for myself. And I would’ve caught him on tour. I can imagine his vocal expressiveness translating beautifully and energetically on the live stage. I do prefer his slower ballads, but I appreciate the occasional Nick Cave banger, like the blues rock masterpiece, “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”.

In the middle of the first verse, the track gets rolling quickly like a freight train right into the rockin’ chorus. In this case, the guitar and piano parts are the engine for the song. But the vocals are everything here. The gospel chorus brings the house down. Soaring. Powerful. Absolutely on fire. Even still, Nick is still the man here. His voice is just perfect for this moment and this song. It ain’t the same if you put another singer behind the mic.

“And Gaugin, he buggered off, man And went all tropical While Philip Larkin stuck it out
In a library in Hull.”

"PAISLEY PARK" PRINCE (1985)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

One of my favorite Prince songs from one of my favorite albums of his. Around The World In A Day doesn’t get the same accolades as Purple Rain, 1999 and Sign ‘o the Times. But it’s an album that has a lot of nostalgic significance for me. 1985, in general, was a banner year for album releases. So, for me, Around The World In A Day, will always be associated with that rich era. Many of the songs on the album – even the singles – were daring and experimental. It’s the Prince way. Case in point: “Paisley Park”.

The song didn’t chart in the States, and I think it’s because the masses couldn’t appreciate what Prince did here. A true pioneer of rock-driven pop, Prince didn’t let the guitar drown out the rest of the noise, but he picked his spots with flourishes and jams where his axe can make its presence felt. Still, the most underrated aspect of “Paisley Park” might just be Prince’s lead vocals. Few singers can give that melody the dynamism it needs to avoid a monotonous output, but Prince pulled it off. To no surprise.

“Admission is easy, just say you believe And come to this place in your heart. Paisley Park is in your heart.”