By Suzi
To begin. An anonymous poem, set to music almost 400 years ago, meets one of the most magnificent voices of the 20th century, describing how it is to be hopelessly lovestruck at first sight. The next song describes similar feelings of being dazzled by a stranger that you’ve met by chance.
Two cars stop at the traffic lights, two former lovers have time for a brief conversation before the lights turn green. Will they see each other again? Maybe…and maybe not. Meanwhile, a woman who’s been shopping stops for a cup of coffee, and makes an unwelcome discovery.
An angel with crumpled wings awaits a man dissatisfied with his life. It’s too late to change things now, it’s time to go. Impossible to argue with that, but tables can be turned on a more human character, a con man who’s trying to sell you – what? Drugs, politics, religion, it could be any of these.
Imagine a planet devoid of music, specifically funk. They’d send a spaceship to Earth to get some wouldn’t they? Of course they would. And now, the ghost of a dead pianist appears in the sky, presiding benignly over town and countryside, although presenting a possible driving hazard with his shiny suit.
It’s a fine Spring morning, and a foxy seducer meets an innocent young lady. Whether he’s a wanted brigand or something more supernatural, it matters not. She follows him anyway. In the next song, an older, wiser woman returns home and discovers, to her intense alarm, a naked and apparently suicidal man. She dispenses strawberry cake and some very good advice:
Don't act like there is no tomorrow
You should use the pain and the sorrow
To fill you up with power
Life's both sweet and sour!
The penultimate song on this list contains two surprises – the protagonist’s happiness at first seems threatened by a stranger in a dream, but there’s a joyous turnaround, for the reverse is true.
Lovers faithful and faithless, angels, snake oil salesmen, spaceships, ghosts, brigands, the supernatural, the suicidal and the ecstatic have all appeared on this playlist. Let’s conclude with a song that seems to chime in with the Quaker belief that there’s something of God in everybody. You don’t have to share this belief for it to make you smile.
The Unexpected Encounter A-List:
Paul Robeson - There is a Lady, Sweet and Kind
The Pretenders - Don’t Get Me Wrong
Paulinho da Viola - Sinai Fechado
Nancy Wilson - Guess Who I Saw Today
David Bowie - Look Back In Anger
Frank Zappa - Cosmik Debris
Parliament - Unfunky UFO
Sparks - The Ghost of Liberace
Bert Jansch - Reynardine
The Sugarcubes - Fucking in Rhythm and Sorrow
The Louvin Brothers - I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby
Victor Wooten - I Saw God
The Bump Into Someone Surprising B-List Playlist:
The Book of Mormon, Andrew Rannells and the Broadway cast - Hello
Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
Marshall Chapman - Call the Lamas
Half Man, Half Biscuit - Fuckin’ Hell, It’s Fred Titmus
Rush - The Twilight Zone
The Jolly Boys - Love in the Cemetery
Billy Bragg and Wilco - Walt Whitman’s Niece
The Burning Hell - The Stranger
Mulatu Astatke - I Faram Nami I Faram
Paul Simon (with the Boyoyo Boys) - Gumboots
Ella Fitzgerald - My Heart Stood Still
The Dogs D’Amour - Singin’
Wildcard Picks:
Nobody expects a shipload of undead sailors to cross the rotting sea seeking vengeance. If they did, they’d make themselves scarce pretty quickly.
The Pogues - Turkish Song of the Damned
Angel Hill is a street in Launceston, near to where Cornish poet Charles Causley lived. This poem, set to music, tells of a sailor who knocks on his door, and is turned away. The Christian symbolism in the song reflects Causley’s faith, but unbelievers also may reflect on the sad fact that when human cooperation, whether at war or in work, is no longer necessary, the comradeship born out of it may die, and people become selfish.
Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting, Nancy Kerr – Angel Hill
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Visit this: songs about surprise encounters. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
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.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: