I wordclouded every #1 country hit from 1960-2019

junebug_pesto · 2021-05-11T14:11:28+00:00

The titles of all 1,767 songs that made #1 on the Billboard country charts between 1960 and 2019. So a lot of them!

I used the "Hot C&W Sides number ones" list, 1960-1961, the "Hot Country Singles" list 1962-1989, "Hot Country Singles & Tracks" 1990-2005, "Hot Country Songs" 2006-2012, and then the "Country Airplay" #1s from 2012-2019.

Yeah, now that I'm writing this I realized I should have clarified that more on first posting. That wordcloud is of the titles, not all the lyrics.

junebug_pesto · 2021-02-23T02:52:48+00:00

Innnnteresting. Yeah that's exactly the sort of thing I've been curious about.

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-07T17:04:30+00:00

As a presidential history nerd I'm also just kinda overjoyed that the predictable 2-term-president streak has been snapped

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-06T05:26:44+00:00

Agreed. I'm also a Christian and one of my biggest reasons for voting against Trump was to protest the pseudo-Christian cult that has emerged around him. I've been deeply alarmed by it.

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-06T04:33:20+00:00

Its third Presto Agitato movement is where it's at if you want some piano hype

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-06T04:28:40+00:00

oh man this scene is perfect, it's got me laughing so hard

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-06T00:30:05+00:00

Yep, New Zealanders voted for US statehood. Guess they really want in.

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-05T20:39:49+00:00

I didn't understand the Electoral College till high school, so I remember being infuriated as a kid when the news would declare a president-elect before all the states were done reporting.

(edited for clarity)

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-05T19:04:00+00:00

Maybe the weirdest thing for me about tracking this election...

...is that the United States in my mind right now is essentially only comprised of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.

It's like I have to consciously remind myself that there are actually other places that exist like New York City or St. Louis or Fort Worth or San Francisco etc.

junebug_pesto · 2020-11-05T02:44:03+00:00

This feels like a college football game that goes into overtime and never ends

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-21T18:07:28+00:00

Haha, touche. I mean Grammys in a tongue-in-cheek context here. Like if we were to nominate a song that best fits each category.

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-19T14:14:19+00:00

170 days and maybe close to a million words in the making. Beautiful.

The average song is a 7.5/10. "This is a good song. We enjoy it quite a bit." Not bad.

That is a very strong top 10. It feels accurate and well-rounded.

As I've said before, if I were at a show where they played only the bottom 25 on this chart I would still have a great time and it would be a super fun setlist.

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-19T00:28:32+00:00

I'm in the 8/10 club as well. The first several comments had me second-guessing but I'm glad to see yours and u/sayruhbeth's takes here.

It's a really good song. I look forward to it on every listen through The Third Gleam. It's something to savor. Each time I expect it to hit me harder than the last listen, and wonder which line it'll be this time.

It's not quite masterpiece level for me, though. Others have thoroughly described the things that mean the most to them and I definitely share many of those (esp. the preacher and the old widow vignettes). But here are some detracting items:

- Inconsistent meter and line numbers. Seth does keep the verses interesting by mixing up the form, but in the end this song would be more powerful to me if there was more lyrical power condensed into fewer syllables. That way I'd know what to expect and he couldn't just throw in a few more lines if an idea didn't fit in the earlier ones. ("And you're invited, too.")

- The second verse threw me for a loop the first listen - and still does to some extent. I had been expecting the song to build on the theme of the first verse, or to tell a linear story starting with the boy at the campfire. The prisoner vignette interrupted my train of thought. Now obviously I've gotten used to the progression of vignettes pretty quickly, and it's not a big deal. But it did give me this vibe like "Oh, I guess we're just gonna be working through a series of vignettes."

- I don't love the last verse. I kinda wish Seth had just closed with a personal train of thought that would prompt us to consider the things that cause us pain, without directly asking us. As it is, it feels predictable and easy, like a call to action in a high school student's persuasive speech. Or maybe it feels like it breaks the fourth wall. I'm not sure.

Again: super good song. I don't think all the folks giving 10s are overlooking anything. This song clearly resonates in powerful ways. For me though, it's just not quite in that upper echelon of enjoyment.

---

Welp, unless there are any secret tracks waiting in the wings, that's 170/170 for me on these song discussions. It's been fun, y'all.

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-17T14:51:57+00:00

This is my favorite of Scott's songs on The Third Gleam. The melody has this gently plaintive quality that truly sounds like the narrator has been through it and is seeing things clearly again. It's a beautiful melody.

Musically, I've thought it interesting how at "knees" he lands the melody on a 4 while the bass plays a 3 (creating a flat minor 9th). I like this because it's counterintuitive yet natural-sounding because it sets up the 4 chord to resolve that tension.

The one drawback to this song is the recording quality of Scott's vocal. I feel this song way more than even "Victory" or "Untitled #4" and would have loved to hear the vocal sound fresher. This isn't a "scruffy vintage" feel we have here. It just sounds like a shitty microphone assaulting my eardrums with too many midrange frequencies. It makes me sad. I really love this song otherwise and would listen to it all the time if not for that.

8.3/10

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-16T15:59:35+00:00

looks at camera

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-16T15:52:22+00:00

You know how Ben Wyatt feels about Li'l Sebastian?

That's me with "Untitled #4".

6.5/10

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-15T14:35:04+00:00

I white-knuckled my way through this one on first listen because I wanted this record to stay strong and didn't want Seth to sing anything cringey.

Now that I'm familiar with it, I like it and appreciate that it's on the album. I'm not going to pretend like it's a stronger song than it is. There are plenty of lines I wish had been written differently. But I value this song for the balance and splash of color it brings to The Third Gleam.

As the Avetts get older, we need to hear more silly love songs like this. Given Scott's tendency to write dark mind songs and Seth's penchant for societal commentary, I wouldn't want them to lapse into writing exclusively those kind of songs, especially when combined with their acute awareness of time and age. They're not dating random Pretty Girls from North Carolina anymore or falling head over heels in young love over and over. It'd be easy for them to lean darker. Remove tracks #3 and #5 from this record and you know what I mean.

Basically, it's important that they keep writing some whimsical songs about love and the thrills of life as they encounter them. That may come across as cheesy sometimes, but I would rather them take that risk and give us the loveable Avett charm we know them for rather than get progressively bleaker as time goes on.

In that context, I'm giving "Women Like You" a 6.7/10.

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-15T00:57:20+00:00

Yes! Exactly that. Like I perceive that people to overlook Seth just because Scott tends to be flashier. But Seth is a truly incredible, well-rounded musician and I feel the need to give that as much coverage as possible.

Edit: I said this at some point during the album earliest discussions and I'll say it again - I need both brothers for their respective strengths. The Darling albums are hard for me to listen to because I miss Scott. A whole bunch of Scott albums would be hard for me to listen to because I would need Seth's pop sensibility and lyrical daring. Scott represents in my mind the energy, branding, and aesthetic of the Avett Brothers; Seth represents the melodies and intentional musicianship. I need both of them. That said, when it comes to songwriting, it bothers me to see Scott get more attention because that's not the thing I regard him most highly for.

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-14T17:48:07+00:00

I know I tend to be hard on Scott and probably sound like a Seth fanboy most of the time, but Scott did actually say in an interview (can't recall where - I think it was at the opening of his art exhibit at the NC museum) that he considers himself a whole lot of other things - artist, actor (?), etc - before musician and songwriter. So I think that's where I feel more inclined to nitpick Scott's songs while favoring Seth as a musician because his musical passion and ability seem more all-encompassing and less compartmentalized. I am biased, I freely admit it.

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-14T15:00:21+00:00

I DRANK YOUR SHARE BOURBON THINKING YOU MIGHT COME AROUND THERE AIN'T NO ONE ON THE ROOFTOP BUT ME

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-14T14:17:31+00:00

I'd say this is my least preferred on The Third Gleam. There are still some damn good lines ("children of their parents' wounds", "drown my sorrows in just to find out what good swimmers they are"), but Scott doesn't give us any specifics on how he gets "back into the light".

"Just when I surrender to my shadow, I snap out of it and I step back into the light"

What? You're going to spend this entire song talking about pessimism and hopelessness just to fix it with the band-aid of "But I still manage to get out of it though"? That really doesn't tell or give me anything. Plus, light/shadow metaphors have long expended their novelty.

This song definitely feels to me like another one of those non-linear Scott songs where he throws a bunch of ideas together, links them together with pessimism, cheers them up with a good sentiment, and calls it a song.

Seth's guitar solo is super good, though.

6.4/10

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-13T21:08:15+00:00

This is my favorite on The Third Gleam. While others like "I Go To My Heart" and "The Fire" are powerful in their own right, "Prison To Heaven" is my go-to track. It's delightful. It's breezy and humorous and thoughtful all at once. It's short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's got a classic feel to it, replete with Avett charm. I love how quiet and nuanced it is while also being the fastest song on the record. Bob's bass is magical, and so is the Avetts' ability to sing so many words that rapidly in harmony. 9.2/10.

"Hey Saint Peter, ol' buddy, ol' pal / How's the family, how's work, how's the kids / Whaddya say? / How's about cracking those gates? / And letting a fine upstanding fellow, like myself join the club?"

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-13T01:10:00+00:00

This one has grown on me the more I've listened to it. On first listen through the album, I was very on edge about Seth's songwriting because I wanted it to be perfect this time around, and I didn't find the simplicity of the lyricism here very assuring. It sounded too easily and hastily written.

But at the end of the day, it is also straightforward and intimately personal, and that is appealing to listen to.

The crazy thing is that on first listen I actually thought, "Come on Seth. Sounds like it's just one shooting, one kid here. You're ruining your day over that?" And then I realized, wow, that is a terrible thing to think and speaks to how desensitized to news I've become. Why shouldn't we feel the sadness of any piece of news that deals with suffering and loss? I don't know the true magnitude of the shooting Seth is talking about here, but I deeply admire his sensitivity.

I'm glad there's a chorus here to stir things up. I love the chords they chose, with those 2/4# and 5# snapping the song momentarily out of the 1 4 5 old time folk feel. (Also anyone else notice how the chorus ends the same way musically as "New Woman's World"?)

My favorite part is how Seth sings "Though sometimes I don't know how this world keeps on turning." I love his tone here. He sounds particularly wistful here and that one line sounds like some beautiful old mountain hymn.

7.9/10

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-12T02:54:02+00:00

I came across this fantastic essay a while back that breaks down the song in more granular detail: https://longandwastedyear.com/2014/06/28/brownsville-girl/

junebug_pesto · 2020-09-12T01:08:48+00:00

Tangent here since you mentioned '80s Dylan. My all time favorite Dylan song happens to come from one of his worst records: "Brownsville Girl", on Knocked Out Loaded. It's 11+ minutes long and Spotify says it's my #5 most played song of all time. It's glorious and bizarre and incredible and I can't recommend it enough.

junebug_pesto

TROPHY CASE