The beautiful and heartbreaking 2014 Studio Ghibli film When Marnie Was There ends with the beautifully heartbreaking “Fine On the Outside”, which seems to sum up its main character and protagonist.
I can’t recommend the film more earnestly. If it’s not one of the more “magical” of the Ghibli films, it is the finest work the studio has ever produced in this writer’s opinion and boasts gorgeous animation and a poignant story about a girl and…well, spoilers.
Priscilla Ahn plays a remarkably faithful version of the end credit song in the below video.
“What is a revolution without a song?”, pondered Jenelle Monae after she was asked to provide one for the documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy.
The film deals with Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial race in which Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s actions–incompetence or outright voter suppression, or a combination thereof–resulted in 300,000 Georgians being incorrectly deemed ineligible to vote.
When the film was in production, and co-producer Stacey Abrams asked Monae for a song, it roused her from an uninspired period, creatively speaking, at the height of Covid.
“Turntables” was just the anthem the film required. And (unfortunately) it feels no less required in the present moment.
The power pop/punk sound Vermont’s Kyle Thomas (aka King Tuff) formerly embraced has given way of late to a quieter, more reflective style, and never more so than on 2023’s Smalltown Stardust.
Thanks to the songwriting and production touches contributed by Sasami Ashworth, gentle keys and strings bring perfectly suited ornamentation to tender, emotive tunes on a record that explores nostalgic themes of youth and new love.
Sasami’s harmony vocals also add immeasurably to the album as a whole, though not this particular track.
“Pebbles in a Stream” is a sentimental standout, and reflects a glint of warm sunlight.
Despite their having won four Grammy awards, eight Latin Grammy awards and being the most successful Latin band of all time, Maná aren’t a household name to most Americans.
The affecting ballad “Cachito” (“A Bit”) is from ¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños?, an album that sold over ten million copies worldwide and became the best-selling Spanish-language rock album of all time.
The lyrics:
Tan solo un adicto Un adicto de tu Sol Y es que con solo un cachito Un pedacito de tu luz Yo llegaría al cielo O me caería al suelo Por ti amor
Tan solo Un cachito de tu corazón Un cachito de tu corazón Un cachito de tu corazón Soy un adicto de tu corazón
Pedirle a mi cabeza Que deje de pensar en tí Es casi como pedirle A mi corazón que deje de latir Mas bien olvida eso No no repitas eso, te pido amor
Tan solo Un cachito de tu corazón Un cachito de tu corazón Un cachito de tu corazón Soy un adicto de tu corazón
Chiquitita de mi corazón Chiquitita de mi corazón Chiquitita de mi corazón Chiquitita de mi corazón
English translation:
Just an addict An addict of your Sun
And the fact is that With just a little bit A little piece of your light
I’d get to heaven Or I’d fall to the ground For you love
Oh, no
Just a little piece of your heart (ay-ay-ay, eoh) An addict of your heart (oh-oh-eoh) A little piece of your heart (ay-ay-ay, eoh) I’m addicted to your heart
Ask my head Stop thinking about you (you) It’s almost like asking To my heart to stop beating (beating)
Rather forget that Don’t repeat that I ask you, love
Just a little piece of your heart (ay-ay-ay, eoh) An addict of your heart (oh-oh-eoh) A little piece of your heart (ay-ay-ay, eoh) I’m addicted to your heart
Little girl in my heart Little girl in my heart Little girl in my heart Little girl in my heart
About a year before John Hartford’s death, a group of artists including Hartford himself gathered to pay tribute to his 30 years of writing and playing music.
From A Tribute to John Hartford Live at Mountain Stage comes this highlight, and in this writer’s opinion Gillian Welch infuses her take on “In Tall Buildings” with a melancholy missing from the writer’s own version.
Hartford is perhaps best known to the uninitiated as the writer of Glen Campbell’s 1968 breakout hit “Gentle On My Mind”.
Every Moment Has A Song 