Jill Sobule

Earlier this month, folk singer Jill Sobule unexpectedly died in a house fire. I saw a post breaking the news on BlueSky and was immediately bummed; Jill's songs were often delightfully satirical and ranged from rockin' to mellow to almost countryish.

I've talked about how I don't generally enjoy live bands because of the insistence of deafening volume from the amps, but I'd have liked to see Jill at a live show. I think she'd have been a lot of fun.

Best known for "I Kissed a Girl" (not the Katy Perry tune), my favorite of her tracks include "Happy Town" (about taking anti-depressants), "Rapture" (about religious interpretations of afterlife), "Youthful Indiscretions" (about George W. Bush getting favorable treatment for his hijinks while others get the book thrown at them), "Manhattan in January" (about climate change), and, of course, "Put Him in the Hall of Fame" (about George W. Bush's career decisions and their consequences).

I'm going to miss getting those emails from Jill (or her publicist?) touting a new song and hearing how she processes the chaos of the day into music.

The world is a darker place without Jill Sobule. Safe journey to this creative soul.