Song of the Day for Today

The Esplanade Riel in Winnipeg, Canada, just before daybreak; walking to work, I stopped and stood atop a picnic table to get a good angle. Photo taken on an empty stomach, before caffeine, with an iPhone 6s on October 7, 2015 at 6:56 am.
Traditional Lands Acknowledgement

This blog is composed primarily in Treaty 1 territory, on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Ininew (Cree), and Dakota
first nations, and the national homeland of the Red River Métis. The clean drinking water that sustains us all comes from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and Iskatewizaagegan 39 Independent First Nation in Treaty 3 territory. The hydroelectricity that powers my community is generated on ancestral lands and waters in the First Nations of Treaties 1, 3, and 5.

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Welcome…

… and thanks for stopping by. I sure hope you’ll stay here for a while and listen to some music with me.

When starting this website and thinking about what should be on the home page to invite you in when you arrive on the virtual doorstep from anywhere on the internet craving a song (and maybe a bit of story), I stumbled upon this quote from writer Brooke Hampton:

“I hope there are days when your coffee tastes like magic, your playlist makes you dance, strangers make you smile, and the night sky touches your soul. I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive.”

I’m grateful to Brooke for summing up almost everything that makes a perfect day for me. (The topper is “Sweety,” as you’ll see me affectionately refer to my dear wife and life partner, the one who showers our family with love and uniting devotion. Oh, and riding my bike is right up there, too!) I knew Brooke’s quote had to be part of the welcome to my blog, as it speaks to the value of music and what it has meant to me in my life. Music, quite literally, has kept me alive.

You can scroll down this page to see recent posts. If you want to know why I started this website, please visit the About page. And while you’re here, please check out the Index of Songs/Search page, to find something by your favourite artist among more than 1,550 posts by me, guest bloggers, or Jerry Vanderzanden, a longtime supporter and permanent contributor on Thursdays since February 2025! Also, I’d love to hear from you if you have comments about these posts. You can comment right below each post, or send me a message through the Contact page.

Warmly,

Steve

Other than the music, lyrics, and other quoted/attributed works, the content
on this website is © 2020-2025 Steve West unless otherwise specified.

This website has been opted out from WordPress’s practice of providing others’ intellectual property, without
authorization or compensation, to train artificial intelligence models (AI, aka the “world-burning plagiarism machine“).

Latest posts (click on a song title to open a post)

The Falls (from the film, The Mission)

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The Mystery’s All Mine

The American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jules Shear (b. 1952) is a musician I don’t hear often at all on random plays, but yesterday one of his songs caught my ear with its lively melody and wonderful vocal harmonies. I’ve mentioned Shears once before; well, in the context of him being the writer of “All…

Prismatic Spray (The Tinder Date)

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Jerry’s ‘Throwback’ Song of the Day: A Criminal Mind

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Intoxicated

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Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing

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Feels So Good

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Orchestral Overture in E Major, Op. 21

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My One and Only Love

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Someone Who Loves Me

This morning, my Sweety left the house with a friend to gather with others for a morning meetup. There are many times when we’re at home together doing our own things that there might not be direct interaction for a while, though I always have a sense of contentment knowing she’s nearby. We often drift…

Jerry’s ‘Throwback’ Song of the Day: Arias & Symphonies

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Gone Hollywood (an Update and Repost)

Today’s re-sharing is of a song that often comes up on streaming. Whenever I hear the intro piano fade in, I literally run over to the computer and crank up the speaker volume and assume various air instrument roles throughout it (today it was all drums, as I was already seated). It’s such a fabulous…

Solitaire

Last week, the world lost another musical superstar with the sudden passing of American singer, songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka (1939-2026). A comprehensive Wikipedia article on Sedaka reports he was last seen in public, showing no outward signs of ill health, just two days before his hospitalization and death on February 27. Sedaka, who was…

We Have Everything

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Jerry’s Founders Series, Part 4: McDonald and Giles

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Jerry’s Founders Series, Part 3: Hallogallo

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Jerry’s Founders Series, Part 2: Flight of the Ibis

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Jerry’s Founders Series, Part 1: 21st Century Schizoid Man

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Wrapped in Plastic (for Twin Peaks Day)

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24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 15 in D-Flat Major (“Raindrop Prelude”)

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Happy Feet

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Sophie

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Suburban Berlin

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From the Beginning (a Supplement)

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The Return of Pan

This morning, a weather app warned of “an abrupt return to winter temperatures” coming this Wednesday, after a recent period of milder conditions and mixed messages on Groundhog Day about how soon spring will arrive. On the Canadian prairies, a weather statement like that can mean the mercury dropping into the minus 30s (that place…

13 Pieces for Piano, Op. 76: II. Étude

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The Power of the Heart (an Update and Repost)

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Helplessly Hoping

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Daylight (feat. Matthew Sweet)

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Begin the Beguine

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Sunny Chances

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Poor House

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The Silence (an Update and Repost)

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The Rhythm Divine (feat. Shirley Bassey) [Essential Version]

Last Saturday was the first time in three weeks that I listened to David Marsden LIVE on NYtheSpirit, the online, subscription-based internet radio service. The Marsden Theatre chat room was busy all evening, and the music was superb with a few regular appearances and numerous musical surprises spun as well. Today’s selection by the Swiss…

Back in Judy’s Jungle

Today, out on errands in the car, I heard another long-time favourite song from a long-time favourite album and artist. “Back in Judy’s Jungle” is by British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author, visual artist, and political activist Brian Eno (b. 1948), an early member of Roxy Music and co-founder of the experimental rock supergroup 801. “Back in…

Wild Renaissance

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Lindsay

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In Twenty Years or So

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Jerry’s ‘Throwback’ Song of the Day: This Is the Day (and a Bonus!)

Welcome back to Jerry’s weekly contribution, his Thursday ‘Throwback’ Song of the Day for Today. I only have a vague recollection of when I first heard of the band name The The, though I don’t have a clue when I first heard them. My first real attention to one of their songs is one Jerry refers to (with a link back to my blog post on). Anyway, we’re into…

Joey

Yesterday, when reading up on Roxy Music’s “Same Old Scene,” I learned the band’s original drummer, Paul Thompson (b. 1951), had stepped away just before the recording of the band’s penultimate album, Flesh + Blood (1980), from which the song came. I also read up that he later joined the American post-punk, alternative and gothic…

Same Old Scene

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I Love You

“Since then I never looked back It’s almost like living a dream And, ooh I love you” By the middle of January, the flow of our household usually shifts into a period of rest and ease after much busy-ness over the holiday season. Occasionally, I’ve taken a blogging break to facilitate all that. So, after…

Jerry’s ‘Throwback’ Song of the Day: Cassidy (and a Bonus!)

Welcome to Jerry’s weekly contribution, his Thursday ‘Throwback’ Song of the Day for Today. In this week’s in-depth article, Jerry pays homage to yet another musical great who has passed away. Over to you, Jerry. Steve * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “Cassidy” by…

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