Snapshots #409: Songs About Coats

Here are some songs about coats. I'm saving the gag till the end.

15. Naughty Ned's great-great-grandson?

Ned Kelly was a pretty naughty Australian. This guy hails from the same country, but I don't think they're related...

Paul Kelly - Winter Coat

14. _ _ _ ics from a Laureate.

The Laureate is Mr. Simon Armitage. He also writes the lyrics.

LYR - Great Coat

13. Merrythought & burnt offerings.

Merrythought is what they used to call a wishbone, in days gone by.

Wishbone Ash - Duffle Shuffle

(Only half a point for Coat of Arms.)

12. Rotate Hagar.

I was thinking of Sammy Hagar. And if you rotate him, you would be a...

Sammy Turner - Raincoat In The River

11. Found within Rebel Tony and DJ, oh no!

Rebel Tony and DJ, oh no!

Elton John - Leather Jackets

10. Chesney sighted in California.

I saw that bloody Chesney Hawkes in Los Angeles! 

I See Hawks In La - My Parka Saved Me

9. Tribal leaders in Western Ireland.

The Chieftains & James Galway - The Munster Cloak

Don't be telling me a cloak isn't a coat. Tell James Galway!

8. Where Martin Rossiter does his experiments.

Martin Rossiter is the lead singer of Gene.

Genelab - Anorak Lou

I'd forgotten that little gem from 1999, but it's great.

7. Morse identifies a suspect from the block. Elementary x2.

When Morse identifies a suspect, he's liable to shout, "Lewis!" Jenny came from the block. Holmes, on the other hand, needed Watson... times two. 

Did you crack that one, Sherlocks?

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat 

6. Did you know that Elvis, Jonathan and Nat were all closely related?

They were...

The King Brothers - A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)

5. Cousin... luck than good management.

My Perfect Cousin was Kevin... More by luck than good management.

Kevin Morby - A Coat Of Butterflies

4. Two retards is not an acceptable term. 

"Two retards" is an unfortunate anagram.

Rod Stewart - An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down

3. Closely guard Van on the pitch.

When they're taking a corner, make sure you mark Morrison!

Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack

2. It's hard to perform when you each have three feet.

Yard Act - Trenchcoat Museum

1. Lopez advises caution. 

Jennifer warns!

Because the Leonard Cohen version would have been too obvious.

Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat

More Snapshots next Saturday? I'll get me coat.

My Top Ten Albums of 2023

23 words describing each of my Top Ten albums of 2023. Because I use far too many words the rest of the year...

10. Whitehorse - I'm Not Crying, You're Crying

Husband and wife Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland join forces for their 8th album, venturing further into Canadian Americana territory than ever before.  

I went down division five local RCMP to file a missing persons report.

Well, they looked me up and down then their eyes went to the ground

They burst out laughing and they showed me the door

Said, "We ain't never seen nobody so lost before."

Whitehorse - Division 5

9. Robert Forster - The Candle & The Flame

A tender tribute to his wife's fight against cancer and a touching rumination on the aging process. His most personal album to date?

Feel changes in my mind

I’m walkin’ to school in ‘69

The next day I’m 35

Robert Forster - I Don't Do Drugs, I Do Time

8. Emily Breeze - Rapture

It's taken her a long time to break through... but the wisdom of bitter experience gives Emily an edge over her younger rivals.

One day you will find yourself at a friends 40th birthday party

Wondering how the days turned into decades and if anyone still does drugs

And you will dance, dance off the minutes and the moments

And magic and the misery and the miracles and monotony

As you unfurl into infinity among the solar systems and galaxies

A dopamine driven pinball machine studded with hair and nails and teeth

Hard wired with desire and fear and dreams hosted by the ghost of a memory

of a memory, of a memory, of a memory of a memory

There's nothing wrong with an ordinary life

Emily Breeze - Ordinary Life

7. LYR - The Ultraviolet Age

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage's latest band might come with the subtitle "For English Teachers Only"... but they deserve wider recognition. Poetry in emotion.

She said she liked

the flowers I sent

but wondered why

they had no scent,

and why the food

had lost its taste,

and why the nurse

had covered her face?

And why the gates of the park were shut?

And why the shops were boarded up?

And why the swings were tied in knots?

And the music... why had the music stopped?

LYR - The Song Thrush And The Mountain Ash

6. Laura Cantrell - Just Like A Rose: The Anniversary Sessions

Back after 9 years, and better than ever, with an ear for lyrical detail and a joyful tune... the First Lady of Americana?

Angry white man, you'd have me believe

You're beset and besieged

Your reputation is aggrieved

Climbed your way up to the tallest high chair

Do you feel safer up there?

I see you're loaded for bear ...

Angry white man

My favorite part

Is saying "bless your heart, 

Bless your heart"

Laura Cantrell - AWM - Bless

5. Jim Bob - Thanks For Reaching Out

Jim Bob's self-proclaimed masterpiece. Beware the hype, JB - cynical miserablists like me will expect too much. Great record, just not your best.

This is my mixtape, my romantic gesture

A dozen red roses left on your doorstep

This is my balcony scene, my drunken tattoo

My heart-shaped balloon, my graffiti on a factory wall

This is my Taj Mahal, my Albert Memorial

My Hanging Gardens of Babylon

This is my Long and Winding Road, my God Only Knows

My Up the Junction

Typed out on a bus and sent from my iPhone

Jim Bob - Thanks For Reaching Out

4. Ben Folds - What Matters Most

A slow-burner, with only one track representing his piano-stomping past; otherwise this is a reflective post-fame record to be relished by middle-aged musos. 

But it's a big world with un-famous people

Who deserve the grand applause

And they quietly carry on

I'd like to think that I could be that strong

Daydreaming on the bus, that's all

Now it's back to anonymous

Ben Folds - Back To Anonymous

3. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes

Just another great Jason Isbell record. The quality never dips. If Laura is the First Lady of Americana, this guy is the President...

Are you looking for something easy?

Do you need to feel alive?

Do you crave a love that tears through your life like a Category Five?

My momma spent every day alone

In a house of noise and names

She got so tired of putting out fires

She just laid down in the flames

We're running out of options

I've told you all my jokes

If you insist on being lonely

Can you leave a couple smokes?

2. BC Camplight - The Last Rotation Of The Earth

Supposedly his final record (let’s hope not!), this sees Brian waiting for the Tesco man and dreading the future. Brutally honest and life-affirming.

"Oh, what a bеautiful morning"

I say to the Tesco guy

"I've seen my fair sharе

But there's something about this one"

He goes, "Are you okay?"

I look him in the eye

We both smile

1. Jenny Lewis - Joy'all

Wry melancholia, world-weary romance, exuberant self-sufficiency... it’s another flawless set from the former Rilo Kiley chanteuse - like the Carpenters but more kick-ass! 

My forties are kicking my ass

And handing 'em to me in a margarita glass

I was infatuated with an older man

And then I dated a psychopath

So I'm 44 in 2020 and thank God I saved up some money

Time to ruminate like, "What the fuck was that?"

Like a shot of good luck

I got a puppy and a truck

If you feel like giving up

Shut up

Get a puppy and a truck

Snapshots #275: Top Ten Songs With A Hole In Them

This is Courtney Love. Her band is called Hole.

Yesterday, I gave you a picture of Bernard Cribbins who sang Hole In The Ground. I figured that would be too easy as one of the songs, even though it is the greatest song ever recorded with a hole in it.

Here are ten more holes...

10. Moby's ways.

Moby sang about Extreme Ways.

Extreme - Hole Hearted

9. Abaaaaartment.

That would be where the baaaa lambs live.

Sheephouse - Hole In The Sky

8. How Bob Lind signs his name, in a Backstreets, on his way to the next whiskey bar.

Bob Lind (of Elusive Butterfly fame) would sign his name B.Lind. Add to that the Backstreet Boys and a line from Alabama Song and you get...

The Blind Boys of Alabama - Way Down In The Hole

7. Big Red Dog gets a Ruby.

Clifford is the Big Red Dog. A Ruby Murray is a Curry.

Clifford Curry - She Shot A Hole In My Soul

6. Rose Variety + Where Prince Met Robbers + Scottish January.

Stone Roses + Thieves In The Temple + Scottish band Pilot, who sang January.

Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart

5. Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation.

That's a line from Television (The Drug of the Nation) by The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy.

Television - Foxhole

4. Orange vision.

Tangerine Dream - The Burning Hole

3. Oxford detective from the block.

Lewis was the Oxford Detective, Jenny came from the block.

Jenny Lewis - Rabbit Hole

2. The trouble with nice source and strange Fitzgerald.

The Trouble With Harry. "Nice Source" is a literal translation of Bella Fonte. Strange Fitzgerald = Odd Etta. Except... as Ernie points out, that clue didn't work because I had somehow confused Ella Fitzgerald with Etta James. D'oh. Apologies, all.

Harry Belafonte & Odetta - A Hole in the Bucket

1. Often served with Jam.

That would be a Traffic Jam.

Let's not forget Neil's version of this!

There'll be a Hole load more Snapshots to solve next Saturday...

My Top 19 Albums of 2019 (Part 4)

This is it, then. A pretty shitty year, all told, both on the world stage and closer to home. Still, we must press on and concentrate on the things that do still bring us joy. For me, that's my boy, a constant source of fun, pride and love. And music... always there, always something to cling onto in the wreckage. Here's the best of this year's offerings, in my humble opinion, with no obvious surprise at the top...


4. Craig Finn - I Need A New War

The Hold Steady released their first album in five years, Thrashing Thru The Passion, and a fine record it was too. However, their frontman appears to have transcended the trappings of his own band, and his solo albums continue to rise into another league altogether. I Need Another War was another great example of why Craig Finn is probably the best short story writer in contemporary rock. The Raymond Carver comparison still holds true.

Top Track: Blankets

The detective was expensive

But he thought it was something he could solve

Found her serving breakfast

In a cafe in the Skyway in St. Paul

When we got to the Twin Cities

I said man I know some songs about this place

When they swept up all the empties the parties always seemed like such a waste

3. Jenny Lewis - On The Line

Having said all that about Craig Finn, here's someone who can actually challenge him to that short story crown... and in this case, I guess she takes the prize. Another artist who has transcended her former band (the excellent Rilo Kiley) and continues to develop in new and exciting directions. She's more musical than Craig - shades of Tom Petty, Aimee Mann and even the Shangri-Las on this record - which is why she places one step higher. But it was a close call.

I had tickets to see Jenny Lewis this summer - my only gig of the year. Then I ended up having to move house and missed the gig. Dag-nabbit.

Top Track: On The Line

It used to be Bobby forever

We were together, day and night

He left me for a super-fan

Called Caroline, oh

Before you let her under your sweater tonight

Listen to my heart beating

On the line

2. Lukas Nelson - Turn Off The News And Build A Garden

Song of the year right here. The rest of the album was pretty bloody amazing too, showing a diversity of styles most country / Americana artists would struggle to display. All those years gigging with Neil Young, and his dad, have obviously paid off for Willie's boy. There's even a bit of Jeff Lynne in this record. Stylish and poppy - a difficult trick to pull off these days.

Top Track (song of the year!): Turn Off The News And Build A Garden

I believe that every heart is kind

Some are just a little underused

Hatred is a symptom of the times

Lost in these uneducated blues

I just want to love you while I can

All these other thoughts have me confused

I don't need to try and understand

Maybe I'll get up, turn off the news

Turn off the news and build a garden

Just my neighbourhood and me

We might feel a bit less hardened

We might feel a bit more free

Turn off the news and raise your kids

Give them something to believe in

Teach them how to be good people

Give them hope that they can see

Hope that they can see

Turn off the news and build a garden with me

1. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars

My Top Three Bruce Springsteen Albums are, in ever-changing order: Born To Run, Nebraska and Tunnel of Love. Who's have thought that thirty-plus years after the most recent of those, he'd have delivered a challenger for the coveted Number Four position? But if you're gonna go draw new water from the well, choosing a well in Jimmy Webb's backyard is a masterstroke...

Top Track: Are you kidding me? I could sit here all night trying to work that one out. Here's this week's favourite...



Happy New Year, everyone. I'd like to hope 2020 will be better than 2019, but I've reached the age where I realise that's pretty unlikely. Still, humanity may yet prove me wrong.

Thank you to the good people who read this blog, who keep me company in the darkness. Your visits are always much appreciated. Be well.

Saturday Snapshots #100 - The Answers

If you've got the Hair Like Brian May Blues this Sunday morning, don't feel Under Pressure. Here are the answers to the 100th edition of Saturday Snapshots to Keep Yourself Alive.

As I write this, nobody had spotted the Extra Special Bonus Mystery which connected 10 of the songs on this list... but I guess you'd have to be pretty sad to do that. (No offence to Alyson who came close to working it out.) Different photos, different clues and different songs, but the odd-numbered artists in this list all appeared in Saturday Snapshots #1, way back in September 2017.

I think Alyson just pipped Rigid Digit to the crown this week. I was intending to work out a league table of winners from the past 100 editions, but as you probably have realised by now, my time is rather restricted at the moment. Thanks for playing along as always, everybody. Remember: this quiz is Driven By You.


20. Lennie's pal in dire circumstance. I guess Tony must have shown him the way.

George & Lennie, as anybody who's done an English exam at school in the last 50 years will know, were the unlucky duo from Of Mice & Men.

Dire Straits, natch.

Tony Christie wondered Is This The Way To Amarillo?

George Strait - Amarillo By Morning

Justin Townes Earl (son of Steve) claims this is the last truly great country song ever written.

19. Oxymoronic invitation to stop the fight.

A band called War asking why we can't all just get along? Surely that's an oxymoron?

War - Can't We Be Friends?

18. V, son of Scotland, rejects the preserves.

V = 5.

Mc = son of Scotland.

MC5 - Kick Out The Jams

17. From here to there, with Brass Eye drug.

From here to there is a distance.

Cake was a Made Up Drug.

Cake - The Distance

16. Hooked on romance, old cinema tune.

Love is a better drug than cake.

Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug

15. Battles Evil Dead with Carl Douglas.

Ash - Kung Fu

14. Silky soft V on a quiet evening.

Laziness compelled me to re-use the V clue.

The Five Satins - In The Still Of The Night

13. Ashes in the toilet have you skidding on pebbles.

Loo-cinder? No?

I did like Walter's idea that parts of this clue might relate to a Drunken Angel.

Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

12. Stay in bed with a bunch of flowers.

The Posies - Dream All Day

11. Nesting spirit. Atlas or Goliath, possibly.

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul

10. Warhol goes Wilde, with a slight sway.

Andy Warhol, Kim Wilde. Not Andy Oscar.

Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently

9. Colleagues visit a disco that only plays Dolly and Johnny.

The Associates - Club Country

Check SS #1 for Party Fears Two.

8. Threat stops traffic across the sea.

Billy Ocean - Red Light Spells Danger

7. DJs are... cemented.

DJs are on the radio. (Except club DJs.)

The Concretes - On The Radio

6. Moroccan bartender visits Homer's town, looking for Madonna's dear ladyfriend.

Rick was the bartender from Casablanca.

Homer lives in Springfield.

Madonna was friends with Dear Jessie.

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

5. Touché + mutant ninjas = a harmonious match.

Touché would win that fight.

The Turtles - Happy Together

4. Skirmish between pro-US biopics and laces. Murderous commandments!

"pro-US biopics" is one anagram.

"and laces" is another.

Put a skirmish (Vs.) between them and thou shalt...

Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip - Thous Shalt Always Kill

Thou shalt still not question Stephen Fry.

3. Ain't nothing like it. Your help required to pass.

The Real Thing - Can't Get By Without You

God, that takes me back to the Fifth Form. (80s reissue.)

2. Wren, spinning, no relation to one, an ordinary man.

Jenny Wren, Spinning Jenny, no relation to Huey (below).

Jenny Lewis - Just One Of The Guys

1. Donald's nephews deliver papers to trendy L7.

Well, two of Donald's nephews. Dewey must have been sick that day.

Still one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded...


Well, that's it, folks. 100 seems a pretty good number to bow out on, don't you think? Time to call it a day on Saturday Snapshots, maybe? Give you all a lie in next Saturday morning?





(Maybe not.)