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Playlists: love songs to specific places

March 8, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Avalon man: Mississippi John Hurt


By Uncleben


We Britons dream of forests, fens and fields
Commune with ancient forts and hidden wealds 
Seek spirits in the bramble, briar and haw
The Waterboys’ god lives on Glastonbury Tor

Through sinuous alleys, amorous lairs
Street atlas indexed with steamy affairs
Lucio Dalla takes us by the hand
And guides us through the charms of svelte Milan

Rolling hills, cotton fields, dust and dirt
Home is calling Mississippi John Hurt
New York’s a good town but he’ll travel on
Back to his roots down in sweet Avalon

The love we feel for childhood homes grows scarred
Polluted memories atrophy the heart
Heartless Bastards chart the bleak topography
And rusted soul of Main Street, Cincinatti

From forests to grasslands, vast savannahs
Home of cattle, herons, jacamars 
The soul of Aries Vigoth will remain
Forever on the Casanare plain

Some say we might need a new religion
Another soul music, a different kitchen
Protoje’s Jah smiles on rivers and trees
The sunshine, the trade winds, the West Indies

Gare Saint-Lazare has me begging for more,
I dote like a child on ma chère Gare du Nord
But if Gilbert Bécaud calls, tell him I’m poorly
Don’t let him take me planespotting at Orly

Camarón de la Isla, senses stirred
By estuary marsh and salt flats, heard
The music of the water, barge and skiff
Ring through the air on Bahía de Cádiz

The nectar of love comes mixed in strange potions
LCD Soundsystem feel torn emotions
Insomniac city, mood-swinging town
New York, they love you, but you’re bringing them down

The mariachi horns don’t make a sound
The town he loved is now a battleground
Tom Russell dreams of hope, but senseless war is
Tearing lives apart in his dear Juárez

To Jean Sibelius, closing our theme –
His thinly veiled V-sign to tsarist regime
Forged national identity, helped conquer fear
Serenity reigns now in Finlandia

The Atlas d’Amour A-List Playlist:

The Waterboys - Glastonbury Song
Lucio Dalla - Milano
Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues`
Heartless Bastards - Skin and Bone
Aries Vigoth - Llanura Aqui Esta Tu Hijo
Protoje ft Chronixx - Who Knows
Gilbert Bécaud - Dimanche à Orly
Camarón de la Isla - Bahía de Cádiz
LCD Soundsystem - New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down
Tom Russell and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble - Goodnight Juarez
Jean Sibelius - Finlandia


The Bon Voyage B-List Playlist:

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Qu’appelle Valley, Saskatchewan
Mischief Brew - O, Pennsyltucky!
James Taylor - Carolina in My Mind
The Beginning of the End - Funky Nassau`
Lord Creator - Kingston Town`
The Whitlams - Melbourne
Angèle - Bruxelles je t’aime
Christy Moore - Back Home in Derry
The Bangles - Going Down to Liverpool
Lorraine Bowen - Give My Love to Hull
Florence + the Machine - South London Forever


Guru’s Wildcard Pick:

Cesária Évora - Petit Pays

A tender, sparse song of longing and love for her native Cape Verde. 

These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: X marks the spot: love songs to specific places. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.

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Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address. Also please follow us social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.

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In African, blues, classical, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags The Waterboys, Lucio Dalla, Mississippi John Hurt, Heartless Bastards, Aries Vigoth, Protoje, Chronixx, Gilbert Bécaud, Camaron de la Isla, LCD Soundsystem, Tom Russell, Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Jean Sibelius, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mischief Brew, James Taylor, The Beginning of the End, Lord Creator, The Whitlams, Angèle, Christy Moore, The Bangles, Lorraine Bowen, Florence and the Machine, Cesaria Evora, places, playlists, towns, cities, Uncleben
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Prune juice


SNACK OF THE WEEK

celery sticks in guacamole dip


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New album: Gently profound, and full of wondrous, mesmeric, slow, delicate experimental songs, this simple title has a powerful resonance – it is the Chicago artist’s first vocal album since 2018’s There’s Always Glimmer (there have been two instrumental LPs since), having suffered and recovered from a severe vocal injury, she returns with a delicate, candid, whispery but hauntingly beautiful delivery

Apr 28, 2026
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New album: This lo-fi, darkly minimalist but also oddly candid fourth LP by the Australian, Castlemaine-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist centres on the conflicted, obsessive feelings about “a friendship that became emotionally charged in an unexpected way”, and “an album about closeness that arrives late and unexpectedly. About stability rubbing up against desire.”

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Apr 26, 2026
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White Denim: 13
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New album: This 13th LP in two decades by the Austin, Texas rock band fronted by James Petralli has a particularly mischievous experimentalism, spreading styles far beyond breathlessly paced prog rock, with wrily humorous, surreal, personal and passionate numbers across heavy funk, dub, soul, psyche, country, dirty blues and more, joined by host of outstanding extra musicians

Apr 26, 2026
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New album: Wonderfully evocative field recordings release of Wagogo, Waluguru and Wasambaa Tanzanian women singing traditional songs in their villages, rarely heard outside of their own circles, the title is translated as The Origin of Mother, rich in stories and capturing the place where song is first learned, first felt, first shared

Apr 24, 2026
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New album: Four decades since their self-titled debut, Brooklyn alternative rockers John Flansburgh and John Linnell return with their 24th LP, packed with of punchy, pacy, wistful, whimsical, clever wordplay and indie rock-pop, buoyantly satirical and also a little world weary at times, they remain oddball, lively commentators on the ongoing absurdity of life

Apr 23, 2026
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Apr 28, 2026
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Apr 27, 2026
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Song of the Day: Hand Habits - Good Person
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Song of the Day: Gentle, droll, humorously self-deprecatingly, and also delicately beautiful, this new experimental folk single by the moniker of Los Angeles singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Meg Duffy addresses the love-hate relationship with making music, out on Fat Possum

Apr 26, 2026
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Apr 25, 2026
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Apr 24, 2026
Beck - Ride Lonsome.jpeg
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Song of the Day: Beck - Ride Lonesome
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Song of the Day: Beautiful, simmering, slow, melancholy and reflective, a surprise single and welcome return by the acclaimed US artist, evoking the haunting, sun-bleached landscapes and musical textures of his 2015 Grammy winning album Morning Phase, out now on Iliad Records/Capitol Records

Apr 23, 2026
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Song of the Day: Gelli Haha - Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep
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Apr 22, 2026
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Song of the Day: LEENALCHI 이날치 - Here Comes That Crow 떴다 저 가마귀
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Apr 21, 2026
Jesca Hoop - Big Storm.jpeg
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Song of the Day: Jesca Hoop - Big Storm
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Apr 20, 2026
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Prima Queen
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Song of the Day: Prima Queen - Crumb
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Apr 18, 2026

Word of the week

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Apr 23, 2026
Word of the week: throstle
Apr 23, 2026

Word of the week: An archaic, evocative noun with two connected meanings, originally for the song thrush, then later a textiles industrial frame for spinning, twisting and winding machine for cotton, wool, and other fibres simultaneously

Apr 23, 2026
Undine - Novella.jpeg
Apr 9, 2026
Word of the week: undine
Apr 9, 2026

Word of the week: It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus

Apr 9, 2026
Veena player.jpg
Mar 27, 2026
Word of the week: veena
Mar 27, 2026

Word of the week: This ornate, curvaceous, south Indian classical instrument, the saraswati veena, is a special bowl lute with a rich, resonant tone, has 24 copper frets with four playing strings and three drone strings, and is used for Carnatic music

Mar 27, 2026
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Mar 12, 2026
Word of the week: wallfish
Mar 12, 2026

Word of the week: It sounds like the singing finned picture ornament Big Mouth Billy Bass that became popular in the late 1990s, but this is a much older noun, derived in Somerset, England, pertains to the climbing gastropod that can slowly climb up any surface

Mar 12, 2026
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Feb 25, 2026
Word of the week: xiphias
Feb 25, 2026

Word of the week: Get the point? This is the scientific name for the swordfish, in full Xiphias gladius (from the Greek and Latin for sword), that extraordinary sea creature with the long, pointy bill. But what of it in song?

Feb 25, 2026

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