Every Day is a Winding Road by Sheryl Crow

TITLE: Everyday is a Winding Road
ARTIST: Sheryl Crow
CHART POSITION: 12
DATE IT WAS A HIT: November 1996

B-SIDES?: Live versions of 'If It Makes You Happy', 'All I Wanna Do' and 'Run, Baby, Run'.

CONTEXT IN MY LIFE: I had not long turned 17, and had got Sheryl's recently-released self-titled album for my birthday. I also went to see her in concert at the Newcastle Arena the month this song was a hit, and thought she was great. What I really associate this song with, though, is going out with my friends to disco nights at Newcastle University. We were all underage and had been given tickets on the sly by the brother of one of my friends. The student union was probably delighted to let us in, because these nights were often virtually deserted. This song played during one particular evening, and I remember my friend, Rachel, spilling something sticky and alcholic on her skirt. When I went into the toilets, there she was in her pants, holding the skirt under the hand-driver and singing 'Everyday is a Winding Road.'

DISCERNING OR DISMAL?: Although Sheryl's music has taken quite a cheesy path, I'll admit on the quiet than I'm still a fan. This is one of those sunny, feelgood songs that I still know all the words to, and one of the few singles I own that take me back to an exact point in my life. Still don't think that 'everyday' is the right spelling in that context, though...