Happy 64th Birthday, Boss

Thought I'd forget, didn't you? (more likely, you didn't care)

Do young, contemporary bands put out this kind of energy and imagination?

I Been Shown Up, But I've Grown Up: Songs to Lift You From the Pits

Yeah, it's been that kind of week on my end. How about you?

Nothing But Teardrops: Songs About 9/11

I have nothing especially profound to say about this anniversary or this list of songs, except to say that throughout the years of war and flag-waving and cries of vengeance and boots up asses, the prevailing emotions about this day continue to be loss and mourning and horror. All those people. All those families.

10.

Keep Me in Your Heart: Warren Zevon Remembered

Zevon died ten years ago this past Saturday. One of those artists who works his way into your system, whether you like it or not (and I do).

Here's a remembrance.

Zevon had always written songs that referenced death, baiting the very thing that terrified and fascinated him: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Life'll Kill Ya, Don't Let Us Get Sick. The Wind contains some of his most beautiful reflections on mortality, including Knocking on Heaven's Door and Keep Me in Your Heart: "Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house / Maybe you'll think of me and smile / You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on the blouse / Keep me in your thoughts for a while.

 As Zevon predicted, it would become one of his most critically lauded albums, but he barely lived to see the plaudits: two weeks after the album was released, he died on 7 September 2003.

One of the most unbearably heartbreaking songs of all time: