My Top 1000 Songs #574: It's A Shame About Ray

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

The title track off the Lemonheads' 1992 album feels like it's ushering in the 90s alt.rock era of power pop. The band brush off the hard edge of their earlier work for jangly melodies; yet the tune, despite a drop-dead sing-along chorus, feels like it retains something a little darker and heavier than cheerier pop songs. "I've never been too good with names, but I remember faces" is a line permanently etched in my memory of that era, the song capturing my entry to young post-law-school adulthood with something freeing yet bittersweet.

Live on Letterman: