This month, all my A to Z Challenge posts will feature a song that is on my personal list of “deep cuts.” These are songs that my husband often razzes me about, that there’s no one else who has ever heard of them or is listening to them, or they’re songs that possibly are just not that mainstream. If we are of the same era or run in the same musical taste circles, none of these may seem that off the beaten path, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun songs! Enjoy!

For the letter A, I chose the song, “A 1000 Times” by Hamilton Leithauser. I think I stumbled upon this song while listening to WXRT FM 93.1 in Chicago (this is a common way for me to discover new music — WXRT is by far my favorite commercial radio station). What I love about this song is the urgency with which the song is sung. The raspiness of the singer’s voice makes it feel like he’s straining to emphasize his feelings. It almost feels tortured, and I love songs, poems, and stories about tortured love. There are some lines in the lyrics that I find compelling as well.

“I left my room on the west side
I walked from noon until the night
I changed my crowd, I ditched my tie
I watched the sparks fly off the fire
I found your house, I didn’t even try
They’d closed the shutters, they’d pulled the blinds
My eyes were red, the streets were bright
Those ancient years were black and white”

When I read those lyrics, I feel like the narrator is saying he tried everything to get the attention of the girl he loved, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t having him no matter what. It’s quite sad.

There were 2 times this song brought me to my knees: 1 was the first time I heard it. The other was when it was used in the prom scene in the series “13 Reasons Why.” There is just something about the words and feeling of the song that make it perfect for that series, especially Clay and Hannah.

If you’ve never heard the song before, check out the official video for it and let me know if you like it!