(Note: this series was originally published elsewhere.)

Something in music: origin

One evening at a hot, trendy L.A. nightclub on a rare solo outing, yours truly found himself standing alone at the bar preparing to review the upcoming act. Before he had taken more than a few notes, however, he was bookended by a pair of vivacious vixens who insisted on engaging your rockin’ writer in cozy conversation. Strangely, the subject of “marriage” arose.

One of the young ladies noted that when a gal is about to get hitched, she needs “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Your provocative penman was immediately inspired. After all, those very same terms could be applied to music too: “Something old” or classic, “something new” or recently released, “something borrowed”, a cover, and “something blue”, a blues song or a song with “blue” in the title. The rest is history.

‘Something’ in Music 332

Something Old

Our “something old” in this edition is the classic cut “Welcome to My Nightmare” recorded by American rock singer Alice Cooper. Co-written with Dick Wagner, and Bob Ezrin it’s the title track of the 1975 platter of the same name. It’s a concept album focused on the nightmares of a kid named Steven.

Something New

Our “something new” this time is the new single “Beautiful” recorded by American indie pop singer and songwriter Joy Autumn and co-written with Los Angeles, California-based singer-songwriter Kara Connolly. Autumn said: “Thanks to my amazing co-writer Kara Connolly for looking over 20 pages of lyrics I had written over the span of 3 years and helping me edit it down to a 3-minute song!” She also discussed her latest single.

She admitted: “This song is the most vulnerable piece of music I've ever written…In 2019, when I started writing this song, I was in a dark place, feeling as though I had fallen short in every aspect of life—career, relationships, finances, success, you name it. It was during that period that I realized I needed to be kinder to myself, and I wrote this song almost as a prayer to surrender my negative self-talk and replace it with something more encouraging."

Autumn concluded: “There is beauty in extending the same compassion to ourselves that we give to our friends. There is beauty in self-acceptance, in discovering that our worth is intrinsically attached to who we are, not what we achieve. It’s vulnerable for me to share this song with the world, but I hope that anyone who has ever felt the same way can give themselves the grace to see their own inherent beauty regardless of their achievements.”

Something Borrowed

Our “something borrowed” for this edition is the song “In League with Satan” first recorded by the band Venom and written by band members Conrad “Cronos” Lant, Jeffrey “Mantas” Dunn, and Tony “Abaddon” Bray. It was originally released as a single in 1981.

This evilly energetic audio adaptation is by Chesty Malone and the Slice 'em Ups. This is one of the cover cuts on their torrid 2020 digital album aptly titled Covered in Blood! Quarantine Covers. As lead singer Malone declared online: “You knew it was coming!” (Check out your rockin’ writer’s write-up of their recent re-issue right here!

Something Blue

Finally, our “something blue” in this edition is the song “Evil.” It is a Chicago blues song written by American blues musician, singer, arranger, and producer Willie Dixon. American blues singer and guitarist Howlin' Wolf was reportedly the first to record the song as a single back in 1954.

Did we mention your favorite “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”? If not, let us know. Don’t forget to send us your bride photos too!

(Images courtesy of Rock n Roll Bride and/or original owners)