Green Apple

Music for a Rainy Day

There's something about a rainy day that just begs for a soundtrack. The rain is beating its own rhythm and it calls to all the songs that have inspired you. A year ago, it was raining in NYC and I put together this iMix. Today, it's raining in Vermont and once again I turned to these faithful tunes.

Melissa is one of those songs that reaches inside you. You want to be Melissa. You want to be the girl that he comes home to. God Only Knows is a sunshine song that's why I like it on a rainy day. I hear this song and I'm in a VW bug convertible with the top down singing loudly and floating above the road. Sunshine Superman just makes me want to wear bell bottoms and play Twister. Are you experienced makes me want to make out on the couch like you did when you were a teenager -- unapologetically sucking face like you were going to die soon. You can make it if you try is a perennial favorite of mine after a bad day. I strut around the living room singing into my remote control, feeling ten again. A good thing at 41. Static on the Radio is a moody tune that just mellows me out like a huge glass of red wine. 6th Avenue Heartache always reminds me of walking in NYC in the rain -- both cleansing and melancholy at the same time. Arms of a Woman makes me want to hug Amos Lee. My husband understands this. Girl in a Car is one of my favorite train ride songs. Whenever I ride a train, I must listen to this song on my iPod. I have cried more than once publicly while doing so. That's when people look at you and whisper "Divorce" loudly. Your Sister Cried is a song that crawls inside your guts. It makes me think of the constant struggle of humanity. All the small, painful dramas in trailer parks and limos alike. I love the way that Nina Simone interprets Here Comes the Sun. When I hear her sing this, I believe every word and I know that she can will the sun into the sky. Ella. Ella. Ella. You've always been there when I've had it bad. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) always makes everything feel so much better. It makes you look at the rain and simply smile. Enjoy.

Lucinda

Dear Lucinda,

It's okay if you want to have the song lyrics on stage with you. It's interesting the reporters focus on the angst and the broken hearts in your music, but yet they still want you to show up on stage like some polished show pony. You're a writer and an artist, and your fans, don't come expecting Hollywood. They want to see you. The real you. Whatever is happening with you. That's why in Northampton, MA -- the crowd gave you a standing ovation. Everyone in that room came to hear you and commune with your music. Keep doing it your way, Lucinda. There are so few of you left.

He took me to Memphis

If you want to download a little piece of heaven, Solomon Burke's Nashville will take you there. The king of rock and soul takes a collection of country and country-influenced songs and commands them. He breathes new life into each song and reminds us what is wrong with mainstream, top-40 country and pop: it's like cotton-candy, light and fluffy with no soul. When he sings That's How I Got to Memphis, you taste the grittiness of the city's streets and you feel the heartbreak with him. He and producer Buddy Miller have created a perfect piece of American music from start to finish. They've chosen an incredible selection of guest vocalists: Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris and Patty Loveless. Each woman brings her own sensibility to this well-crafted work of art that goes down like a favorite meal that you never get enough of. If you like the blues and don't mind a country tinge with a lot of soul mixed in, and if music is your religion, here's something worth worshipping.