From cars to people, mind and body, clocks or guitars, the world at large or little local difficulties, let’s start 2019 by fixing up and looking sharp with skills and toolkits on this topic
Read moreFamiliar? It's a Christmas special: songs that sound like other songs
The topic over the Christmas holiday season is a form of convivial, parlour game in which pairs of songs can be nominated that share musical or other echoes - but which came first and where are the comparisons? You decide …
Read moreAll you need is: songs about platonic love
The non-sexual, non-romantic sort is what makes up most of the love we experience in life, so whether that concerns real or fictional experiences, let’s define and explore it as expressed in song lyrics
Read moreA magic number: songs and music by trios
Triangles and holy trinities, this week let’s explore the musical dynamic within groups in which three artists perform as a self-contained unit, not merely pop, jazz, classical, or folk, but across all all genres
Read morePlaylists: songs about shooting
Lou Reed to Tom Waits, Susanne Sundfør to Sandy Denny, inspired by a salvo of superb nominations, this week’s chief arms officer Suzi shoots out in all contexts to hit the target with two sharp-shooting playlists
Read moreBang! Trigger your ideas for: songs about shooting
Bang bang! This week it’s time to find your range, come out with all guns blazing with songs about bullets, guns, cannons, bows and arrows. Gun culture arguments and more, let’s shoot from the hip
Read morePlaylists: songs about determination
From personal obstacles to the wider struggle in war, this week’s selections by guest playlister Marco den Ouden meet the challenges of hundreds of nominations with wonderful vim, vigour and variety
Read morePack up your troubles: songs about determination
On the eve of the First World War Armistice centenary, this week we look at songs about striving through extremely difficult circumstances, whether in conflict or peacetime, extreme or daily situations
Read moreStrident in song: music that expresses the movement and feeling of walking
We all walk slightly differently, so this week it’s all about music that expresses various strolls, swings, swaggers, ambles or strides, and whether in politics or personal, marching bands or military, let’s capture the movement of the people
Read moreJust for the hell of it: songs about the Devil, Satan, Lucifer …
Who’s your devil in disguise? Who has all he best tunes? This week, in a fun week leading up to Halloween, let’s explore songs that mention, in whatever form, the Devil, Satan and any other names he takes
Read moreStand up for your mics: songs about equality
Whatever the platform, the genre or message, this week we’re exploring the issue of equality, if not being the same, from gender to race, politics to work, how to get and if it’s even possible, all through lyrics
Read moreGoing for a song: lyrics using idioms, common phrases and expressions
Feeling on song? They may be derived from literature, media or historic, regular usage, but this week we’re looking how common phrases can jump out at you in lyrics, and ideally are used creatively or cleverly
Read morePlaylists: songs about England … and the English
This is England. It began with a journey on the A roads and B roads, but instead of taking a geographical journey, this week’s guest barbryn travelled to the heart of identity, ascending beautiful heights, led by the lark
Read moreMerry? Divided? Dreaming? It's songs about England
Let’s take a musical trip around this strange, sceptr’d isle, this land of eccentric frontmen, this place of punk and flourishing fashion, to pick up lots of place names and perhaps also define the nature of being English
Read morePlaylists: songs about fractions and portions
How do you separate so many great nominated songs into two playlists? This week’s guest, ParaMhor, divided and conquered hundreds of suggestions into two brilliant divisions, from Beatles to Steely Dan
Read moreCheeky half? Semi-quaver? Songs about fractions and portions
The world is divided, but not always in a bad way. This week we look for songs with lyrics that mention halves, thirds, quarters, eighths and smaller, and any words that pertain to fractions that make up the whole or one …
Read moreGrandiloquent to gavotte: song lyrics with strange, rare or unlikely words
This week let’s delve deep into the musical lexicon for instances where unusual, oddball, inappropriate, funny, pretentious, antiquated or obscure words jump out, sometimes working well, or otherwise
Read morePlaylists: songs about authenticity and fakery
Got a problem? Sex and relationships? Work? Retail choices? All your questions will be answered by this week’s problem-solving guru Uncleben, who turns from agony uncle into ecstasy-inducing music playlister
Read moreThe real thing? Songs about authenticity and fakery
Being true to yourself or others to genuine article in objects, this week we’re seeking songs that, in lyrics, are about searching for authenticity, but might sometimes find the opposite from forgery to falsehood, bootleg to bullshit
Read moreTime is short: songs about brevity
Fleeting romance to brief encounters, the transient to the terse, the brusque to burnout, the concise or condensed, our time is limited on Earth, but there’s still enough to suggest songs on this universal subject
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