fave song friday: "thirteen"

Music has always been an important part of my life and TJ's (we probably never would've met if it weren't for a shared affinity for certain bands), so I'd been thinking of starting a weekly music feature on this blog. The idea is that every Friday (or more likely, as many Fridays as we can manage), one of us will try to post and stream one of our favorite songs to share.

Alex Chilton died at the age of 59 on March 17, so I couldn't think of a better time or way to start this little experiment than by posting a Big Star song in his honor. He had a real gift for melody, and Big Star basically pioneered power pop in the 1970s but seems to be one those bands that have been long overlooked despite casting a long shadow over the landscape of rock music. Its influence—on bands like R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Weezer, The Replacements, and Wilco, just to name a few—is pretty incredible.

"Thirteen" is an acoustic, perfectly sweet and melancholy ballad from the Big Star album #1 Record. It's been a long time since I first discovered this song, but even today I'm always struck by it when I hear it. It's just a perfect, honest portrait of youth and the feelings of nostalgia and loss.

Also, a bonus track: a cover of "Thirteen" that I love the most, by Elliott Smith.

Thirteen - Big Star
from the album #1 Record (1972)

Thirteen - Elliott Smith
from the album New Moon (2007)