🎧 Downbeat.fm Vol. 6 Track 3
Well I've got a secret, I cannot say
Quick programming note! I have another article up at I Have That on Vinyl about Born to Run, one of my favorite albums of all time. To celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, I wrote an article about the album and what it means to me. I'd love for you to check it out:
When I was in high school, any money I made from my part-time job that didn't go towards gas for my car went towards my CD collection.
I had hundreds. They're all gone now, but from 16 to 23, they were my life.
Something popular in the 1990s was "secret songs" at the end of a CD. They weren't listed on the track list and often didn't have their own track number—they were just placed after a period of silence after the last "official" song.
The first secret song I ever heard was Endless, Nameless from Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind.
On Nevermind, Endless, Nameless would play 10 minutes after Something in the Way, the final "official song" ended, still a part of track 12.
A few weeks ago, I finally got a chance to see the Deftones live. I've been a massive fan of theirs since 1996, but the timing never worked out to see them. I spent a good week listening to their albums in preparation for the show, and when I got to MX, the final track on Around the Fur, I remembered that there is a hidden song, made painfully obvious by the 37-minute run time for the song.
When these albums were added to digital platforms, first iTunes and then streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, most were formatted just like the CD, with a long stretch of silence between the final song and the secret song. I have looked at every album I can remember with a hidden song, and almost none of them have been reformatted for the streaming world with the hidden track separated into its own track.
Secret songs on albums weren't invented in the 1990s, but the 90s were definitely the heyday of secret songs. However, in today's streaming world, they are a nuisance.
March's Playlist
This month's playlist features Karate, Parlor Walls, Friko, Suki Waterhouse, Weakend Friends, Soccer Team, Honeyglaze, and more!
Listen to this month's playlist on
Quick Listening and Other Links
I love a good horn section in a rock band, and u/noisymortimer put together a chart showcasing a trendline of saxophone parts in pop songs.
I was a huge fan of the 2004 movie Garden State. I don't know if it holds up for me as I haven't watched it in a long time, but the soundtrack is still a banger. This month, Zach Braff got a bunch of the bands from the soundtrack together to do a live performance of the songs for charity. You can watch some of the performances here.
