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Talkin' about ... songs about defined social generations

August 7, 2025 Peter Kimpton

À la Mod: a key book written in 1964 (before today’s Generation X were actually born) by Jane Deverson and Charles Hamblett that influenced the likes of British punk Billy Idol and later the Canadian author Douglas Coupland …

The Lost, the Silent, the Greatest, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y (Millennials), Gen Z, then Alpha and Beta, the last 125 years have generational labels now increasingly used in our language and culture. But what are their traits, and how are they reflected in song lyrics or even music?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, bossa nova, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, samba, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags generations, baby boomers, generation x, millennials, Gen Z, Charles Hamblett, Jane Deverson, Karl Mannheim, social history, sociology, Neil Blumenthal, Terry Pratchett, Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Haidt, Weyes Blood, Douglas Coupland, Pete Townshend, The Who, technology, war, Family, history, Gertrude Stein, Tom Brokaw, second world war, CMAT, Daniel Lieberman, China, Northern Ireland, Russia, Australia, India
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A special shared space: songs about unusual or unexpected friendships

July 17, 2025 Peter Kimpton

A commemorative model of Apollo-Soyuz on 17th July 1975

To commemorate the Apollo-Soyuz space link up, exactly 50 years ago today, on 17th July 1975, let’s celebrate strange, unusual bonds of friendship in song lyrics and shake hands with the unexpected …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, bossa nova, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, metal, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, samba, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Apollo-Soyuz, space travel, Space, science, history, William Blake, WB Yeats, Henry David Thoreau, Socrates, Somerset Maugham, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Huxley, Abraham Lincoln, A.A. Milne, Russia, America, Alexei Leonov, Thomas Stafford, TS Eliot, Groucho Marx, Ella Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe, Helen Keller, Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel Beckett, André the Giant, animal behaviour, animals
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Warning signs: songs about tyranny and dictatorship

January 18, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Rogues’ gallery, some of the many …

Notorious, violent, controlling, paranoid, ruthless, and excessive, history is filled with them, their rise supported by the fear and apathy. Constantly a threat, from history to the present and future, what are their traits, and how are they portrayed in song?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soundtracks, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, tyranny, dictatorship, dictators, politics, history, US politics, US presidents, US presidential election, Idi Amin, Uganda, Adolf Hitler, Germany, Colonel Gaddafi, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, William Blake, Philip Slater, Mahatma Gandhi, Emily Bronte, British Empire, Aesop, Lord Acton, Robespierre, Joseph Stalin, Russia, Martin Luther King, Voltaire, Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator, Percy Shelley, Scott Walker, Brady Corbet, Film, film soundtrack, China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, Genghis Khan, Ivan The Terrible, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Cambodia, Africa, Ethiopia, Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, Chad, Brazil, Paulo Coelho, Vik Muniz, Augusto Pinochet, Chile, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, Naomi Wolf, Hisham Matar, Libya, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Park Yeon-mi, A. N. Wilson, Steven Van Zandt, Marshall McLuhan, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Anthony Kennedy
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Toxic warning! Songs about poison

November 23, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The classic poisoner’s choice …

Natural or handmade, animal or chemical, fast or slow, murderous or accidental, we inhabit a world of toxins and venoms, but how are they expressed in song? With inspiration here, the more specific and colourful the better but there’s also the mental and metaphorical …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, psychedelia, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags poison, toxins, venoms, Paracelsus, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Robert Graves, Ancient Rome, history, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, August Strindberg, Thomas De Quincey, Ben Okri, Derrick Rose, Nancy Astor, Winston Churchill, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, Socrates, China, Germany, Adolf Hitler, Russia, KGB, Mary Ann Cotton, Tori Telfer, Graham Young, William Palmer, crime, Jim Jones, India, Bhopal, animals, Jonathan Swift, Pliny The Elder, Saint Augustine, Marianne Williamson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aeschylus, Henry Adams, Noam Chomsky, Henry A. Wallace, Richard Flanagan, MJ Carter, food, food industry, Umberto Eco, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Gustave Flaubert, George RR Martin, Game of Thrones, Cary Grant, Film, television
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Fantastic, it's for real: songs about illusion

March 16, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Shadowplay: from the video for Come, by French singer-songwriter Jain

Visual, auditory, via media, rumour, or any other distortion of perceptions, from personal experience to the political, this week we search for songs about the interplay of the senses and idea of illusions as a primary focus

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, perception, illusions, Albert Einstein, Craig Bruce, Voltaire, Douglas Adams, Woody Allen, Jain, media, psychology, Herman Wouk, Noam Chomsky, Arthur Koestler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Alan Moore, John Steinbeck, Mario Vargas Llosa, George Lucas, Film, Juliette Binoche, Talib Kweli, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, US politics, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Kurt Vonnegut, James Turrell, Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, Robert Gonsalves, Philip Treacy, Julian Casablancas, The Strokes, Estelle, Roger Daltrey, Rufus Wainwright, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, György Ligeti, SUUNS, MC Escher, David Bruce
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What goes around: share your 2022 reflections and musical discoveries

December 22, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Water year it’s been …

It’s time to reflect on an extraordinary year, about events public or personal, to celebrate those artists who have sadly left us, and also include in particular your discoveries in music old or new, here at the Bar or elsewhere

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, music, 2022, history, Karl Marx, Hegel, George Santayana, HG Wells, Norman Cousins, Elvis Costello, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, UK politics, Queen Elizabeth II, royalty, royal family, Ukraine, Russia, Vladimir Putin, King Charles III, Paddington Bear, environment, climate change, Ronnie Spektor, Ronnie Spector, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mark Lanegan, Nicky Tesco, Taylor Hawkins, Vangelis, Paul Ryder, The Happy Mondays, Cathal Coughlan, Meat Loaf, Ricky Gardiner, Keith Levene, Wilko Johnson, Christine McVie, Jet Black, Martin Duffy, Mimi Parker, Low, Terry Hall
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Great exhibitions: songs about 19th century life and culture

August 4, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Early music recording attempts at the end of the 19th century

This global history topic takes in many events, inventions, people and social trends, but beyond dates and facts, it is particularly about life of the times, habits, attitudes and values, and can also include fictional and other artistic styles

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, showtime, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, Queen Victoria, 19th century, history, Charles Dickens, Frederick Douglass, Mrs Isabella Beeton, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, William Wilberforce, Florence Nightingale, transport, trains, China, Russia, American Civil War, slavery, Harriet Tubman, Great Reform Bill, suffrage, Peterloo Massacre, Tolpuddle Martyrs, Ireland, migration, emigration, Irish diaspora, Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, Alessandro Volta, Thomas Edison, Lewis Howard Latimer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, James Watt, Richard Trevithick, railways, London 2012 Olympics, Peter Durand, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron, William Whewell, Samuel Morse, Karl Benz, Elisha Gray, Alexander Graham Bell, Karl Marx, Hegel, Jane Austen, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Thackeray, John Keats, Rudyard Kipling, John Constable, JW Turner, Beethoven, Mahler, Pedestrianism, sport, The Great Exhibition
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Joy in repetition: songs about nightingales and song thrushes

March 24, 2022 Peter Kimpton

The common nightingale

The inspiration of poets and songwriters for thousands of years, advertising with infinite music invention and energy, it’s also the national bird of Ukraine, defending its territory. So let’s celebrate the nightingale, and thrush cousin, in music and lyrics

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, metal, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, nightingale, thrush, birds, animals, Edmund Spenser, Soren Kierkegaard, John Keats, Leonard Cohen, John Milton, Kristin Hannah, Taras Shevchenko, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Manning Sherwin, Eric Maschwitz, Ukraine, Russia, Thomas Hardy
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Give them a howl: songs about wolves

September 16, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Arctic wolves in full song

Arctic wolves in full song

Hunter or hunted, in a pack or working alone, in metaphor or myth, human connections from werewolf to dire wolf, this week they are all at the door, so it’s time to howl out your song suggestions referring magnificent canis lupus

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, wolves, wolf, animals, animal behaviour, Bela Lugosi, Margaret Atwood, Rudyard Kipling, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Farley Mowat, Jack London, JW Curran, Plautus, evolution, George RR Martin, Game of Thrones, mythology, fairy tales, Joseph Jacobs, Grimm Brothers, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Disney, Lon Chaney, John Landis, Film, film soundtrack, Michael Jackson, Neil Jordan, Angela Carter, JRR Tolkien, Shaun Ellis, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Russia, John Webster, theatre, Lana Turner, Jennifer Donnelly, FT McKinstry
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The sum of its parts: songs featuring choirs

August 27, 2020 Peter Kimpton
The Red Army Choir gives it some welly

The Red Army Choir gives it some welly

Time to sing out! This week, in any genre, music and songs featuring choirs, whether they are the main performers, or come alongside other musicians or singers and then play a prominent or pivotal role

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, folk, funk, gospel, indie, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, soul, songs, soundtracks, traditional, showtime Tags songs, playlists, choirs, choirboys, Paul McCartney, Vladimir Mayakovsky, John Keats, Brian Eno, Fred Allen, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Mavis Staples, Florence Welch, Tom Jones, Treorchy, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mississippi Mass Choir, Red Army Choir, Russia, Mieskuoro Huutajat, Finland, The Number Nine Chorus, Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson, Mouths of the Tyne Community Choir, whales, Bill Drummond, Vokal Ansambl Gordela, Georgia, Werner Herzog, György Fehér, Kate Bush, Le Mystere des voix Bulgares, Reverend James Cleveland
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Heading for a fall: songs about September and October

September 26, 2019 Peter Kimpton
There is a light …

There is a light …

With this week’s topic cycle straddling two months, let’s capture both in songs that may be autumnal, seasonal, celebratory or mournful, during a time of year of change, activity and a strange red-tinged beauty

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In avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, rock, rocksteady, reggae, punk, postpunk, prog, metal Tags songs, playlists, September, October, autumn, Christina Rossetti, Harry Warren, Al Dubin, George Cooper, weather, poetry, history, October Revolution, USSR, Russia, Cuban missile crisis, 9/11, festivals, climate change, food, Portugal, China, Vietnam, Japan, Alexander Theroux, Henry Rollins, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Wallace Stegner, Johnny Mercer, Denis Norden, Caroline May, Susan Lendroth, Nova Schubert Blair, Elizabeth Chase Akers Allen, Trembling Bells, Earth Wind & Fire
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Fourth of July? Songs about parades and processions

July 4, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Onwards!

Onwards!

They express the joys, hopes, triumphs and tragedies of the human race coming together, – mixed emotions, war to civil rights, weddings to funerals, religious and sports to military might to floral festivals. But where do they come up in song?

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In avant-garde, blues, comedy, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, pop, playlists, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, parades, processions, fourth of July, Independence Day, Philip James Bailey, Mike Ditka, FKA Twigs, US presidents, US politics, Russia, Philippines, First World War, Jack Johnson, boxing, Hawaii, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Will Smith, Donald Trump, France, Emmanuel Macron, Richard Nixon, John Naisbitt, China, Oliver Stone, Tom Cruise, Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bette Midler, Tom Wolfe, Adam Smith, New Orleans, Rio Carnival, London 2012 Olympics, Gilbert K. Chesterton, David Lee Roth, Prince, Super Bowl
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Exposed! Songs about photographs and photography

February 28, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Help! A knockout moment from Muhammed Ali and the Beatles in 1964

Help! A knockout moment from Muhammed Ali and the Beatles in 1964

Every picture tells a story, but this time let’s do it with songs inspired by, or about photographs or photography, and to help inspire here’s a selection of rare and usual shots to provoke memory, imagination, mystery and wonder

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, soul, songs, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, photography, The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Robert Frank, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Nan Goldin, Sebastião Salgado, Kodak, Film, Blondie, Frances Densmore, Sonny Clay, Big Jay McNeely, Louis Armstrong, Egypt, Australia, Brazil, Howard Carter, Tutankhamun, history, New York, Russia, Vietnam War, Prohibition, protest
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Strident in song: music that expresses the movement and feeling of walking

November 1, 2018 Peter Kimpton
No two walks are the same …

No two walks are the same …

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

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags Songs, playlists, walking, biology, animals, The Beatles, Monty Python, John Cleese, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Locke, Mason Cooley, Billie Holiday, John Travolta, Lee Marvin, Julie Christie, Film, Ian Brown, Liam Gallagher, Mick Jagger, John Inman, Pink Panther, cats, fashion, Richard Dawkins, Jarrow March, Selma, Detroit, civil rights, Nelson Mandela, marching bands, New Orleans, Russia, military bands, James Vincent McMorrow, Matthew Henry, Hippocrates, Kamasi Washington, Bjork
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Foul play? Songs about conspiracy theories and paranoia

June 21, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Meeting of metaphor or the literal? Well, it's all a question of scale …

Meeting of metaphor or the literal? Well, it's all a question of scale …

No, it’s not the World Cup. Or is it? This week let’s delve into music’s interpretation of the murky world of imagined or otherwise undercover plots from Roswell to JFK, 9/11 to Russian interference, and er … lizards

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, metal, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, rock, showtime, ska, songs Tags Songs, playlists, conspiracy theories, paranoia, politics, aliens, John F Kennedy, Howard Hughes, Hunter S. Thompson, John Buchan, Danny Bhoy, Comedy, Roswell incident, 9/11, Flat Earth Society, Paul McCartney, McCarthy era, Yuval Noah Harari, Jeff Greenfield, Peter Bergen, journalism, Felix Dennis, Marin Amis, David Icke, George HW Bush, The Queen, Kris Kristofferson, Theresa May, Michael Gove, Russia, Vladimir Putin, US presidential election, US presidents, Kardashians, science fiction, television, CIA, spying, smoking, cancer, James Baldwin, John le Carre, JD Salinger, William Burroughs, Mordecai Richler, Molly Ivins, Andy Grove, Thom Yorke, Ty Segall, David Sylvian, Cher, Billy Joel, Donald Trump, Louis Theroux, Kim Jong-un, Braindead (TV series), Star Trek, The Simpsons
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Kept in suspense? Songs about hanging – in all senses

January 18, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Hang out at the Bar. You'll enjoy it.

Hang out at the Bar. You'll enjoy it.

Folk to rock, pop to hip hop and more, from grisly executions to leisure time with friends, to ending phone calls, let's hang out at the Song Bar and explore songs using these many idioms

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In playlists, music, songs Tags Songs, playlists, hanging, execution, idioms, language, Douglas Adams, Aesop, Eve Arnold, art, photography, books, William Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Franklin, Oliver Cromwell, Joseph Stalin, USSR, Russia, Roy Bean, Krzysztof Kieślowski, film, Aldous Huxley, George W Bush, Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Nikita Khrushchev, John F Kennedy, US foreign policy, Franklin D Roosevelt, Charlotte Bronte, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Stephen Milligan, autoerotic asphyxiation, INXS, Michael Hutchence, David Blaine, William Feather, JC Watts, Diana Princess of Wales, Keith Richards, Ice Cube, Adele, Danny Devito, Carl Jung, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Josh Homme, Oprah Winfrey, Patti Smith, Dale Chihuly, Victoria and Albert Museum, lights, Nick Cave
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Who can't handle the truth? Songs about propaganda, liars and lying

June 1, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Awkward … your life in their hands. May, Trump and poor old Washington

Awkward … your life in their hands. May, Trump and poor old Washington

Mass campaigns to crowd manipulation, political U-turns to personal deception, suggest songs about the art and artifice of changing facts for dubious or other purposes, but here to make truthful playlists

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Tags songs, music, liars, lying, truth, politics, Propaganda, Donald Trump, Theresa May, Sir David Attenborough, George Washington, John C Macrae, art, history, Robert Capa, photography, The O'Jays, Captain SKA, Alan Clark, Conservatives, Scott Inquiry, Paris Climate Agreement, climate change, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, public relations, spin doctors, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bambi, Alice Walker, Martin Parr, Edward Bernays, Adam Curtis, documentary, Sigmund Freud, psychology, psychotherapy, China, Russia, North Korea, Noam Chomsky, Brian Eno, Facebook, social media, Twitter, Evgeny Morozov, John Berger, Bernie Sanders, Republican Party, Rebecca MacKinnon, Nazi party, Josef Goebbels, second world war, Paul Robeson, Adolf Hitler, Sherlock Holmes, film, Basil Rathbone, Rosie The Riveter, Mrs Miniver, Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator, Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, Tim Allen, Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie, JD Salinger, books, Gunter Grass, Patrick deWitt, Samuel Butler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Jean Cocteau, Janice Dickinson, Kevin Bacon, Ryan Gosling, La La Land, Emma Stone, Luis Suarez, Greg LeMond, cycling, Tour De France, cheating, drugs, Logan Pearsall Smith, Aesop, Arcade Fire, The Dead Kennedys, advertising
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Movement of the people: songs about migrants, immigrants and refugees

February 2, 2017 Peter Kimpton
   Land of hope? The Big Apple beckons

   Land of hope? The Big Apple beckons

Bollocks to the ban. This week at the bar let's fly in the face of immigration policy ignorance and welcome everyone in – with musical tales of bravery against cruelty, and human spirit seeking its way to a better life

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Tags songs, immigration, migration, refugees, asylum, New York, United States of America, Germany, Donald Trump, Woody Guthrie, Holocaust, racism, religion, 9/11, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Film, Michael Winterbottom, Afghanistan, John Lydon, Stewart Lee, Ukip, Michael Franti, Led Zeppelin, Iceland, Knaan
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Playlists: songs and music from or about Russia

January 25, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Four of the Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble's finest

Four of the Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble's finest

Prokofiev to Prince to Pussy Riot, Mussorgsky to Marc Almond, east meets west in a perfect political and personal parade encoded by this week's secret agent, EnglishOutlaw, from last week's topic

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Tags Songs, EnglishOutlaw, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Al Stewart, Prince, Pig With the Face of a Boy, Robert Wyatt, Pussy Riot, Leningrad Cowboys, Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Marc Almond, Pinkshinyltrablast, Punk TV, Nic Jones, Iron Maiden, Billy Joel, Katzenjammer, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Skyhooks, Aram Khachaturian, Boris Grebenshikov, Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra, Tchaikovsky
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Putin on the Ritz: songs and music from or about Russia

January 19, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Vladimir, in a gesture of true hospitality, is taking his friend Donald for a ride

Vladimir, in a gesture of true hospitality, is taking his friend Donald for a ride

Language need be no barrier. Let’s reveal, explore, inaugurate, even celebrate, from classical, film to pop, from inside and out, the rich musical heritage inspired by this vast, contradictory country

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Tags Songs, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Winston Churchill, Paul Robeson, Nikolai Gogol, US presidential election, Peter the Great, Catherine The Great, Andrei Sakharov, folk, classical, Eduard Khil, Leonid Kharitonov, Vitas, Shostakovich, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Eisenstein, film, Anton Chekhov, Moscow, Blondie, The Vibrators, Ronald Reagan, Cold war, Otto von Bismark, marxism, Tony Benn, Pussy Riot, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Marc Almond, The Ramones, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Adam Curtis, Garry Kasparov, Rudolph Nureyev
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Sing out, act on CLIMATE CHANGE

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CONDEMN RACISM, EMBRACE EQUALITY

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DRINK OF THE WEEK

1990s alcopops

SNACK OF THE WEEK

doritos, skittles snack mashup

New Albums …

Featured
Bingo! by La Sécurité.jpeg
June 15, 2026
La Sécurité: Bingo!
June 15, 2026

New album: Fabulously fun, vibrant, feisty, catchy, wittily droll post-punk, new wave and art-punk in this pacy, vivacious sophomore LP by the Montréal collective with themes from mental health, dysfunctional relationships, food to enjoyable elderly activities, with styles reminiscent of The B-52s and Devo

June 15, 2026
So Help Me God by Kelsey Lu.jpeg
June 13, 2026
Kelsey Lu: So Help Me God
June 13, 2026

New album: Luxuriant, ethereal, dramatic and passionate experimental and chamber dream pop by the American singer-songwriter and cellist, with their second LP, seven years since 2019 debut Blood, with guests including Sampha, Kamasi Washington, Kim Gordon, and co-producer Jack Antonoff

June 13, 2026
Cry Baby by Vince Staples.jpeg
June 10, 2026
Vince Staples: Cry Baby
June 10, 2026

New album: The Compton/ Long Beach, Californian rapper returns with a potent, punchy, overtly political rock-hip hop seventh LP that heavily critiques American society and power, racism, police violence, gun culture, media and the music industry, largely accompanied by a tight, riff-heavy electric guitars, bass and drums

June 10, 2026
Liz Lawrence - Vespers.jpeg
June 9, 2026
Liz Lawrence: Vespers
June 9, 2026

New album: More acoustic, stripped back and lo-fi than her previous four albums, yet with deeply powerful and moving songwriting and performance, the British artist’s latest is suffused with grief, reflection and devotion for the premature loss of her sister Jessie, capturing life and death, poetically expressing devotion and reflection

June 9, 2026
Neon Summer Skin by Bedouine.jpeg
June 9, 2026
Bedouine: Neon Summer Skin
June 9, 2026

New album: A serenely beautiful, but also nostalgically sorrowful fourth LP by American singer-songwriter Azniv Korkejian who has Armenian-Syrian heritage, with songs about displacement and identity, very mindful of Middle Eastern conflicts, atrocities and her family history, while broadening her sound into the lush mould of 1970s Carole King and Laurel Canyon

June 9, 2026
Spatial, No Problem. by Lee %22Scratch%22 Perry & Mouse on Mars.jpeg
June 8, 2026
Lee "Scratch" Perry and Mouse on Mars: Spatial, No Problem
June 8, 2026

New album: This wondrously eclectic and entertaining final official album project by the legendary Jamaican producer and artist, made before his passing in 2021, is a collaboration with the German electronic duo Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma, mixing reggae, krautrock, ambient, dub, jazz, New Orleans brass and more, alongside Perry’s distinctive voice

June 8, 2026
Doctrine of Love by Jalen Ngonda.jpeg
June 7, 2026
Jalen Ngonda: Doctrine of Love
June 7, 2026

New album: Following his acclaimed 2023 debut Come Around And Love Me, the American UK-based impressive soul singer’s second LP is another classy collection of beautifully uplifting, sublime Northern soul and Motown-era love songs

June 7, 2026
Death Cab For Cutie - I Built You A Tower.jpeg
June 7, 2026
Death Cab For Cutie: I Built You A Tower
June 7, 2026

New album: Elegantly expressed emotional turmoil unfolds across 11 cleverly crafted songs in this 11th album by the Seattle indie rock band fronted by Ben Gibbard and produced by the brilliant John Congleton around a metaphor for post-marriage grief

June 7, 2026
Zoh Amba - Eyes Full 2.jpeg
June 6, 2026
Zoh Amba: Eyes Full
June 6, 2026

New album: The NY-scene free jazz saxophonist forms an indie-folk-country-rock-muddy-blues trio with fabulously strong results in this passionate, raw, free-flowing debut as guitarist-singer-songwriter, lyrics themed around their original hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee, and coloured by Appalachian roots

June 6, 2026
Rumspringa by ear.jpeg
June 5, 2026
ear: Rumspringa
June 5, 2026

New album: Minimalistic, introverted, nuanced quirky laptop experimental electronica by the New York duo Jonah Paz and Yaelle Avtan, following last year’s debut The Most Dear and the Future, this one named after a a rite of passage for Amish adolescents translated as "running around" in Pennsylvania German

June 5, 2026
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June 3, 2026
Greg Mendez: Beauty Land
June 3, 2026

New album: A gently ironic title, but no doubting beauty of the sound, reminiscent of the late, great Elliott Smith, this new gem of a lo-fi LP is full of mildly tragic, sensitive, thoughtful 14 short numbers by the Philadelphia high falsetto singer-songwriter

June 3, 2026
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June 3, 2026
Iceage: For Love of Grace & The Hereafter
June 3, 2026

New album: A stylishly ramshackle, brilliantly brash’n’breezy punk-shoegaze feral sixth studio LP, streamlining sounds from 50s rock’n’roll through to early 00s indie by the Copenhagen band fronted by Elias Rønnenfelt, successfully fulfilling their aim on this to be “immediate, urgent, raw and fast” across themes of romantic devotion with violent chaos and nihilism

June 3, 2026
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June 2, 2026
Boards of Canada: Inferno
June 2, 2026

New album: Scotland’s hugely influential electronic experimental sibling duo Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin return 13 years after their last LP, Tomorrow’s Harvest, with an epic 18-track collection that dissects the psychology of religion with distorted vocal samples and cut-ups across landscapes of dystopian synth textures and beats

June 2, 2026
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June 2, 2026
Kurt Vile: Philadelphia's Been Good To Me
June 2, 2026

New album: A selection of fond love-letter songs to the city where he was raised and has remained by the 46-year-ld American singer-songwriter, in this deliciously laid back 10th LP of songs of interweaving guitars, folk, rock, country and psychedelia, all with his inimitably relaxed vocal delivery

June 2, 2026

new songs …

Featured
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June 15, 2026
Song of the Day: L'Rain - Soulless Cycle
June 15, 2026

Song of the Day: A whoosh of thunderous, mesmeric alternative rock marks this striking new single by the Brooklyn experimental composer, musician, artist and singer Taja Cheek, heralding her upcoming fourth album Fata Morgana, out on 14 August via Mexican Summer

June 15, 2026
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June 14, 2026
Song of the Day: Fenne Lily - Uh Huh
June 14, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, banjo accompanied, reflective wistful indie folk-pop by the the Brooklyn-based British singer-songwriter with this first single heralding her upcoming fourth album, Win Win, out on 23 October via Nettwerk Music

June 14, 2026
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June 13, 2026
Song of the Day: Interpol - See Out Loud
June 13, 2026

Song of the Day: Pulsating indie rock by the seasoned New York band fronted by singer Paul Banks and guitarist Daniel Kessler, heralding their upcoming eighth album This Mirror Weighs a Ton, out on 28 August, and newly signed to Partisan Records

June 13, 2026
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June 12, 2026
Song of the Day: Jack White - Dollar Bill
June 12, 2026

Song of the Day: The White Stripes man returns with a blistering, bluesy rock guitar, Led Zeppelin-ish single, heralding his upcoming seventh solo album, Frozen Charlotte, out on 10 July via Third Man Records

June 12, 2026
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June 11, 2026
Song of the Day: Sylvan Esso - Hot Slob
June 11, 2026

Song of the Day: A proudly messy, rowdy, pointed and punchy new indie rock single embracing the spirit and chaos of living in the glitch by the North Carolina duo of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, here featuring Jenn Wasner and TJ Maiani and out on Psychic Hotline

June 11, 2026
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June 10, 2026
Song of the Day: Rodrigo y Gabriela - Monster
June 10, 2026

Song of the Day: The hugely popular and Grammy-winning Mexico City-raised guitar duo return with a dextrously brilliant new single mixing acoustic and rock styles, heralding their new upcoming new album OurHome out 18 September via ATO Records

June 10, 2026
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June 9, 2026
Song of the Day: JJerome87 - Mr. Alligator
June 9, 2026

Song of the Day: A bluesy, smooth, luxuriantly produced Americana number about a dubious authority figure by the British songwriter and musician Joe Newman, frontman of the Mercury winning band alt-J, in this latest single from his debut solo album, The Canyon, out on 26 June via Mushroom Music/ Virgin

June 9, 2026
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June 8, 2026
Song of the Day: Baalti & Lapgan - Romance / Ipa Ma
June 8, 2026

Song of the Day: Vibrant, rhythmic, experimental electronica and dance music sampling Bollywood, Bengali disco, Hindustani classical and Gujarati folk by the NY-based pair Jaiveer Singh, Mihir Chauhan, joined by producer Gaurav Nagpa, from their recent album, Threads, out on Azal/FADER

June 8, 2026
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June 7, 2026
Song of the Day: Margaret Glaspy - Michigan
June 7, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautiful finger-picked acoustic single by New York-based Californian singer-songwriter about escaping the big city post breakup, heralding her upcoming album I Am Both out on 7 August via ATO

June 7, 2026
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June 6, 2026
Song of the Day: LA Priest - Into The Sky
June 6, 2026

Song of the Day: High-octane electronica and euphoric, dance music by the eccentric, eclectic US artist Sam Eastgate with his first music for two years, and a highly entertaining video, out on Domino Records

June 6, 2026
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June 5, 2026
Song of the Day: Ibeyi - Aset / Offerings
June 5, 2026

Song of the Day: A pair of sensual, soulfully vivid new singles partly sung in Spanish, and the first new music for four years from the French-Cuban twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz, heralding their upcoming fourth album, Offering, out on 26 June via AWAL Recordings

June 5, 2026
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June 4, 2026
Song of the Day: Seasick Steve - The Last Season of America
June 4, 2026

Song of the Day: A poignant, powerfully gentle folk-blues-Americana protest number by the veteran Calfornian singer-songwriter with an extended metaphor about the state of his country in this title track heralding his upcoming album out on 18 September via Steve’s new label Eastcote Recordings

June 4, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
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June 11, 2026
Word of the week: phialiform
June 11, 2026

Word of the week: This rare but oddly beautiful rare adjective means "saucer-shaped" or having the form of a small, shallow cup or vessel, from the Latin root phiala (a shallow bowl or phial) and the suffix -iform, meaning shape

June 11, 2026
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June 4, 2026
Word of the week: quamoclit
June 4, 2026

Word of the week: Also known as cypress vine, cardinal creeper, cardinal vine, star glory, star of Bethlehem or hummingbird vine, this striking climbing flower, Ipomoea quamoclit, is native tropical regions of the Americas and has a distinctive trumpet with five-point star-shaped petals

June 4, 2026
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May 21, 2026
Word of the week: riqq
May 21, 2026

Word of the week: An appropriately onomatopoeic noun for name for Middle Eastern tambourine, able to produce a range of percussive sounds, and commonly heard in traditional Egyptian, Arab, Greek and Turkish music

May 21, 2026
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May 7, 2026
Word of the week: salpinx
May 7, 2026

Word of the week: This very imposing, loud, resonant noun is an ancient Greek, trumpet-like instrument used as a tactical signal on the battle field, as well as to signal the beginnings of gatherings, or of races in sport

May 7, 2026
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April 23, 2026
Word of the week: throstle
April 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

April 23, 2026
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