Wednesday was a heavy day for our country. Here are our favorite songs to put on when we're just looking to sit back and tune out for a moment.
The Byrds - Ballad of Easy Rider
The Byrds - Ballad of Easy Rider
Just Listen: Studio One's Favorite Tracks To Help You Relax
Dallas Tuttle
/
IPR
"My favorite Byrds release is The Ballad of Easy Rider. It was their 8th LP and was released in late 1969. The song "Ballad of Easy Rider" was originally heard as a solo Roger McGuinn performance on the soundtrack to the Peter Fonda/Dennis Hopper film "Easy Rider" earlier that year. The story I've always heard is that Fonda wanted Bob Dylan to write a piece for the film and approached him several times about it. I don't know why Dylan declined to do it, but what he did do is provide the first couple of lines for the song. The story goes that Dylan wrote the first couplet of the lyric on a scrape of paper and handed it to Peter Fonda saying "take this to McQuinn - he'll know what to do.
In my opinion McGuinn certainly did know what to do with this bit of inspiration from Dylan. The song has a meditative quality, a desire to be cleansed, an urge to move on, and a very Zen approach to wanderlust. The beautiful, seamless guitar fingerpicking throughout lends itself to the feeling that you are floating down a river and absolutely cool with the idea that it will flow wherever it feels like flowing. A beautiful guitar solo by the great Clarence White is icing on the cake. This one brings me comfort - a long-time favorite." - Al Schares, IPR Music Director
Boogie Belgique and Ian Urbina for The Outlaw Ocean Music Project - Cessna
Boogie Belgique - Cessna | #TheOutlawOceean
"Boogie Belgique is a Belgian experimental hip hop and electro swing band. They collaborated with investigative journalist and author Ian Urbina, who has chronicled the history of lawlessness at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping and more for The New York Times. Urbina's Outlaw Ocean Music Project convened hundreds of musicians from dozens of countries as an act of solidarity across geographies and languages to "make music from journalism."
Urbina spent five years at sea and built an audio library of field recordings that are sampled in the music that’s a part of the project. I discovered the track “Cessna” that is a part of the catalogue early last year, and it was one of my most listened to songs of 2020. It's peaceful. It reminded me that even from heavy news, we can inspire beauty. Take a listen." - Lindsey Moon, IPR Digital Producer
Simon & Garfunkel - Punky's Dilemma
Simon & Garfunkel - Punky's Dilemma
