When you write a blog like this, it's easy to feel pleased about recommending an obscure tune or artist. I'll recall a catchy indie tune or an esoteric jazz melody I heard in the middle of the night on a low power FM station or discovered in a record store's clearance bin and hope that readers will seek it out.
There are times, however, to acknowledge that some songs are popular for the right reasons. By now, you've most likely seen the Apple Music commercial in which Taylor Swift lip-syncs and dances around to Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle." She also mentions how much she enjoyed the tune when she was in middle school. After hearing the tune again for the first time in several years, I thought, "She has good taste there. There's a catchy hook, a great sing-along chorus that doesn't wear out its welcome, and lyrically, it's a great way to tell someone, with no trace of heavy-handedness, 'Don't worry if you don't fit in. You're fine the way you are.'" "The Middle" was climbing the charts during this week 14 years ago, and it sounds just as fresh now. Thanks to Jimmy Eat World, Taylor Swift, and Apple Music for the enjoyable reminder. If a tune needs to be stuck in my mind for days at a time, this one is welcome to stay there indefinitely.
