here they are:
"All My Favorite Songs" by Weezer: This is a rather unusual song for Weezer! It's one of the few songs where they don't have any guitar! However, according to Rivers Cuomo's lyrics, there is a reason for this. Supposedly, "all (his) favorite songs are slow and sad." So is the case with "All My Favorite Songs." The song itself is slow and sad. It is written in C sharp minor, is dominated by cello instead of guitar, and manages to make the quirky but edgy punk-pop of Weezer classics like "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)" sound like heavy metal in comparison! "All My Favorite Songs" seems to serve as an unofficial "sequel" song to Weezer's surprisingly bittersweet and ultra-soft 2008 song, "Heart Songs." In contrast to the complete sincerity of "Heart Songs," though, "All My Favorite Songs" is somewhat self-deprecating, with Rivers claiming during the chorus that he "doesn't know what's wrong with him"!
"Call Me A Fool" by Valerie June: A sweeping, haunting neo-soul tune, "Call Me A Fool" might be sung by a millennial musician, but it is none other than 1960's R & B legend, Carla Thomas, providing the opening spoken word part: "Only a fool tests the depths of the water with both feet." Valerie, in response, kicks off the song with the four titular words, "call me a fool," twice. Why is she a "fool," exactly? Well, it's because she's fallen for a person who has used her, but she likes them anyway, in a way that's more than just friendly. Somehow, I feel like this is the perfect kind of song for Valentine's Day of this year, which will be coming up shortly!
"Ghosts" by Bruce Springsteen: In fall of last year, Bruce made a grand return to adult alt radio with "Letter to You," a sweet, heartfelt song that recalled vintage Bruce songs from the 1970's. With "Ghosts," the vintage Bruce sound continues, albeit on a much grander scale! The spirited, lively tone of this epic, five-and-a-half-minute song sounds like it was made for the arenas! (There'd better BE arenas sometime this year!) Unlike what its title might suggest, "Ghosts" is not about a dead person or people, but rather a metaphor for how music makes Bruce feel! The comparison here is that, much like a ghost, Bruce is haunted (in a good way) by the sound of music. Bruce, someday, when you're a ghost yourself, I hope to feel the same way you do when you hear music! One more thing I might add. The ghost of Clarence, the Big Man himself, appears to permeate this song towards the end of it! It's probably his son, Jake, playing sax during that part!
"Waiting on a War" by Foo Fighters: If you thought "Shame Shame" from fall of last year was too "soft" for a Foo Fighters song, then this song might disappoint you even more. However, for the people who enjoy the softer side of Dave and the boys, like me, "Waiting on a War" is an excellent, haunting track! The song is their folkiest since the days of the acoustic version of "Everlong" and the equally haunting, "Walking After You"...well, until the end of it, that is, although even that part still retains the sense of sweet melody and harmony the song starts with. Since the song did come out during autumn of the tumultuous and unpredictable year of 2020, the lyrics to "Waiting on a War" are heavily reflective of just how torn apart the U.S. (and arguably the rest of the world, to a degree) had become by that point. The title of the song comes about from how Dave Grohl wonders throughout the song whether there is more to life than just "waiting on a war." There's never any definitive proof of an answer to this, but he seems to lean towards the more hopeful side, as the song is attempting to spread a message of peace and love amongst a nation (and planet) of war-torn citizens!
