About That Song: End-of-Year Special
About That Song #27
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
Oh, what a JOY it has been to get to chat with so many songwriters about the many songs that led them ever farther down the songwriting path! I’m a believer that the more songs are out in the world, the better. Personally, I fell in what I call “songwriter love” at least 15 times this year. I thought perhaps some of our ATS guests had a song that stood out as THAT SONG for 2023. So I reached out to our friends with this question:
Was there a song in 2023 that you fell in total songwriter love with? A song that delighted you, blew your mind, or just wouldn’t leave your head/heart no matter how you tried? Tell us About That Song.
Here are the answers I got. I hope you love reading them as much as I did!
Not a song but rather, a whole album. I’ve always loved Prince’s Lovesexy album, and felt it was criminally ignored when it was released in ’87.
Photo credit: Paul Lundgren.
The only thing people could say is that he was nude on the cover and there were no spaces between the songs … My feeling was (and is) “So what???” There are only a few records in history that I can listen to and be totally drawn into another world, only to be spit out back to earth at the end. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band comes to mind, and Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, also The Damned’s Black Album. For me Lovesexy is one of those records. It brings me deep into Prince’s weird world and I love that. Every song is amazing. And if you’re feeling skankier you can always flip over to his [untitled] “Black Album,” which is kind of Lovesexy’s darker twin.
I’ll pick “Sunlight Ends” from Wilco. I’m going to come at it from a “song crafter” perspective, more than “songwriter” (though to me, they do go hand in hand).
Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
I do think it’s quite a fine song. Would I argue it's the best song, in and of itself? Probably not. But the way Cate Le Bon helped orchestrate this sonic landscape? Oh my ... This song just makes me feel. Like ALL things. Memories (my favorite music often does that for me, a melancholic romantic; brings back memories of yesteryear, in very powerful ways), but also hopes and dreams. I’m right there, right now, when this song comes on. Basically, it’s very difficult for me to multitask when this song comes on. I think when a song does that to a person, you have got something really special. And I think Cate’s treatment (I gather it was a lot of her doing as the producer) really nailed it for me.
“When We Were Close” by Jason Isbell. I lost my brother to a drug overdose and this song about Justin Townes Earle really hit home for me. I relate to every line and it makes me tear up every time I hear it.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
I think making this a rock song was the right way to go. He could have made it slow and sad, but putting the big drums and loud guitars on it almost makes the sentiment even more powerful.
“as good a reason” by Paris Paloma! An anthem for feminine solidarity, the song is at once catchy, cathartic, and fun to listen to.
Photo credit: Joey Snburg.
It’s been on my heavy rotation song list since I discovered it this year along with her songs “labour” and “It’s Called: Freefall.” She’s a lyrical genius, exceptional storyteller, and powerhouse vocalist/composer.
“Keep It On A Burner” by Margo Cilker. I CANNOT STOP SINGING IT.
Photo credit: Juliet Farmer.
“Life Is Long” by Irish musician Wallis Bird. I heard her sing it in a tiny hotel room way too late at night at the Folk Alliance conference in February 2023 and it was just electric.
Photo credit: Wolfskull Creative.
The recorded versions of it are much poppier than is usually my taste, but I find that all I need to really access the produced version of a song is hearing its bare-bones acoustic version, which I’d heard. And boy, did I access it! I had that song on repeat for weeks.
“Potential Breakup Song” by Aly & AJ. I think I actually first discovered it in 2022, when my daughter made a “mix-tape” CD for me for my birthday: a bunch of what I call “young women’s empowerment songs.”
Photo credit: Nicole Nelson.
Fantastic CD—I listened to it a lot this summer. Since it’s a bunch of artists and I usually listen to it in my car, I assumed for a long time that it was Taylor Swift ... but no! Anyway, I love breakup songs (writing them and listening to them), and I love that this one actually calls itself a potential breakup song. Here’s one snippet of the lyrics that first made me laugh: “This is the potential breakup song / Our album needs just one.” But all of the lyrics are simply DELICIOUS, and it has an uptempo beat. I just love it and would kill to have written it!
“Sweet Sounds of Heaven” by The Rolling Stones and Lady Gaga.
Photo credit: Darin Back.
In 2023, I fell in love with “Move Me” from Donna Missal’s album Revel, released back in June. It’s the perfect song to fall in love to.
Photo credit: Sarah Danelli
I discovered it after I met someone with whom I had an incredibly strong connection. “Move Me” became the theme song to our budding relationship. It seemed to perfectly match the vibrations of a heart opening itself up to a new love.
A song that has captivated me this year has been Guy Clark’s “My Favorite Picture of You.” He said that was the song that he was most pleased with.
Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
I never really got why he loved this song so much until this year. It hits the sweetest notes of nostalgia. There's this rocking motion to the delivery of this song. There are moments that seem to slow down and almost hesitate before the song surges forward. I think that comes from a combination of that bass and the way Guy Clark wrote and delivers those lines.
There's such a balance in all of the instruments; each one taking just a little piece of the song, and the sum of the parts is something precise and gorgeous. The surge of that cello part calls to the deepest parts. It holds you for a moment while everything else drops out for a beat, and then the next verse begins. The language isn't elevated, but communicates this complex moment so clearly … “click.” The contrast in the verse about the “fire in your eyes/ you’ve got your heart on your sleeve / a curse on your lips / but all I can see is beautiful” is so lovely. “Is beautiful” hangs out at the end of the line so exposed without rhyme, and it gives such an impact. It stops me every time. The years on Guy’s voice add to the telling and the authenticity of this song. It’s masterful writing that has been on repeat all year.
“Sculptor” by Jeffrey Martin. “I miss your breath on my shoulder. I miss your breath on my shoulder.” The power of a simply stated longing, repeated often.
Photo credit: Trevor Tobin.
When I first heard this song, I decided right then and there that I needed to paint my bathroom and cry a lot.
THAT SONG that has been pulsing in my veins ever since I heard it live at Palmer’s last June is Annie and the Bang Bang’s “Sidewinder.” It's the closing track on their October-released double album.
Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
“Sidewinder” consistently captivates me; its nearly five-minute duration always leaves me wanting more. With its evocative lyrics, irresistible sing-along chorus, harmonies, guitar licks, and full rock band arrangement, this song transports me back to a carefree twenty-something with achievable dreams on the horizon.
I fell in love with so many songs this year, it’s hard to pick just one! But I’m going to do it! “Who Are You Mad At?” by Jordyn Shellhart.
Photo credit: Wolfskull Creative.
I wasn’t at all familiar with Jordyn before this year, but apparently she’s been around and written with some pretty big names. Her new album Primrose is gorgeous. I love this song because it's got a little attitude in the lyrics—talking to someone who might be taking frustrations about a previous partner out on her. But the tune is light, with a little rhythmic banjo, and her voice is like butter. It’s like the sweetest, most beautiful f--- you song and I think that’s why I love it.
I kept hearing her name throughout my career, but I never took the time to listen to Anaïs Mitchell. It wasn’t until her band (Bonny Light Horseman) caught my attention this past summer.
Photo by Skarlett Woods.
I thought to myself, “Who is this voice?” So I dug deeper down a rabbit hole and discovered that she released a self-titled album in 2022. The opening track hooked me lyrically like never before. “Brooklyn Bridge” stole my heart. It felt like she was speaking directly to me. I’ve never experienced that from a songwriter before. It completely blew my mind open. So I listened to track 2—“Bright Star”—and still, my heart continued to break.
I listened to that entire album nonstop on repeat for about a month. I ended up rewriting the lyrics to a handful of my own songs on my Letters To The West album, I was so inspired and in awe of how powerful lyrics can be. I’ve never experienced that before. I’m someone who listens to the music, not the lyrics, but Anaïs changed all that with “Brooklyn Bridge” and the whole album, Anaïs Mitchell. It was as if she was a friend who knew me for years and knew who I was at heart.
A live show helped me find mine. Ben Cook-Feltz’s album release at Icehouse was spectacular.
Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
He sang many songs that transformed the space, but it was “Grilled Cheese” that charged the atmosphere of the room. The band was on fire and Ben was focused. I’m listening to the song again now. The piano is heartbreaking, delicate and insistent. The vocal line floats as if on a boat, delivering emotional pictures.
I’ve been a big fan of Jill Andrews and her duo Hush Kids for some time. Her other half in Hush Kids, Peter Groenwald, released a series of singles and an album this year, and each time one would come out, it felt like Christmas.
Photo credit: Nina Luna.
His collection of songs is called Falling in Love, Falling Apart. The song that most grabbed my heart is called “Nothing Changes.” As someone who has been navigating lots of changes over the past few years (anyone? all of us, yes?) the lyrics are such a reminder that if we don't take steps towards our own healing and claim them, nothing changes. His voice is sublime, the lyrics and melody are so together and it's just a song that I want to hear on the regular.
Sarah Morris
I heard Phoebe Hunt perform “Nothing Else Matters” in a small town church picnic pavilion in the middle of Texas.
Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
It was at the end of a magical and super-charged day, so my brain and heart were beginning to drift off, but the opening line of this song “We were one long night, we were one sweet morning, we were all time,” and the triumphant, joyful melody brought me right back to the moment. The whole 3 minutes of the song I could not wipe the smile off my face. I listened to it on repeat over the next few weeks. Then I learned that other artists had covered it (Lindsay Lou has a great version) and I soaked up every one. The beating heart of this song for me is the lyric “I’m singing. Nothing Else Matters.” Yep, okay, I’m in!
Listen to all the songs!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
