YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 151 (Once More, With Feeling)
(Originally finalized on August 17, 2025)
Preface: Listening to The Eagles' Peaceful Easy Feeling last week reminded me of an idea for a theme I wanted to do centered on songs about feelings. Consider it a spin-off of my theme dedicated to The Five Senses.
Monday: Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright [With A Little Help From My Friends, 1969]
Comments: Although singer Joe Cocker's debut album is named after a different popular cover (which made a splash at Woodstock later that year), it opens with this song - another one of his greatest hits. I only just learned that the original song was written by Dave Mason of Traffic, and recorded for the band's self-titled album, released the previous year.
Tuesday: Santana - Just Feel Better [All That I Am, 2005]
Comments: Although the guitarist is the focus, to me this song is about two singers. And I don't mean the frontman from Puddle of Mudd, who Santana recorded this song with, before choosing Aerosmith's Steven Tyler to be the singer for the official release. When it came out circa 2005, I caught a version on Good Morning America which Santana played with guest vocalist Walt Lafty, who sang for a short-lived but memorable retro rock group from Philly called Silvertide.
Wednesday: Tom Petty - You Don't Know How It Feels [Wildflowers, 1994]
Comments: Undoubtedly one of Tom Petty's all-time most popular hits, from his celebrated "solo" album (albeit featuring most of the Heartbreakers as session players) Wildflowers, I'll never know exactly to what extent this song's popularity hinges on the inclusion of the line "let's roll another joint", but my experience from seeing Tom Petty four times in concert tells me that it's probably significant. :-p
Thursday: Van Halen - Feel Your Love Tonight [Van Halen, 1978]
Comments: Similar in subject matter to Bad Company's Feel Like Makin' Love (which I shared during their own personal edition of Band Connections), this overlooked track from Van Halen's bombastic debut album puts singer David Lee Roth's insatiable carnal appetite front and center.
Friday: Journey - In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations [Journey, 1975]
Comments: Journey has a more popular song with the word "feeling" in the title, from their first album with new vocalist Steve Perry, which marked a considerable change in direction for the band. But my loyalty lies with the less pop-friendly but more musically adventurous earlier version of the band, as demonstrated on this track from their debut album.
Saturday: Jethro Tull - My Sunday Feeling [This Was, 1968]
Comments: Owing to musical differences, guitarist Mick Abrahams would be replaced by Martin Barre after the release of Jethro Tull's debut album. As such, their earliest material features more of a blues rock/jazz fusion sound than the progressive folk that the band would come to be known for under vocalist (and noted flautist) Ian Anderson's direction. Frankly, I find the original recipe to be quite compelling.
Sunday: Peter Frampton - Do You Feel Like We Do (Live) [Frampton Comes Alive, 1976]
Comments: A strong contender for my Album Closers theme (competition was stiff), I'm delighted to finally be able to feature this song. I honestly couldn't tell you much else that Frampton did after giving up his spot as guitarist in Humble Pie, but this is one of the most storied live albums in rock history. And this closing track is a sprawling epic, with one of the most notorious uses of the guitar talk box in musical pop culture.
Honorable Mention: Bo Burnham - That Funny Feeling [Inside, 2021]
Comments: This is one of those themes that has no shortage of songs to choose from. Some prominent ones that were disqualified due to previous use were The Eagles' Peaceful Easy Feeling (as mentioned above), Cream's I Feel Free (even though I said songs for that theme wouldn't count as repeats), and Boston's More Than A Feeling (a first impression!). But the honorable mention is going to a 21st century song from the soundtrack to Bo Burnham's COVID-era masterpiece of musical dramedy, Inside. It's the closest thing to a traditional song in the whole special, and is a hauntingly lucid demonstration of the inescapable anxieties of metamodern life.