11 Songs Where the Keyword is SOME | Playlist 🎧

11 Songs Where the Keyword is SOME features music courtesy of HARDY, Mahalia Jackson, Juice WRLD, The Weeknd and Zach Bryan.

SOMEtimes, musical compendiums are conceived based on a keyword or even, a prefix.  That is the case when it comes to 🎧 11 Songs Where the Keyword is SOME.  All 11 songs on this playlist feature SOME in some capacity within the song titles.  There are various ‘some’ words included such as somebody, something, and sometimes.  Musicians featured include 🎙 HARDY, 🎙 Mahalia Jackson, 🎙 Juice WRLD, 🎙 The Weeknd, and 🎙 Zach Bryan among others.  Notably, 🎧 11 Songs Where the Keyword is SOME features alternative, country music, gospel, indie-pop, melodic rap, and R&B/soul.  So, without further ado, lets jump right into SOME great songs!

1. MUNA, “Sometimes (From “Fire Island”)”

🎵 “Sometimes (From “Fire Island”)” • 🏷 20^th Century Studios • 📅 2022

In 2022, Hulu released the ultra-enjoyable, LGBTQ+ film, Fire Island, starring 🎭 Joel Kim Booster. Fire Island, as the title suggests, entails a liberating vacation to Fire Island, located in New York. ✍ Jack Parlett describes Fire Island as A gay paradise of sex and liberation. Notably, he authored a book about it, entitled, 📚 Fire Island: A Century in the Life of an American Paradise. I won’t use this blurb to explore Fire Island the place or the film, but it should be noted that the song, 🎵 “Sometimes” was featured in the film.

“Sometimes I run, sometimes I hide / Sometimes I’m scared of you,” 🎙 MUNA sings familiarly in the chorus. “But all I really want is to hold you tight, treat you right / Be with you day and night / Baby, all I need is time.” The reason why it sounds so familiar is the indie-pop collective is covering the 🎙 Britney Spears classic penned by 🎼 ✍ Jörgen Elofsson. Many (though not all because we eschew stereotypes) people who identify as gay adore Britney Spears, so, it’s fitting one of her song graces the film. Furthermore, it’s fitting that MUNA, who’s three members identify as queer, perform the song. The film highlights gay relationships – something still far too rare on screen – with several of those relationships ultimately transcending hook ups (not to spoil the film if you haven’t seen it).  Anyways, MUNA gives Fire Island a fitting soundtrack with this well-rounded cover.

Appears in 🔻:

• Sometimes: 5ive Songs No. 76 (2022)

2. Zach Bryan, “Something in the Orange”

💿 American Heartbreak • 🏷 Belting Bronco / Warner • 📅 2022

“Please turn those headlights around,” 🎙 Zach Bryan begs on 🎵 “Something in the Orange.” Uh-oh –  it’s those pesky matters of the heart at work! “Something in the Orange” appears on the country’s singer’s gargantuan, two-hour-long, triple-disc album, 💿 American Heartbreak.  So, what’s going on with Zach’s relationship on “Something in the Orange?” Well, it seems as if Bryan is working hard to mitigate damage, if the damage isn’t already too severe. Throughout this superbly penned, heartfelt number, Bryan tries to convince her to say and that “Somethin’ in the orange tells me [him] we’re not done.” He states,  “It’ll be fine by dusk light, I’m tellin’ you, baby,” but it seems to be easier said than done. He makes it clear that she means the world to him – “To me, you’re all I am.”  Furthermore, without her, he is hopeless.  Sadly, he realizes, “I poisoned myself again, somethin’ in the orange / Tells mе you’re never comin’ homе.” The orange, of course, is the sun.  Oh, that American Heartbreak stings something awful, but the song itself is epic!

Appears in 🔻: 

• 15 Songs Characterized by Their Colors, Vol. II
• 50 Best Songs of 2022

3. Juice WRLD, “Sometimes”

💿 Fighting Demons (Deluxe) • 🏷 Grade A Productions / Interscope • 📅 2022 

“Pick up the rock, score / I pill pop some more / Why? It numbs me inside / I know it ain’t right, but it’s part of the ride.” 🎙 Juice WRLD clearly had his fair share of problems.  Many of his songs explored mental health and numbing the pain with drugs.  Tragically, his demons got the best of him, only days after his 21^st birthday in 2019. The song at hand, 🎵 “Sometimes,” marks another reminder of not only how talented Juice WRLD was, but also his downward spiral that ultimately cost him his life.  “Sometimes” appears on the digital deluxe edition of his second posthumous album, 💿 Fighting Demons.

The quality of “Sometimes” is not debatable. Juice WRLD is backed by top-notch, banging production (🎛 Danny Wolf and 🎛 Otxhello) that suits his melodic, emo brand of rap.  Juice sounds terrific, musically, wowing with his distinct flow and brand.  That said, it is the lyrics and the messaging that are depressing and tragic. “I wanna be by my lonely / I pop these Perc’ by my lonely,” he sings in the chorus, adding, “.40 on me, you know it’s my homie.” Of course, he’s even more candid as the early example indicates, as well as lines like, “As of lately, my demons they still bother me / When I’m sleepin’, they sittin’ on top of me / And wherever I go, they’ll follow me / I fell into the pit and it’s bottomless.” It is still sad that he is no longer living.  His music lives on, both a testament to his talent as well as a cautionary tale about mental health and drug abuse.

Appears in 🔻:

• Sometimes: 5ive Songs No. 76 (2022)

4. The Undisputed Truth, “Smiling Faces Sometimes”  

💿 The Undisputed Truth • 🏷 Motown • 📅 1971  

“Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes / They don’t tell the truth,” 🎙 The Undisputed Truth asserts on the chorus of the classic, 🎵 “Smiling Faces Sometimes”. The memorable, timeless chorus of this minor-key gem continues, “Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes / Tell lies and I got proof.”  Woo! Penned by the dynamic Motown duo 🎼✍ Barrett Strong and 🎼✍ 🎛 Norman Whitfield, “Smiling Faces Sometimes” is actually a COVER! Shock and awe, folks!   

What’s interesting about the fact that “Smiling Faces Sometimes” wasn’t originally recorded by The Undisputed Truth is WHO originally recorded it 👀.  Strong and Whitfield are Motown writing legends, so, Motown artists often recorded songs recorded by other Motown artists.  🎙 The Temptations recorded the original 👀! The Temptations did a marvelous job on the 12 ½ minute original, but The Undisputed Truth earned the biggest hit of their career, peaking at no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It probably also helps that The Undisputed Truth version runs just over three-minutes-long, while capturing the marvelous tune and exceptional production and orchestration. TUT get right to the point, which is more readymade for airplay on radio. Take one listen and you’ll see the hype and can’t resist smiling at the truth the collective serves up! The lush production intact with fat bass line, the memorable songwriting – #SICKENING! While you don’t get those epic lead vocals from 🎙 Eddie Kendricks, the performances by committee are awesome, nonetheless.  This 1971 song from 💿 The Undisputed Truth is an undisputed bop to this day!  

“The truth is in the eyes 

Cause the eyes don’t lie, amen 

Remember a smile is just 

A frown turned upside down 

My friend let me tell you.”  

Appears in 🔻:

• 13 More Songs Sure to Make You Smile
• The Undisputed Truth “Smiling Faces Sometimes”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 10 (2021)
• The Temptations vs. The Undisputed Truth: Head 2 Head 🗣️ 39 (2021)
• Sometimes: 5ive Songs No. 76 (2022)

5. The Weeknd, “Is There Someone Else?”

💿 Dawn FM • 🏷 Republic • 📅 2022

🏆 Grammy-winning R&B standout 🎙 The Weeknd (🎙 Abel Tesfaye) returned in January 2022 with his fifth studio album, 💿 Dawn FM.  Tough to follow up a masterpiece like 💿 After Hours (2020), but Dawn FM ends up rivalling the preceding LP! On the SOME song, 🎵 “Is There Someone Else?”, The Weeknd admits his lies in the past to his lady. Even so, he now believes that it is her that is being dishonest. “I don’t deserve someone loyal to me / Don’t you think I see?” he sings in the second verse, continuing, “And I don’t want to be a prisoner to who I used to be / I swear I changed my ways for the better, the better / ‘Cause I want to be with you forever, forever.”  On the tenth track on Dawn FM, Abel Tesfaye continues to compel.

6. ERNEST, “Some Other Bar”

💿 Flower Shops (The Album) • 🏷 Big Loud • 📅 2022

“Then girl I knew / From the second that you walked in / That goodbye was just the beginning of me wishing on a midnight star / That I’ll see you / at some other bar.” Hmm, interesting.  🎵 “Some Other Bar,” the tenth track from 💿 Flower Shops (The Album), commences with chill, rhythmic guitar lines. The main attraction, country singer 🎙 ERNEST, sings radiantly. His tenor sounds beautiful with appeal beyond the country fan base.  That said, love – specifically with her – does not appear to be in his court.

The melodic lines in “Some Other Bar” are agile, breezy, and rhythmic, a major selling point. During the chorus, the record embraces more country sensibilities, thanks to a more dynamic, heavier, guitar-driven sound. The chorus features plenty of lyrics, but remains tuneful, nonetheless.  The chorus sums up the song, which is about a romance that is clearly one-sided.   The good news for ERNEST – there is plenty of alcohol.  Cheers!

7. Jack Harlow, “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS”

💿 Sweet Action • 🏷 Generation Now / Atlantic • 🗓 2020

“I wanna see some ass /… Baby, can you do it like that?” Well, shallow lyrics like that leave little to the imagination, 🎙 Jack Harlow. Furthermore, when the title of a song is 🎵 “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS”, you know it’s intended for the bedroom, nighttime, etc. “She said, ‘I don’t wanna move too fast’ / ‘Til she hit that gas.” Woo! “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS” expectedly lacks depth and profundity.  But give the Kentucky-bred, 🏆 Grammy-nominated rapper credit – he’s honest about what he desires on the third track from 💿 Sweet Action, which also features 🎙 jetsonmade. Also, worth noting, he produces the track alongside 🎛 CuBeatz.

The theme is loud and clear – SEX.  “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS” exemplifies fuckboy rap.  Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily when you consider how often other rappers rap about sex and sexual encounters.  Jack is confident AF making it clear, “And I’m still flyer than a bitch / And ya boyfriend, well he just not that.” Hey, it’s a funny lyric.  The second verse grows more explicit, with the gem “Strip club, pre-cum off of liquor, fell in love with a stripper…” Oh my! 🎵 “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS” also wasn’t intended to have much – rather – any substance.  Basically, we have a cocky, confident rapper who’s thinking with his pants.  This is that fuckboy rap 🎙 Jon Bellion rapped about in 🎵 “New York Soul, pt. II” but at least 🎵 “Young Harleezy” is incredibly likable (not to gas him up too much).

Appears in 🔻:

• Jack Harlow, “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS”: After Dark 🕛 🌃 56 (2022)

8. HARDY, “Give Heaven Some Hell”

💿 A ROCK • 🏷 Big Loud • 📅 2020 

“You had a wild side, but you had amazing grace / I know you’re way off up in them clouds / But you can still hear me right now.” On 🎵 “Give Heaven Some Hell” (💿 A ROCK) country musician 🎙 HARDY (Michael Wilson Hardy) remembers a friend who has passed away. Even though losing someone special in your life is devastating, in the case of “Give Heaven Some Hell,” it is NOT a sad song.  The record commences with a rhythmic introduction that possesses a cool energy about it. HARDY sings with a well-rounded tone, employing that country twang, which plays to the country base.

During the first verse, HARDY exhibits plenty of poise, particularly during the first half. During the second half of the verse, big drums provide more energy.  The pummeling drums reappear during the centerpiece of the song, the chorus:

“I hope you hit those gold streets on two wheels

I hope your mansion in the sky’s got a ten-acre field

With some mud and some hubs, you can lock in

Make some thunder, make ‘em wonder how you got in

Hide your beer, hide your clear from the man upstairs

Crank it loud, hold it down ‘til I get there

And when I do, I hope you got some new stories to tell

‘Til then, give Heaven some hell.”

Following the chorus, there’s an instrumental interlude, common to country music, that capitalizes on the energy built up. The second verse packs more punch than the first, with fewer bars. The bridge, which contrasts the verses and chorus, keeps the same energy as the chorus – HARDY is turned up by this point.  It is a moment like this that shows this memorialization was never intended to be sad and embraces some hellishness.

9. The 1975, “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)” 

💿 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships • 🏷  Polydor / Interscope • 📅  2018 

“You build it to a high to say goodbye / Because you’re not the same as them / But your death it won’t happen to you / It happens to your family and to your friends.” Damn, that pretty deep stuff right there. Near the end of 2018, British alternative collective 🎙 The 1975 delivered an interesting third album with 💿 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. One of the more interesting tunes appears at the conclusion of the album, the reflective and suicidal 🎵 “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes).”   

“I can hardly speak / And when I try, it’s nothing but a squeak,” front man 🎙 Matthew Healy sings. Despite having a depressing sensibility (understatement), “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)” actually has more tempo and more rock cues compared to the songs that precede it.  Crossing over the five-minute mark, the band give us a strong, driving groove, lush strings, and some turned-up guitars.  The chorus is simple, yet melodically captivating.  

“And I always wanna die, sometimes  

I always wanna die, sometimes 

I always wanna die.”  

Appears in 🔻:

• 15 Songs That Center Around Sadness & Depression
• ALWAYS: 13 Songs That Exemplify Utmost Consistency
• Sometimes: 5ive Songs No. 76 (2022)

10. Prince, “Sometimes It Snows in April”

💿 Parade – Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon • 🏷 NPG / Warner • 📅 1986 

“Sometimes it snows in April / Sometimes I feel so bad (So bad),” the late, truly great, 🎙 Prince sings on the 1986 classic, 🎵 “Sometimes It Snows in April”. “Sometimes It Snows in April” graces his album,  💿 Parade, which doubles as the soundtrack to the movie he also acts in, 💿 Under the Cherry Moon.  This closing record is a far cry – a stark difference – from sexually charged Prince which dominated the 1980s. Instead, on this nearly seven-minute ballad, Prince is reflective, more restrained, and somber.  The chorus, the centerpiece continues, “Sometimes I wish that life was never ending / And all good things, they say, never last.”

Given Prince’s unexpected death on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57, the song takes on a new meaning for his fans.  It was a sad day losing one of the most prolific, talented musicians of all-time.  Just like Prince is sad regarding the death of Tracy – something revealed when he begins singing – the world was saddened and shocked to see another superstar pass away far earlier than anticipated.  The song fittingly speaks to how life is truly fleeting, and you shouldn’t take it for granted. “I used to cry for Tracy ‘cause he was my only friend / Those kind of cars don’t pass you every day,” he sings in the first verse, continuing, “I used to cry for Tracy ‘cause I want to see him again / But sometimes, sometimes life ain’t always the way.” So true, Prince, so true.  Prince wrote “Sometimes It Snows in April” alongside  🎼 ✍ Lisa Coleman and 🎼 ✍ Wendy Melvoin. It is a radiant tearjerker from a legendary 🏆 Academy and Grammy award winning musical icon.

Appears in 🔻:

• 11 Intriguing Snowy Songs
• Sometimes: 5ive Songs No. 76 (2022)

11. Mahalia Jackson, “Somebody Bigger Than You and I”

💿 I Believe • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 1960

“Who made the mountains? Who made the trees? / Who made the rivers flow to the see?” legendary gospel singer 🎙 Mahalia Jackson sings on the moving faith-based ballad, 🎵 “Somebody Bigger Than You and I”.  “Somebody Bigger Than You and I” appears on Jackson’s 1960 album, 💿 I Believe. Penned by 🎼 ✍ Johnny Lange, Hy Heath, and Sonny Burke, Jackson authentically brings the writers’ poetic lyrics to life. She continues singing in the first verse, “Who hung the moon in a starry sky? / Somebody bigger than you and I.”

Of course, that somebody bigger than you and I refers to God.  The second verse, Jackson continues to ask questions about all of the miraculous things God does without specifically naming Him.  By the bridge, He is the pronoun, making it clear (if there was ever any doubt), this uplifting record pays ode to God. “He lights the way when the road is long / And He’ll keep you company,” Jackson sings, adding, “He walks beside you just like He walks with me.” Accompanied by orchestra and choir, alongside Jackson’s once-in-a-lifetime, anointed pipes, “Somebody Bigger Than You and I” is truly special.  Notably, other late, great icons, 🎙 Elvis Presley and 🎙 Whitney Houston, recorded covers on How Great Thou Art (1967) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996) respectively.

Appears in 🔻:

• Mahalia Jackson, “Somebody Bigger Than You and I”: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 46 (2022)

11 Songs Where the Keyword is SOME [📷: 20^th Century Studios, Atlantic, Belting Bronco, Big Loud, Brent Faulkner, Columbia, Engin Akyurt via Pixabay, Generation Now, Grade A Productions, Interscope, Motown, The Musical Hype, NPG, Polydor, Republic, Warner]