OK, so it’s been a while since I’ve “showcased” any of my favorite musicians. I have a very long list so I should try to write these more frequently!

You are certainly familiar with Jill Sobule. Even if you don’t know her name, you probably remember “I Kissed a Girl” from her 1995 self-titled album.

Her rather extensive Wikipedia entry puts it well, saying, “Her folk-inflected compositions alternate between ironic, story-driven character studies and emotive ballads…”

She writes songs that are silly, witty, serious, and very smart. Sometimes all in the same song!

Her most recent album, Underdog Victorious, came out in 2004. It was in one of the six slots of my car CD player from its release until a few weeks ago when I cleaned all of the CDs out of my car (it was getting out of hand). So, yes, I really like this album!

I’m going to give a few sample lyrics this time, since her songs can be so varied.

“Freshman,” on Underdog Victorious, tells us how Jill followed her heart to become a musician, yet lives like a college freshman:

I still have a roommate
I cook on a hot plate
Unless I order pizza
You should see the boxes
This was my dream when I was 13
And now that it’s true
I wish I was you

In “Tel Aviv,” also from Underdog, she sings from the point of view of a young woman working in Tel Aviv as a prostitute:

I dream of my country
I think of my mother
I send her what I can
She thinks I’m a waitress
She’s proud I’m a waitress
In the promised land

From “Big Shoes” off of I Never Learned To Swim:Jill Sobule 1990-2000 (I don’t think it was released on a previous album), Jill recalls wearing orthopedic shoes growing up:

Mary McKay she had Mary Janes
With that patent leather shine
She was known as Tinker Bell
And I was Frankenstein

Big shoes before they were big
Big shoes I’ll never forgive
My mother made me wear big shoes

Anyway, I guess that’s a good sampling. I couldn’t pick just one!

Jill is also politically motivated. You can download songs from her Huffington Post blog, like “Dick and Harry” written after Dick Chaney shot his hunting buddy, and “Put him in the Hall of Fame,” a fantasy that George Bush stuck with his first passion, Baseball.

My timely reason for writing about Jill now is her recent video on My Damn Channel.

There are a couple of songs (the one in the video below, and another) available to download on the My Damn Channel link above, and samples at jillsobule.com.

I hope you love her, too!

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/xml/mdc_embed.swf?episode=58