Cusp Song of the Day: Sweet Emotion

After James Taylor's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" gets the thumbs down, Karen hits another pre-set on her car radio and brings up  "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith. "Ah." She leans back and says to Patrick, “I can’t believe that. I think my whole family is insane.” She's referring to a scene with her sister, but also trying to put off getting physical since she's feeling more annoyed than loving. The song's hard edge fits a lot better than the first two she quickly rejected.

You're callin' my name, but I gotta make it clear
Can't say babe where I'm gonna be in a year.

"Sweet Emotion," from Toys in the Attic, was Aerosmith's first single to reach the Top 40. Although "Dream On," from their eponymous first album, had been released in 1973, it failed to chart. But after "Sweet Emotion" got some traction, "Dream On" was edited down and re-released. After that, there was no stopping the band, which is still putting out new albums today. And it all started here, with "Sweet Emotion." The song is so close to their hearts that they put it on compilations every chance they get, and played it when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.