Once again “World Café” is asking its listeners to select the best albums of the past year. The radio program, part of National Public Radio, is taking the votes through its website. As I reflected on all the albums released this year, I thought back to some of my favorites from the year before.
One of those was Magic from Bruce Springsteen. The album was vibrant, and listeners were able to enjoy a very energetic Springsteen. The political messages were there as usual, but the music placed it well above most of Springsteen’s other recordings.
While trying to recall the various tracks on the CD, I actually got it out and listened to it. “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” of course stood out, but I also enjoyed hearing the title track. I think I had overlooked it earlier because of the banal title. I mean there have been several popular songs with that simple title, including the catchy one from The Cars. There is also one by a one-hit wonder, the band Pilot, that was recently rejuvenated by a television ad.
I began to accumulate a mental list of other songs with magic in their titles, and I decided to rank the ones I liked best. Here are those rankings.
10. This Magic Moment” by Jay and the Americans: The lyrics are pretty simple, but they are delivered with the clear voice and clean rhythm on the version by Jay and the Americans. I recall staring in disbelief as I watched Lost Highway and heard Lou Reed covering this song on the soundtrack. I was quite surprised that the guy who wrote about a walk on the wild side would cover such a quaint love song. It actually was pretty good, yet still inferior to that of Jay and the Americans.
9. “Magic Bus” by The Who: This classic hit is easily identifiable. The percussion really stands out, as does the backing vocal of “Bus, Magic Bus.” I chuckle each time I hear the way writer Pete Townshend ends the last verse, inquiring of the driver, “Can I buy your magic bus?
8. Magic Man” by Heart: The Wilson sisters and their band burst onto the rock scene with this favorite for fans of sharp electric guitar riffs. The girl is attracted to a guy of whom her mother does not approve, which of course makes him even more endearing to the daughter. The theme may not be a new one, but the delivery of one Wilson’s voice and the other Wilson’s guitar was something new to electric rock in the 70s.
7.”Black Magic Woman” by Santana: This is one of the best-known songs of Santana, mainly because of the alluring melody. It features a fantastic blend of percussion and guitar, a sound that gives the song a fresh but at the same time supernatural feel. I suppose the fresh accounts for the woman in the title and the supernatural accounts for the black magic.
6. “Magic Trick” by M. Ward: It may seem strange to describe the song as cute. After all, it comes from a dark album called
Post War, and it was recorded by a clever yet somber singer-songwriter. Nevertheless, the song is cute, especially when one is told what the girl’s one magic trick is: “She disappears.”
5. Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles: This song is certainly not among the best of The Beatles, nor was the accompanying film hardly worthy of the most popular band of all time. Still, the tune is catchy and endures over forty years after its release. The song is inviting even from its first lyric, “Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.” At that time, not many Fab Four fans would decline an offer to roll up for a trip.
4. “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary: Some people continue to connect this song to drugs, citing little Jackie Paper as representing something in which to roll marijuana. I never did buy that interpretation. I have been listening to the tune for forty years, and I still find it simply a pretty song about the innocent imagination of childhood.
3. “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful: The title is a rhetorical question, for the singer assumes that everyone believes in it. Even though it features the overused 60s rhyme of movie and groovy, I still smile each time the song comes on the oldies station on my car radio.
2. “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf: This is a good song about escaping the real world. John Kay and his band probably partook of something other than a magic carpet to help them escape, but the message is universal. One can understand the frustration of the poor guy who held Aladdin’s Lamp, only to have it stolen from him. Then after frantically trying to retrieve it, he is left with just “a stupid candle.” The disappointment, though, is quickly forgotten, as he embarks on another ride on his magic carpet.
1. “Strange Magic” by Electric Light Orchestra: I love this band from the 70s. No band since them has been able to blend the instruments of an orchestra with the electricity and drumming of a pop band. Band leader Jeff Lynne’s song has an ethereal sound, allowing one to picture the magic trip being described in the lyrics.
