From Maná’s Grammy-winning seventh studio album Amar es Combatir (“To Love Is To Fight” in English). The album shared the distinction with Shakira’s Fijación Oral Vol. 1 (2005) as the highest debut of a Spanish language album in the history of Billboard until surpassed by Bad Bunny in 2020.
“El Rey Tiburón” (“The Shark King”) is a warning to the, uh, “mermaids” to beware the one who will “eat you with his kisses”. Or something:
I’m the king of the seas, the shark
The one who smothers you with kisses
But I’m the king of the sea, the shark
The one who eats you up, my love
Ay Ay Ay Bom Bom My mermaid of my love
Beware of the kiss
Oh, this is excess of love, that the shark has arrived
The song is somewhat idiosyncratic compositionally, with its minor-chord verses landing on a major and a major-chord chorus that resolves with a minor.
The last of the three Jonas Brothers to step out with a solo single, Kevin Jonas had previously contented himself supporting brothers Joe and Nick as songwriter, guitarist and backing vocalist.
However his reflective “Changing” has been warmly received since he debuted it at the Fenway Park stop on the Brothers’ 2025 tour.
The lyric that has already become its signature appears in the opening verse, “This coffee’s cold like these same old conversation.” The line has a lived-in realism. This song is truly an awakening. A recognition of the subtle erosion of routine, the quiet hollowness that can creep into the corners of adult life, even when nothing is technically wrong. It’s the soundtrack of a person lifting their head one morning and thinking, “What if I am overdue for a new chapter?”
From a songwriting perspective, “Changing” perfectly displays a mastery of the contemporary hit formula of following a verse with a climb (in this case, melodically-speaking a literal one) to a memorable chorus.
We dedicate this one to the crusty, taste-locked “new music sucks” curmudgeons who won’t listen to anything less than 40 years old.
There are still people out there who know how to do this pop music thing.
Self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica, James Wayne Stafford did alright for himself.
Best known for a trio of 1974 hits, “Spiders and Snakes”, “My Girl Bill” and “Wildwood Weed”, his true musical talents enabled him to parlay his relatively brief comedic country success into a 30-year headlining gig at his own theater in Branson, Missouri.
From the “Any Which Way You Can” soundtrack comes “Cow Patti”, probably a parody of Lorne Greene’s “Ringo” from 1964. (Also “Ringo” was a gunfighter ballad which had nothing to do with the Beatles’ drummer.)
Shame that over the years a parody song can be like a stick of gum that loses its parody flavor when the original object of parody has faded from memory.
Actress/singer-songwriter Emily Kinney wrote “I Went Looking For You” about the 2018 funeral of her “TV dad”, as she called Scott Wilson, who played Kinney’s character’s father on The Walking Dead.
Beyond the particulars, though, there is a universal idea most of us can relate to–that of looking for a loved one who is no longer there…or perhaps still is in some way.
I thought I felt you, and the sun was burning my skin As I climbed the stairs to handshakes and embraces I thought I saw you in the screens, or heard you in the speeches Or maybe in the tears running down your best friends’ faces
Take it in, one last look We all hesitantly stood Take a view, past the church pews I was just staring at my shoes But as expected, at the last second Paper skin and bright white hair I went looking for you, my friend But you weren’t there
I guess you’re in the heavens I guess you’re in the sky I guess you won’t be coming back to say goodbye More questions than answers Your guess as good as mine And though you’ve lived such a beautiful life It doesn’t seem fair When I went looking for you, my friend You weren’t there
There were whiskey shots and dancing Handouts with your name We all kept our composure Though the world would never, ever be the same In this life, the hits keep coming Oh, our bodies wear and tear I spent the evening circling, looking For you, my friend But you weren’t there
I guess you’re in the heavens I guess you’re in the sky I guess you won’t be coming back to say goodbye More questions than answers Your guess as good as mine And though you’ve lived such a beautiful life It doesn’t seem fair When I went looking for you, my friend You weren’t there
Beautiful melodies spill out of Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra with every release. The fact that he hasn’t appeared more frequently on this site isn’t indicative of a lack of great material to showcase; it’s more a problem of narrowing it down to which of his sublime bachata ballads or irresistible merengue dance numbers to feature.
Guerra’s 1998 Ni Es Lo Mismo, Ni Es Igual (Neither Is It the Same Nor Is it Equal) album ended a four-year hiatus from recording following his conversion to Christianity.
The record received nominations in four categories at the first annual Latin Grammy Awards and won Best Merengue Album.
“Palomita Blanca” (“White Dove”) was the album’s second single and one of many gorgeous ballads in Juan Luis Guerra’s ever-growing catalogue.
I will tell you: I am so happy when I am close to you that I do not get used to it, if I do not hear the green of your voice, you see nothing is the same everything is cold if you are not herewhite dove, carry my song on your wings.
CHORUS Tell her that the nights haven’t been silent, they talked about love and haven’t left, tell her that I love her and that I miss her, that I haven’t forgotten and that I’ve suffered
I already know my mistake, but I understand that love forgives everything and never ends, sweetheart, you see nothing is the same everything is in vain if you’re not here White dove, carry my song on your wings
Tell her that the nights haven’t been silent, they talked about love and haven’t left, tell her that I love her and that I miss her, that I haven’t forgotten and that I’ve suffered
And a seagull of light Among the waves of the sea, It gathers the blue that I did not know how to give you And a dawn with kisses of yours
Every Moment Has A Song 