Piano has long been one of my all time favorite instruments and it cannot be denied that the girl can sing.

And, for those of you who feel covers never do the original version justice, here is Otis’ version for your listening pleasure.

Mraz told the story of the song to Rolling Stone (Source Butterfly Songfacts): “When I took a break to make this record, I joined my roommate Bushwalla’s band — I was the guitarist and background vocalist. There was a young woman in the band who would also do a burlesque show and invited us to go see her. And I was watching this burlesque show thinking, ‘Man, I wonder if my music is played in any exotic clubs anywhere in the world? I sincerely doubt it. ’ That challenged me: I went home, and I thought, ‘I’m going to see if I can’t write a song that a young woman would want to model her shoes to.’ I don’t know if the girl ever found out, but it’s definitely one of the more fun songs in the live show.”

Pour yourself a glass of wine, cuddle up with someone cute and enjoy!

Actually released in 2007, In Our Bedroom After the War is the fourth album from Canadian band Stars. In an interview with MTV Live, Stars frontman Torquil Campbell indicated that one of the goals of the band was to create an album that came across as a unified whole through careful sequencing and thoughtful storytelling instead of simply sounding like a collection of tracks.

Mission accomplished. This album went with me everywhere for nearly half of 2009 and I don’t know if I ever skipped over random tracks to get to a favorite song. The album as a whole is just too damn good. The story is captivating and the juxtaposition of male and female vocals carries you along through an enchanted journey.

Following a mostly instrumental first track, The Night Starts Here kicks off a trip that has sucked me in time and time again.

Honorable Mention – Other artists who rocked my world in 2009:

Bon Iver - Having gone to college in his hometown, frontman Justin Vernon has been on my playlist since his Mount Vernon, Black Pirate days. But, it is his latest venture with band Bon Iver that has grabbed the rest of the world’s attention. The story goes, after a breakup with both band and girlfriend, Justin came home and spent three months at his father’s remote cabin in northern Wisconsin. It was there that he wrote most of the music for Bon Iver’s debut album For Emma, Forever Ago; and developed the concept of Bon Iver, derived from the French “bon hiver“, or good winter. Anyone who has ever lived through a northern winter and came out a better person will be able to relate to Bon Iver’s songs and sound.