The Texas Tribune does a weekly feature in which they sum up the preceding week as a Spotify playlist. Here’s my attempt to sum up some of the big news stories of this year using tunes from my library.
1. Funny Cigarette – Asylum Street Spankers.
2. American Land – Bruce Springsteen
3. There Is Power In A Union – Billy Bragg
4. Waterloo – ABBA
5. Hot In Herre – OK Go
6. Crazy – Patsy Cline
7. We Shall Overcome – The SNCC Freedom Singers
8. Why Can’t We Be Friends? – War
9. C-U-B-A – Austin Lounge Lizards
10. Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Some of these are self-explanatory. “American Land” is a song about immigrants. I could have used “Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers On Drugs” by the Austin Lounge Lizards but as you know I prefer not to repeat artists. “Waterloo” is in honor of a certain charismatic Russian despot with a predilection for shirtlessness and bear-based analogies. I wonder how you say “Waterloo” in Ukrainian? “Shake It Off” is both a post-election admonishment and a reminder that this is Taylor Swift’s world and we are mere inhabitants. What’s your musical summary for the year?