I Just Came Back From A War

Making note Veteran's Day, present here is Darryl Worley who threw aside a college degree in biology and chemistry, and an engagement to fulfill his dream to be a full-time country music star. After moderate success he went to entertain the troops in Afghanistan during Christmastime and came back to write a number of vet-centric numbers. One is "I Just Came Back From A War," whose dark edges do nothing to hide its patriotic shine. And he apparently had nothing to hide in his Playgirl magazine shoot.

The obverse view from a vet's POV is Rise Against's "Hero of War".

But the most heart-breaking vet-comes-home story may be John Prine's "Sam Stone" sung here by Johnny Cash.

Election Year Rag

The late Steve Goodman was a great songwriter, i.e. "(The Train They Call) The City of New Orleans", and here is sample of that in making light of the dark of election day in a jolly ragtime style commentary ("The winner's always someone else, the loser's always us").

Another darkly lined silver cloud in the form a sort of peppy country blues "Election Day", by Blaze Foley & The Beaver Valley Boys (with the under-appreciated Gurf Morlix), Foley being immortalized by Lucinda Williams' woulda, coulda, shoulda ode "Drunken Angel"

A day of monsters & angels, including ….

via CrackerBarrel.com

Here's a 14-hour playlist of songs for Halloween, or songs using the day's tropes as metaphors, much like this insanely catchy Monsters & Angels by Voice of the Beehive, led by California sisters Tracey Brin and Melissa Brooke Belland. The band was an on-again, off-again troupe which when it was on, could knock-out a hook like on Scary Kisses -- which isn't metaphor enough for the Halloween playlist.

"Devil's Right Hand"

via SmokingGun.com

It's a horrible and horrific day at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticutt. Johnny Cash weighs in on the general topic with "Devil's Right Hand."

Not to be forgotten is the Boomtown Rats' masterwork "I Don't Like Mondays," which is specifically about a school shooting.