Sister Golden Hair, by America

Well, we have run out of space odysseys and space oddities, but we have not run out of killer soundtracks in Timmy Chalamet movies! Actually, there are the movies Interstellar and the Dune series, both with brilliant and moving soundtracks by Hans Zimmer, but gorgeous as those are, they are all instrumental, and not what we are looking for on Song of the Day. So the movie connection today will be more, shall we say, down to earth.

Today’s song is one I have loved since the first time I heard it, which had to be when I was no younger than eight years old. America (yes kids, that’s the name of the band—see the movie clip below) released the tune on their third album, Hearts, in 1975.

I’ve heard people compliment this semi-daily music post as being diverse and that they often hear new music they really like. That makes me very happy, but at the same time, like many of you, I love to hear a nostalgic classic from time to time as well, especially when it’s one that doesn’t get the airplay I think it deserves.

Miss Stevens is another little film from the mid twenty teens, and while the trailers might make you think it’s one thing, if you can handle this mild spoiler, I assure you that while the movie gets a bit tense, it is also just so wholesome and satisfying to watch. That leads us into today’s bonus music scene. Our man Timmy is playing a troubled teen with a great deal of talent and skill in the drama department. He, three fellow students, and their teacher, played by Lily Rabe, are on their way to a drama competition, the winning of which would help their school qualify for more arts grants. Yes, it’s nerdy tense.

Usually, I put the bonus clip after the main song, but today, let’s flip it around as a good intro to the whole enchilada. First, here are a few of my favorite lines from the song, which I think just has killer lyrics:

Well, I tried to make it Sunday, but I got so damn depressed
That I set my sights on Monday and I got myself undressed

Now I’ve been one poor correspondent
And I’ve been too, too hard to find
But it doesn’t mean you ain’t been on my mind

No, here’s the cast of Miss Stevens with the band America.

David Bowie’s Space Oddity

You’ve heard David Bowie sing “Ground Control to Major Tom” so many times, but can you believe it was put out into the universe in 1969? I grew up with this song, so I suppose that makes sense, but something about it just sounds so very modern. The song was the opening track of his second and self-titled studio album.

Now, what the heck has Timothée Chalamet got to do with this song? I’m so glad you asked! I could say that his second Dune movie came out this winter, based on the books by Frank Herbert, but that’s a different space oddity altogether. No, this connection to our unwitting theme material for this week is a bit more tenuous.

There’s a lesser known film that came out just before the smash hit Call Me by Your Name, and it didn’t really make a big splash. I suspect some of the over-the-top humor was just something that a lot of movie goers didn’t get. The wild example of the coming of age genre definitely has a base of appreciable fans, but maybe it just didn’t click with the mainstream. Elijah Bynum’s directorial debut included a different take on seeing fireworks when you have your first kiss. I’ll include the scene after the video from Bowie.

The Space Oddity video came out three years after the album, in 1972 and was used in the movie Hot Summer Nights almost five decades later in 2017! I hope you’ll forgive me for making this connection, but we’re doing a deep dive into niche Timothée Chalamet today.

Mystery of Love by Sufjan Stevens

Running late on today’s edition of JSOD because Micah and I are at an appointment. No worries. Everything is fine. Just following up on the mystery of his sore ankles. Sadly, the doctors do not seem to have a medicine to address the mystery of love. More research needs to be done.

Here to sing about the mystery (not of ankle pain, of course) is Sufjan Stevens at a live performance at the 90th Academy awards six years ago. The song was nominated for an Oscar as it appeared in the soundtrack for the movie Call Me by Your Name, starring the same dude who was featured in yesterday’s bonus material wearing a top hat and singing “Pure Imagination.”