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Warming up, ready to pour …
We might find it with lyrics or feelings of love, or home, or in certain styles or sounds. Pouring out a lovely range and across the seasons, guest playlister Naguchi brings beautiful balm to the soul inspired by last week’s topic
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Paul Kelly: a perennial Song Bar favourite storyteller
Time waits for no one, but many songs are ageless. With perspectives looking back and forward, and many great stories, guest of the week Barbryn picks a fabulous selection inspired by last week’s topic
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Underdog under dog
From the financially underprivileged to the militarily outnumbered, sporting longshots to those barred by the race, from last week’s topic suggestions, guest Loud Atlas’ powerful picks show how the apparent minnows can become mighty
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Stack of 7-inches
Brutally, or mercifully truncated, radio-edited in musical mix or lyrical content, decorously tarted up with orchestra or other instruments, added or deleted solos, made dancier or more ethereal, it’s time to dig up some the contrasting versions that have surprised, delighted or frustrated you
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Let the needle drop … it’s darned good
The needle might normally drop on to spinning vinyl, but it’s also embroidered a wonderful tapestry of songs in playlists – superbly knitted together by guest of the week Tatanka Yotanka, who picked up the threads from last week’s topic
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Stevie Wonder has a strong connection with the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr …
It runs within us all, but how is it expressed in song? From major moments and figures in history to personal stories, and even the legacy in our genes, guest Marco den Ouden covers a brought range in fine detail with playlists picked from last week’s topic
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“Recognise your age, it’s a teenage rampage.” Sweet!
Life’s SO unfair! NOBODY understands! After a huge outpouring of song suggestions on this angst-ridden subject, guest of the week Olive Butler picks out two wonderfully entertaining playlists that really reach for the inner child
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Mommy Long Legs
Girl gangs, guy gangs, punk, rock, folk, pop and more, since this topic was launched last week it’s been a group effort, and leading us out with his pick of the nominations, guest ParaMhor makes songs about gangs great
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Less is more, or more is more? Goodness. This sort of thing could raise a chap’s temperature somewhat
Knee socks, stockings, Y-fronts and bags of bras, especially red. As with all the best things, a glimpse is far more exciting than baring all, and with these selections guest playlister philipphilip99 is primed in the art of titillation
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Portrait of Laurence Sterne by Joshua Reynolds, 1760. Sterne’s revolutionarily divergent meta-novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, became a huge influence on great 20th century novelists from James Joyce to Italo Calvino and Thomas Pynchon
In the spirit of Laurence Sterne’s wonderfully original novel, and inspired by a hive mind of nominations, guest guru Uncleben embarks on a marvellous meandering journey of deliberate divergence to explore a self-referential mirror-hall of lyrical meta
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Class act: John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in 1966
On the move or stuck in one place? Class snobbery to pride, social control to aspiration, it’s a hugely potent part of human life, something that never seems to disappear in stories, situations, and above all the feelings it generates
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It’s just a stage I’m going through: Bregenz Music Festival in Austria
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
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The astonishing Marble cave, in Rio Tranquilo, Brazil.
This week it's time to dig deep in your record collections for find all things subterranean, whether that's in the beauty of natural geology, to man-made caverns or even the metaphorical underground
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Wake up ... with Sudan Archives
Dawn in India to Donovan, Bacharach-David to The Beatles, this week's wonderful selections by guest playlister ParaMhor from last week's nominations will have you feeling wide awake and refreshed
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Leap of the imagination? As told by … Black Beauty
New perspective? Songs with storytellers that are different and on the fringes – repressed women, eccentrics, the mentally challenged, criminals, children, otherworldly spirits from gods to ghosts, animals, aliens, plant life, or even objects
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Guess which boys are back for a reunion in this week's A-list …
Allman Brothers to Viv Albertine, Rolling Stones to Robert Earl Keen, Lene Lovich to Thin Lizzy, this week brings a wonderful wave of reunion and homecoming in playlist form, compiled by Ravi Raman from last week's topic
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Beyoncé ... imagining herself as a boy, if that's not a stretch …
If only, maybe or perhaps it happened differently? From Beyoncé to Beach Boys and Belle & Sebastian, this week's guest playlister EnglishOutlaw skilfully treads alternative paths inspired by last week's song nominations
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Joan's not in love, but …
Madness to metaphor, the sacred to the profane, there are many ways to start a song. Inspired by last week's many nominations, guest writer severin creates two cleverly crafted playlists of examples
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1) Keith Richards by Ronnie Wood
This week the Bar becomes a special gallery filled with music stars' work! Peruse the paintings and name their famous creators, and suggest songs inspired by art and artists from any period or genre
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Tina Turner ... turning suffering into art just like JMW Turner (see below)
Hurt can be the source of most songs, but this week we look at the when pain can be positive, and suggest songs that take the upbeat, or even pleasurable view of pain in the mind and body
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