Your Custom Text Here
PJ Harvey and autoharp
Song of the Day: Continuing on the First World War Armistice Day centenary, a trio of some of the finest songs about war from the British singer and composer from her acclaimed 2011 album Let England Shake
Read More
Lest we forget …
Song of the Day: Simply a song, a piece of music and a poem to mark 100 years since Armistice Day 11 November 1918, the end of the First World War, in which there were 40 million casualties
Read More
Robert Redford and Paul Newman making their last stand in the 1969 film
Song of the Day: Today’s date, 7 November, is significant in all sorts of ways - elections, revolutions, births, deaths, but it’s the day in 1908 when two of America’s most famous outlaws were reportedly killed on the run in Bolivia
Read More
Harry Chapin
Song of the Day: Next in the taxi line is this wistfully beautiful 1972 song from the American singer-songwriter’s debut album, Heads & Tales, about a driver who picks up a glamorous woman who turns out to be an old flame
Read More
Jens Lekman
Song of the Day: From Tim Buckley’s driver perspective to one from the customer, this time in the dry humour of the Swedish singer-songwriter who finds it a haven after missing the last tram home
Read More
Lead Belly
Song of the Day: Also known as In The Pines, and Black Girl, today we move onto another traditional song variously interpreted, dark and brooding, haunting in its melody, and simmering with suspicion and jealousy
Read More
The Animals may have done the best-known cover version, but there are arguably others than better it
To some it’s a masterpiece, to others a dirge, but from 17th century England to 20th century New Orleans, with artists that include Woody Guthrie, Nina Simone, The Animals and alt-J it’s a song that keeps evolving
Read More
Some of the many musicians collaborating on the Playing For Change project
Song of the Day: Yesterday's pick was Cuban played by Africans, today's is an even richer blend with artists from Morocco, Hungary, Mexico, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Senegal, Egypt, India, USA, France and Serbia
Read More
Cesária Evora
Song of the Day: Moving now to and artist from Cape Verde and one of the most beautiful songs, from the singer's her 1992 album Miss Perfumado
Read More
Sona Jarbarteh
Song of the Day: Moving from Ivory Coast and Mali to The Gambia, and the singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer who hails from a long line of Griot kora players with a song to mark her country's 50th independence anniversary in 2015
Read More
Go home, you fuckwit
Song of the Day: To mark the unwelcome visit of the current US president to the UK, two ironic versions of the famous Bob Dylan song that capture the falsehood, narcissism, hypocrisy and divisive racism of the Donald
Read More
From the cover of Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan's fourth album (1965)
Song of the Day: Some songs for Independence Day are patriotic, others heavily critical, but this American dream number sees the then great young lyricist capture his country with surreal, vivid, humorous irony
Read More
Nico. Teutonic stony sadness.
Song of the Day: After Sibylle Baier yesterday, a better known, but in her own way, equally mysterious German singer, best recognised in the Velvet Underground, but here from her own 1967 solo album, Chelsea Girl
Read More
Judy Collins with Leonard Cohen
Song of the Day: After a couple of nun-related songs, let's turn two ethereal songs written by Leonard Cohen, but performed by the singer better known for covering Stephen Sondheim's Send In The Clowns
Read More
Jake Thackray
Song of the Day: From yesterday's Ye Nuns, a gem from the Yorkshire chansonnier from his about a nun who wasn't really one, filled with playful, suggestive images and written in a mock-innocent style
Read More
Who is Joan of Arc?
Song of the Day: After recent songs about the famous who died at a prematurely young age, four very contrasting numbers about the legendary French military heroine who was burned at the stake age 19 in 1431
Read More
Van the man
Song of the Day: After James Carr's soul classic, let's turn down down an unusually upbeat route written by by the Belfast legend for his 1979 album Into The Music, which includes a lyric inspired by it
Read More
Sixto Rodriquez in the early 70s
Song of the Day: After yesterday’s Vashti Bunyan, another inspirational story of obscurity to long-sought recognition fro the mysterious Detroit-born Mexican immigrant singer-songwriter, made famous in the documentary Searching For Sugar Man
Read More
Hair today. Mysterious LUMP dancing.
Song of the Day: Yesterday we highlighted two of Joni MItchell's finest from, and with a California connection, here an English singer-songwriter with a voice that soars with comparable quality, alongside beautiful, otherworldly music from the Tunng frontman and producer
Read More
Joni Mitchell in the early 1970s
Song of the Day: After two previous colourful entries, let's enter the vividly depicted world of the Canadian singer-songwriter, here taking us from Los Angeles to Paris and back on a journey of street and field scenes that capture big issues old and new.
Read More