Bars, basements, intimate, sweaty or large or legendary, forests, festivals, stratospheric stadia, snug pubs to prisons, caves to operatic amphitheatres, let's musically celebrate venues and spaces mentioned by, or associated with songs
Read moreWhere did it all go wrong? Songs about crisis …
… and how can it all go right? This week let’s see if we can make musical manoeuvres in the current climate, causes and cures for crises, whether they be political social, economic or personal
Read moreTune up for 2019: songs about fixing, repairing and solving
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 moreHow great thou art: songs influenced by gospel
Big flamboyant, expressive voices to call-and-response choirs, praise and looking for answers? This week we soul search into gospel’s musical styles infused into other genres, from soul to R&B, hip hop to rock, folk and indie
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 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 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 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 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 moreGoing up? Songs about stairs, ladders, steps, elevators or escalators
Steep, sweeping, stone, wood or metal? This week we're exploring how music give us a certain kind of lift – through lyrics that describe all ways to up or down, on foot or via mechanical means, actual or metaphorical
Read moreJust keep on dancing: songs about staying and remaining
We’re not leaving, but showing endurance, fortitude and steadfastness. There’s a whole lot of staying power going on in this week’s topic, from physical to mental strength …
Read moreWorld Cup? Not quite. It's songs about substitutes
Are they meant to be better, or not as good, artificial or the real thing? From sport to food, people to plans, work to worries and distraction, let’s explore substitutions in life and music
Read moreRefresh your page: songs about milk and other non-alcoholic drinks
This week at the Bar we're putting aside the booze, and ’cordial’ly invite song suggestions about any amount of softer beverages, from the fizzy to juicy, milkshakes to mocktails, and hot or cold water drinks
Read moreReflections on … songs about confidence. Is that OK?
It's cleverer and sexier than brains or beauty. Musicians and performers have it spades – but in equal measure to insecurity. So this week let's explore songs all about wanting it, getting it, using it or losing it
Read morePlaylists: great songwriting 1900-1955
Armstrong and Astaire to the Boswell Sisters and Al Bowlly, Whispering Jack Smith to Sarah Vaughan, this week's guest playlist writer DiscoMonster digs out many a treasure in a golden age of discovery
Read moreAnything goes before rock'n'roll: great songwriting 1900-1955
Tin Pan Alley to the Great American Songbook, blues, jazz standards, show tunes, gospel or folk, this week we escape the modern era to find songs of exemplary craft, performance or pertfectly capture their era
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