On the other hand, I'm not sure that "Aubrey" qualifies as a "dirty little secret". There's nothing wrong with a good slow love song, the operative word being "good". I don't always want to rock out, jam out, or kick some ass...sometimes I just wanna wallow in self-pity. For a little while, at least.
To that end, there's (as I see it) "Aubrey" by Bread, and then there's "Always" by Atlantic Starr. There's "Rainy Days and Mondays" or "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters (both of which are on this list, thank you very much), and then there's "Friends and Lovers" by Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson. I can keep going. There's "Someone Like You" by Adele, or "Foolish Games" by Jewel, and then there's "The Search is Over" by Survivor, or "Love of a Lifetime" by Firehouse.
You either understand the difference between a potent ballad and a sappy "Lite FM" throwaway, or you don't.
I respect anything that is true to itself, anything that seems artistically honest. Most of Bread's music lacks a certain (or any) spunk, granted, and is far too drippy and sticky for rotation on "Lite FM" radio, especially these days. But as an artist, David Gates, Bread's lead singer and principle songwriter, has always seemed sincere to me, true to what he is. He's just a balladeer. It's what he does, and he's good at it. For what it's worth, he created a sound in the early 1970s that was uniquely "Bread"...could only be Bread...and to borrow a line from the great Sir Paul (McCartney), when I'm in it, love isn't silly at all. And whether we choose to admit it, well-crafted songs about the rise and fall and loss of love have a way of becoming more important than anything else in life. Sort of like love itself.
I'm sure she's not the only one in the world, but actress Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Rec) is the only girl I've ever heard of with that name, and apparently she actually was named after the song.
Hmm...not sure how I feel about that fact. It sort of interrupts a mystique surrounding this song that has been in place for a long time. But she's gorgeous, so I guess it's okay. I can't say I picture Aubrey Plaza, exactly, when I listen to this song and imagine "Aubrey", but I can't say I don't. ;-)
"And Aubrey was her name, I never knew her but I loved her just the same / I loved her name..."
UPDATE 1/31/17: So, yesterday, barely a week after declaring in my inimitably blow-hard fashion that "Aubrey" by Bread was simply too sticky and gooey to get played on "Lite FM" radio in this day and age, I actually heard it get played! Of course, the station, 105.7 FM WCFW, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, probably doesn't qualify even as "Lite FM"...it's something else all together, something geared toward the geriatric set. (I'll be there soon enough, boys!) But nevertheless, this is the first time I think I've EVER heard "Aubrey" played over the airwaves.
#224) "Sirius/Eye in the Sky" by The Alan Parsons Project - Any time I listen to "Eye in the Sky", it must include "Sirius", the instrumental piece that lasts nearly two minutes before dissolving into "Eye in the Sky". They're actually two distinct songs strung together by a compelling bass line and Alan Parson's knack for sending the mind offshore with his music.
I don't mean this as an insult in any way, but The Alan Parsons Project always struck me as kind of a poor man's Pink Floyd, which makes perfect sense, seeing as Parsons was a producer on Dark Side of the Moon, and doubtless heavily influenced.
But that comparison simply recognizes that Floyd is Floyd...truth is, Parsons was pretty incredible in his own right, and "Eye in the Sky" is proof - a beautiful melange of bass line, percussion and keyboards. With the late Eric Woolfson lending a haunting vocal, this legitimately haunting break-up song reflects sadness without getting sappy, bitterness without becoming angry, and allows resignation and hope to play off one another, rather than trying to do each other in.
"Don't think sorry's easily said / Don't try turning tables instead..."
