Today we reach the final W of the Five Ws and H of journalism, so I’m playing a selection of songs with Why in their title. The series will, of course, conclude next week with the outlier: H for How, which doesn’t mean “how did you ever become a journalist,” though in many cases maybe it should. But I digress: here are this week’s songs.

Is this first one an obvious one for me to play? It probably is, but that isn’t stopping me:

The Beatles released Tell Me Why on their album A Hard Day’s Night, a companion to the movie of the same name, in which the tracks were featured. The movie was premiered on 6 July 1964, the North American version of the album came out a couple of weeks before that, and the UK release was a week after the movie. And to complicate things further, the track listings were different: we got an additional song on our version, and the North American one also included a couple of instrumentals. I think we got the better deal! Unsurprisingly, the album went to #1 just about everywhere, and is rated 4xPlatinum in the US and Platinum in the UK. I chose that video among several that were on offer as it shows scenes of Beatlemania, albeit when they were receiving their MBEs a year later, as it is a document of the phenomenon that they were.

This next song didn’t have quite the same effect, but I’ve always liked it:

Why Does It Always Rain On Me? was first released by Travis on their second album, The Man Who, in May 1999. The track was the third single from the album, in August of that year, and became the song that gave them their international breakthrough. All of their previous singles had reached the UK chart but this was the first to be a hit anywhere else. It got to #10 in the UK, #11 in Australia, and made the charts in a further ten countries, including the US, where it got to #36 on the Adult Airplay listing, and #35 on the Alternative Airplay chart – both of those are based on radio appearances. The track helped the album to international success too: it was a UK #1, #2 in Ireland, #8 in Australia, and made the charts in several other countries, even including the US where it peaked at #135. Travis had a pleasant style, and I recommend them to you if this is the first time you’ve heard them. As tributes to the “Great British Summer” go, they don’t come much better!

This next one is from one of my usual suspects. I think she is remarkable, both as a songwriter and performer, and she is a really nice person too:

Why Walk When You Can Fly? was a track on Mary Chapin Carpenter’s fifth album, Stones In The Road, which was released in October 1994, making #10 in the US and #26 in the UK – her first to make it here. It also topped the Country Albums charts in both the US and Canada. Like everything she does, it is a beautiful album filled with great songwriting, accompanied by her wonderfully warm voice. This track was the fourth single taken from it, in June 1995, but it wasn’t a huge success, only getting to #45 in the US Country chart and #43 in the Canadian one – I guess that eight months on from the album most had already bought it by then. The version I am playing is from her first live DVD, Jubilee: Live At Wolf Trap, which came out in January 1996, debuting at #35 in the US video charts and staying on the listing for ten months. I have had the great good fortune to see her play live: one of the best shows I’ve ever been to.

One that I’ve played before – albeit in a different version – is my penultimate offering for today:

Why Don’t You Try Me was a track on Ry Cooder’s ninth album, Borderline, which was released in October 1980. I previously played a live version from a performance when Ry was in the band Little Village, alongside John Hiatt, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner, but I thought I’d give you his original today. Wikipedia has few details of any chart placings for his records, which is a shame, but they are all high quality and I have them all in my collection, going right back to his 1970 debut. Apparently, this album made #43 in Australia – but that’s all Wiki tells us! For me, he makes fantastic music with some wonderful guitar playing.

I’m closing with what at first looks to be a longer video, but the song is only the first four minutes so you don’t have to stay for the credits if you don’t want to! It is a lovely piece, well worth playing:

Dire Straits released Why Worry on their fifth album, Brothers in Arms, in May 1985. This was one of the first albums to take full advantage of the additional space afforded by CDs when compared to vinyl records, and this was one of four songs which enjoyed a longer CD version, 8’31” compared with the vinyl’s paltry 5’22”. The album reached #1 in the UK, the US and a further fourteen countries, and has sold more than 30m copies worldwide, going 9xPlatinum in the US and 14xPlatinum in the UK, for 9m and 4.3m sales respectively. The version I am playing is from a collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, which produced the albums All The Roadrunning and Real Live Roadrunning, both released in 2006. This is the closing track on the DVD release of the live album: I think it is a lovely performance of a beautiful song, and a good way to close today’s set of tunes.

That’s all for now, and I’ll see you again soon. Have a great week 😊