And that cryptic title is all you get.

1. “4th of July”, Joe Purdy
2. “Toxic”, Yael Naim
3. “Steeple Full of Swallows”, The Gourds
4. “Wake Up Next to You”, Graham Parker
5. “Mercy Street”, Peter Gabriel
6. “Romeo and Juliet”, Indigo Girls
7. “Loving You Sunday Morning”, Scorpions
8. “Cowboy Angel”, Roger Alan Wade
9. “Beauty Way”, Eliza Gilkyson
10. “Broken”, Tift Merritt

It was 113 degrees in downtown L.A. on Monday; it poured Wednesday, and double rainbows lingered over the city. When #5, a great track off my favorite 1970s album, came up on shuffle, I thought of good “end of the world” music.

#4 has been my theme song this week.

1. “Awful”, Hole
2. “Cold Missouri Waters”, Cry Cry Cry
3. “75 Septembers”, Cheryl Wheeler
4. “When the Pin Hits the Shell”, Drive-By Truckers
5. “Before the Deluge”, Jackson Browne
6. “Sleeping with the Light On”, Jonatha Brooke
7. “I Wonder Where to Find You”, Merle Haggard
8. “Sorrow”, Bad Religion
9. “He Lays in the Reins”, Calexico & Iron and Wine
10. “International Velvet”, Catatonia

The theme of the bonuses (which I chose) are obvious tribute to the lamentable Republican candidate from the First State. Of those that came up randomly on shuffle,, #5 is a famous song about men who refuse to close the doors that need closing (by someone who ought to know) and #7 is a new and devastating track from one of my favorite contemporary singer-songwriters.

1. “Up on Cripple Creek”, The Band
2. “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)”, Quiet Riot
3. “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”, Nanci Griffith
4. “When Sal’s Burned Down”, Dar Williams
5. “Thirty-Nine and Holding”, Jerry Lee Lewis
6. “Whenever You’re on My Mind”, Marshall Crenshaw
7. “The Rest of Them”, Catherine Feeny
8. “Tomorrow, Wendy”, Concrete Blonde
9. “Sing Me Back Home”, Gram Parsons (Flying Burrito Brothers)
10. “Boys on the Radio”, Hole

Bonus Track One: “I Touch Myself”, the Divinyls
Bonus Track Two: “Darling Nikki”, Prince

My wife and I were married on September 4, 2005, and what a remarkable and blessed half-decade it has been. For our anniversary, the bonus track is one of “our songs”, and was not chosen at random.

Lots of good stuff from the random shuffle. #8 is by an amazing former student and good friend, Tara Craig. Check her out.

1. “The Ballad of Mary Magdalen”, Cry Cry Cry
2. “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl” Mink DeVille
3. “Summer, Highland Falls”, Billy Joel
4. “I Hear Them All”, Old Crow Medicine Show
5. “An Exception to the Rule”, Dwight Yoakam
6. “Maybe There’s A World”, Yusuf Islam
7. “Your Bright Baby Blues”, Jackson Browne
8. “Until Our Voices Give Out”, Tara Craig
9. “Swept Away”, The Avett Brothers
10. “Elvis Presley and America”, U2

Bonus Track: “Turn Me On”, Norah Jones

Ten tracks from random shuffle on my iTunes DJ:

1. “Hell Ain’t Half Full”, Chris Knight
2. “If I Can’t Have You”, Yvonne Elliman
3 “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”, Eliza Gilkyson
4. “Cowboy, Take Me Away”, Dixie Chicks
5. “The Price I Pay”, Billy Bragg
6. “Shir Hamaalot”, Sheva
7. “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”, Del McCoury Band
8. “City on a Hill”, Third Day
9. “King of California”, Dave Alvin
10. “Satisfied Mind”, Rosanne Cash with Neko Case

I do these less and less frequently. This might be my last one. Songs 1 and 6 are from the marvelous “Nod to Bob” Dylan tribute.

1. “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”, Eliza Gilkyson
2. “Head Full of Doubt”, Avett Brothers
3. “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard it Should Be”, Carly Simon
4. “This is Me”, Girlyman
5. “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward”, Billy Bragg
6. “It Ain’t Me Babe”, Lucy Kaplansky
7. “Rose Colored Glasses”, Meat Purveyors
8. “Oh Shoplifter”, The Stills
9. “Tennessee Blues”, Steve Earle
10. “The Silver Tongued Devil & I”, Shooter Jennings

Bonus Track: “Sing Mary Sing”, Jennifer Knapp

I’m safely back in the States after an eight-day visit to Russia; FRTs are rare for me these days, and this isn’t quite random: these were the last ten songs I listened to on my iPod on my flight home. Yes, Cerys Matthews was the inspiration (at least in part) for my daughter’s second name, and if you haven’t purchased the new Patty Griffin album yet, please do.

1. “Indianapolis”, Bottle Rockets
2. “My Life Would Suck Without You”, Kelly Clarkson
3. “Another Country”, Tift Merritt
4. “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here), The Clash
5. “Arglwydd Dyma Fi”, Cerys Matthews
6. “Backroads of Texas”, Bois d’Arcs
7. “Sweet Tooth”, Dave Rawlings Machine
8. “Farewell to the Rhondda”, Paddy Reilly
9. “Little Fire”, Patty Griffin and Emmylou Harris
10. “Tangled and Wild”, Oh Susanna

Lots of new stuff I’ve discovered lately: #2, #6, and the bonus are from three of my favorite new artists. (I discover lots of new music listening to “Outlaw Country” on Sirius Satellite Radio.)

1. “Just Breathe”, Pearl Jam
2. “L.A. County Blues”, The Band of Heathens
3. “This is England”, the Clash
4. “Love’s Gonna Live Here”, Dwight Yoakam
5. “No Bad News”, Patty Griffin
6. “Sinaloa Cowboys”, Dyl
7. “White Liar”, Miranda Lambert
8. “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos”, Joan Baez
9. “Tin Man”, The Avett Brothers
10. “When the Stars Go Blue”, Ryan Adams

Bonus Track: “Broken Bottles”, Sons of Bill

1. “When Will I Be Loved”, John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen
2. “Not Fair”, Lily Allen
3. “Tougher than the Rest”, Bruce Springsteen
4. “I Don’t Know What Love Is”, Leslie Nuchow
5. “I’m Not Afraid to Die”, Gillian Welch
6. “Broken Things”, Lucy Kaplansky
7. “I’ve Always Loved You”, Third Day
8. “Satisfied Mind”, Rosanne Cash and Neko Case
9. “Reasons to Quit”, Phosphorescent
10. “Wisemen”, James Blunt

Bonus Track: “Silver, Blue, and Gold”, Bad Company
Bonus Video: “Letter B”, The Beetles — my favorite Sesame Street song ever. Perfection.