My cousin Mitch is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, traveling all over the country to see him play. It is Mitch’s birthday, so I thought I would make him a playlist of songs from around the world that rock out in a more or less Springsteenian mode. You can listen to Mitch’s birthday playlist here in Spotify or here on other streaming music platforms.
Here are the liner notes for the playlist.
- Minutos by Ricardo Arjona. Arjona is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter who achieved fame throughout Latin America in the 1980s. He is one of the most popular rockers in Latin America. You may know his actress daughter, Adria Arjona, who starred in the TV show Andor, among other shows and movies. The song Minutos is about life ticking away, minute by minute. The song starts this way: “The clock on the wall / Announcing that it’s 6:23 / The past is thirsty / And the present is an athlete without feet. / And it’s now 6:43, / And the corpse of the minute that passed, / Tells me simply that it lives here, whether you like it or not. / And nostalgia sets up house in my head, / And it’s 6:50.”
- Mein Ding by Udo Lindenberg. Lindeberg is a German drummer, singer, composer and painter who came to fame in the 1970s. Lindenberg’s brash style, everyday subject matter and his feel for language were an unprecedented combination in German-language music. He still has had number one hits on the German charts this decade. The chorus of Mein Ding says: “And I do my thing, / Doesn’t matter what the others say. / I go my way, / Whether straight or oblique, / That doesn’t matter.”
- To Her Door by Paul Kelly. Kelly is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has played solo and with several different bands. He came to prominence in the 1980s. Kelly’s grandmother was a prominent opera singer. Neil Finn from Crowded House has said, “There is something unique and powerful about the way Kelly mixes up everyday detail with the big issues of life, death, love and struggle – not a trace of pretense or fakery in there.” Sometimes his songs address larger political issues. Other times, like in this song To Her Door, he speaks about the everyday life of working people.
- Ombak, Omack by Charif Megarbane and Ali. This song is from one of my favorite albums of the year, a collaboration between the Lebanese producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Megarbane and the Indonesian band Ali, a funk/psych rock supergroup made up of members of other prominent Indonesian bands. This song – and Tirakat, the album it is from – combine Middle Eastern melodies, psychedelic funk, Italian soundtrack music, gritty beat‑tape textures, surf guitar, disco, and traces of East African rhythms. Megarbane has released more than 100 albums since 2005, and on most of these albums Megarbane plays every instrument, composes, arranges, and even designs the artwork. The song Ombak, Ombak and the album Tirakat are largely instrumental, but the musical melting pot they embody looks to a world where different countries and cultures are more connected. Megarbane says: “I kind of romanticize…the time where socio-politically there was more of a dialogue between different Mediterranean countries.”
- Violà l’été by Les Negresses Vertes. Les Negresses Vertes is a French band that combines rock with folk elements, sort of a French version of the Pogues. Violà l’été is from their first album in 1989. The group released two albums before the death of their lead singer, Helno, from a heroin overdose in 1993. Some members of the group continued to record together as Les Negresse Vertes after his death, but it wasn’t the same. Violà l’été is about the feelings that summer creates, and it careens back and forth between ecstatic joy – “Here’s summer, I perceive the sun / The clouds spin and the sky clears / And what’s buzzing in my head? / The bees! / I hear roaring the pleasures of life” – and dread – “ But there’s already more money / All of Paris is transformed in fear / The Metro sweats, all become full of pus.”
- 1-2-3 by Cafe Tacvba. Café Tacvba is another of my favorite bands. Based in Mexico City, they emerged as rock en español superstars in the 1990s. Rolling Stone named their second record Re as the greatest Latin Rock album of all time. I have seen them in concert a few times, and they are always great. 1-2-3 is from 2017’s Jei Beibi, their last album of new material. The song is about a lover who is counting stars while pleading/hoping that their lover doesn’t leave them.
- Mi Fido di Te by Jovanotti. Jovanotti is a great figure in Italian rock/hip hop/world music/folk. His first album was released in 1988, and he is still going strong. The verses in Jovanotti’s song Mi Fido di Te are a series of impressionistic images, and the chorus goes: “To stay connected / To live in one breath / To lie down on the cliff / To look down / Vertigo is not the fear of falling / But the desire to fly / I trust you, I trust you / What are you willing to lose?”
- Solo Le Pido a Dios by Mercedes Sosa with León Gieco. This song is the Blowing in the Wind of Latin America, a hugely popular song with poetic aspirations that became a political anthem. The song was written and recorded in 1978 by the Argentinian singer-songwriter León Gieco, as a reaction to distressing world events, including the Argentinian military dictatorship. The song achieved even greater fame when a live version of the song was released by Mercedes Sosa, with Gieco on guitar and harmony vocals. Sosa is one of the great voices of Latin America and the most famous proponent of Nueva Canción, the Latin American “new song” movement of the 1970s that combined Latin folk styles with political lyrics. Solo Le Pido a Dios has become popular all over the world. Bruce Springsteen sang the song when he performed in Buenos Aires for Amnesty International. The lyrics in part say: “I only ask of God / That I won’t be indifferent to the injustice / That they won’t slap my other cheek, / After a claw (or talon) has scratched this destiny (luck) of mine.”
- What Is Autumn? by Yuri Shevchuk and DDT. Shevchuk founded the band DDT in 1980 and went solo in 1985. He is best known for his distinctive gravelly voice. His lyrics detail aspects of Russian life with a wry, humanistic sense of humor. Shevechuk opposed the first war in Chechnya, the U.S. bombing of Kosovo, and the Putin regime, which he has called “anti-democratic.” The chorus of this song: “Autumn, ships are burning in the sky / Autumn, I would like to get away from the land / Where sadness drowns in the sea / Autumn is a dark distance.”
- I’m In Love with Wala Bint by Jadal. Jadal is a rock band from Jordan, formed in 2003 by Guitarist and composer Mahmoud Radaish, which continues to this day. This song begins: “I’m in love with the sweetest (the most precious) girl and this girl is not like any girl / She’s the most beautiful and the most amazing woman and I’m in love with the sweetest girl” and it ends: “This girl loves me if I don’t have money and she doesn’t humiliate me / The opposite (of others), this (girl) hugs me and she says, “My love, I don’t care,” / If I had a million dinar (dollars) or the only thing in my pocket / This girl loves me a lot, but I’m not in love with any girl.”
- Certe Notti by Ligabue. Ligabue is an Italian singer-songwriter, film director, and writer. He released his first solo album in 1990. His song Certe Notti was voted the “Italian song of the 1990s” by a popular music magazine. The song begins: “Some nights the car is hot / And it decides where it takes you / Some nights the road doesn’t matter / And what matters is hearing you go / Some nights the radio playing Neil Young / Seems to have understood who you are / Some nights are like a vice / That you don’t want to stop, never stop.”
- Nothing to My Name by Cui Jian. Cui Jian started as a classical musician but ultimately became “the Godfather of Chinese Rock.” His song Nothing to My Name was a huge hit in 1986 and became an anthem for student protestors. It remains his most famous song. In 1990, Cui began performing with a red blindfold, symbolizing Communist Party oppression. In response, the authorities limited his performances in Beijing to tiny venues for over a decade. The song starts this way: “I have asked endlessly, / when will you go with me? / But you always laugh at me, for having nothing to my name. / I want to give you my dreams / and my freedom, / but you always laugh at me, for having nothing.”
- Cliché by MEEN. MEEN is a Lebanese rock band founded in 2006. The band is best known for its humorous, sarcastic style, and most notably for performing in native Lebanese, not traditional Arabic. The song Cliché mocks overused tropes, derivative melodies, and clichéd patriotic or romantic themes in Arabic pop music. Cliché in part goes: “I said, I’ll make a new tune / With Western concepts / That’ll definitely be a hit / With a few Oriental, Arabic flairs / I’ll take a Turkish refrain / And write some words for it / I’ll steal the foundations / And it’ll be a great construction. / The tune turned out to be cliched / And similar to other bad music / A bit from here and a bit from there / Every part within it is stolen.”
- Exagerado – Cazuza. During his short, nine-year career in the 1980s and 1980s, Cazuza was a leading Brazilian rocker. The Brazilian great Caetano Veloso called him “the greatest Brazilian poet of his generation.” Cazuza died of complications from AIDS in 1990 at 32 years old. The lyrics of the song Exagerado read in part: “And for you I’d give up everything. / I’d beg, steal, kill, / even for the most mundane things. / For me, it’s all or nothing. Thrown at your feet, / I’m exaggerating. / I adore an invented love.”
- Melancolía – Mon Laferte. Mon Laferte grew up in Chile, but emigrated to Mexico at 27 years old and became a Mexican citizen in 2022 after living and working in Mexico for more than 15 years. She sings in a wide variety of styles, from heavy metal, indie rock, blues, bolero, cumbia, ranchera, electronica, and Chilean folk. She can (and does) sing anything. Melancolía is a modern David-Lynchian update of a 1950s-style rock ballad, with a full orchestra. The chorus says: “My love, keep me company / And we’ll upload a video / Maybe it’ll rescue us from death / My love, what melancholy / We’ve already held on through winter / Maybe we can hold on a little longer.”