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Not quite as it seems: songs about tricksters, trickery and fakery

August 28, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Who the Puck? A 1629 depiction of the traditional English and Celtic trickster

It’s everywhere in the modern world, particularly in politics, but the dark arts of the trickster have been around in folklore and mythology for thousands of years, so a starting point, let’s back to go forward …

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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 tricksters, mythology, folklore, Lewis Hyde, Thomm Quakenbush, Byrd Gibbens, George Carlin, Terry Pratchett, Tom Robbins, Christopher Paolini, Seneca The Younger, Sun Tzu, Leonardo Da Vinci, Martin Farquhar Tupper, Robert Higgs, Bill Press, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Greek mythology, Norse mythology, Celtic mythology, indigenous culture, animals, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Squeeze, OK Go, Michel Gondry, Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, The White Stripes, Bonobo
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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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Playlists: songs about darkness

July 29, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Facing the dark: Find out who below …

Death, fear, the unknown, but most of all affecting beauty - darkness brings a breadth of scenarios and emotions, all brought to light by guest of the week ParaMhor with powerful picked lists inspired by last week’s theme

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In African, avant-garde, blues, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, gospel, indie, jazz, instrumentals, 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 songs, playlists, Terry Pratchett, William Shakespeare, Loreena McKennitt, Peter Gabriel, The Police, The Herbiliser, The Human League, Sharon Van Etten, Joni Mitchell, Lael Neale, Emmit Rhodes, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, KT Tunstall, Bruce Springsteen, Songs: Ohia, Blind Willie McTell, Dinah Washington, The Alan Bown Set, Mike Oldfield, Tricot, Black Uhuru, Tito and Tarantula, McCarthy, The Shop Assistants, Mr Flood's Party, The Cure, Boyharsher, Pere Ubu, Boy Harsher, David Sylvian, Mo-Dettes, Conor Oberst, Gillian Welch, ParaMhor, Emitt Rhodes
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Pulling power: songs about gravity

November 2, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Falling yet floating? Frozen gravity …

Mass attraction? Or falling in love? This week it’s a fusion of science and art topic, with lyrical fact or metaphor, as we examine one of the most vital and biggest physical interactive forces in our lives (but oddly the weakest of the science big four). But how will this float up or fall in the world of 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, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, gravity, falling, Albert Einstein, Richard Buckminster Fuller, Confucius, John Milton, Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, Roy H. Williams, Terry Pratchett, David Soul, Marilyn Monroe, Mick Rock, Miles Davis, Neil deGrasse Tyson, science, astrophysics, Domingo de Soto, Galileo Galilei, Stephen Hawking, Priyamvada Natarajan, Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, black holes, MC Escher, Alan Cohen, Marcel Duchamp, Caitlin Moran, Léon Foucault, Arthur Schopenhauer, Bjork, Andy Cavatorta, Matthew Barney, Jackass, Thomas Carlyle, Space, John Burroughs, space travel, Alan Stern, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Jacques Yves Cousteau, Buzz Aldrin, Nasa, Peggy Whitson, Scott Kelly, Kathleen Rubins, biology, Mötley Crüe, Mick Mars, Jack Valentine, Buddy Rich, Tommy Lee, Hieronymous Bosch, Buckethead
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Pussy-footing? Perhaps it's songs about indecision. Is it?

March 2, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Are you fur staying on the fence?

From the many various situations and vacillations of love to shopping, voting, moving or staying and more, it’s finally time to plump for indecisiveness on song lyrics. The choice of what to nominate is yours. If you can …

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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 Oscar Levant, indecision, Jane Austen, Marianne Moore, TS Eliot, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Willie Nelson, Tommy Cooper, Elvis Presley, Imelda Marcos, psychology, cats, animals, animal behaviour, Hergé, Helen Eustis, Seneca, Cicero, William James, Bertrand Russell, Terry Pratchett, Napoleon Hill, Cherie Carter-Scott, Martin Luther King, Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, WC Fields, Jimmy Buffett, Shirley Temple, Drew Barrymore, Jean Baudrillard, William Arthur Ward, Ariel Pink, John Cleese
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Like a butterfly: songs about the meaning of life

October 6, 2022 Peter Kimpton

The monarch butterfly: a profound life cycle, and ‘a rainbow of chaos’

It’s a big question. But how might it be answered in song lyrics? Not merely through broad definition or metaphor, but also through philosophy, practical advice or experience. See many inspirational ideas here, but it’s also time to let your answers take flight …

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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, meaning of life, philosophy, Bob Marley, Douglas Adams, Bob Dylan, Maya Angelou, Charlie Chaplin, Paul Cezanne, Marcus Aurelius, Keith Richards, Groucho Marx, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Conan Doyle, E.M. Forster, Craig Venter, science, biology, Joseph Campbell, Anais Nin, Socrates, Albert Camus, Mark Haddon, Irving Berlin, Lou Holtz, Woody Allen, Mark Twain, Elbert Hubbard, Jim Carrey, Will Rogers, Stephen Hawking, Jean Cocteau, Katherine Hepburn, Sigmund Freud, Arthur Schopenhauer, H Jackson Brown Jr, William Wallace, Anton Chekhov, Thomas Hobbes, Vladimir Nabokov, Dale Carnegie, Leonardo Da Vinci, GZA, Wu-Tang Clan, Albert Einstein, Kenneth G Ross, Soren Kierkegaard, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew McConaughey, Emily Dickinson, George Herbert, Jimi Hendrix, George Eliot, Emile Zola, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Bernard Shaw, Terry Pratchett, Jim Henson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Samuel Butler, Tom Lehrer, George Gershwin, David Bowie, Slavoj Žižek, Rufus Wainwright, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Roy T. Bennett, William Wordsworth, Thomas Aquinas, Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Morgan Freeman, Monty Python, Film, film soundtrack, books, art
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Spend it wisely: songs about tax and wealth distribution

September 29, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Trickle down economics, all the way down to …

During a time of fiscal crisis, while policy helps the wealthy avoid paying what’s due, here at Song Bar we’re open and pennywise with our playlists. So what contribution might you have on this taxing subject of social justice? Spend your time wisely …

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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, money, economics, tax, Marty Rubin, Benjamin Franklin, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan, Herman Wouk, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ronald Reagan, Leona Helmsley, Ken Dodd, Liz Truss, Conservatives, Kwasi Kwarteng, Boston Tea Party, poll tax, Margaret Thatcher, William Pitt The Younger, East India Company, American War of Independence, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, The Beatles, Thomas Piketty, Noam Chomsky, Nicholas D. Kristof, Donald Trump, Judith Martin, Jimmy Carr, David Cameron, George Carman QC, Chuck Berry, Gary Barlow, Willie Nelson, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Judy Garland, Al Capone, The Rolling Stones, Albert Einstein, Bauvard, Sean Kernan, HL Mencken, Lysander Spooner, Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, George Lakoff, Vanessa Williamson
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Surf this: songs about crowds

December 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton

It’s Coney Island, baby

Good mass gatherings to bad, random or organised, peaceful marches to riots, gigs, sports events, and even songs that feature crowd noises, join the in-crowd and suggest your songs that describe and capture the behaviour of the collective conscious

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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, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soundtracks, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, crowds, psychology, human behaviour, animal behaviour, animals, protest, sport, live music, William Wordsworth, Terry Pratchett, Rachel Cohn, George Carlin, Charles MacKay, Flannery O'Connor, David Sedaris, Covid-19, music festivals, Thomas Fuller, BF Skinner, Gustave Le Bon, Carl Jung, Elias Canetti, Aldous Huxley, Jean Cocteau, Jack Black, School of Rock, poll tax, Martin Luther King, Darnell Lamont Walker, refugees, Dobie Gray
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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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Take a bow: songs about knots, ties and untying

December 17, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Loops and more, what musical weaves might come up this week?

Loops and more, what musical weaves might come up this week?

Nautical to metaphorical, clothes to emotional, knit to tapestry, crafts to industry, what binds and joins us, from love’s loose ends to heart string fastening, let's untangle, as well as lace up some lyrical threads and loops

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Tags songs, playlists, music, knots, crafts, sailing, weaving, knitting, William Shakespeare, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Jeanette Winterson, Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, MC Escher, JS Bach, Maria Mannone, TS Eliot, George Harrison, George MacDonald Fraser, Terry Pratchett, Charlotte Bronte, Edith Wharton, Gabriela Mistral, AE Houseman, James Clerk Maxwell, John Donne
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Get cartography: songs about maps

May 14, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Living maps? Leo Belgicus by Hondius & Gerritsz, 1630

Living maps? Leo Belgicus by Hondius & Gerritsz, 1630

Accurately marked with facts and perfect proportions? Or fuel for fantasy and the imagination? Maps make stories, and stories make maps, and their fascination leads to where X marks the spot. So let’s go there and start digging …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, music, musicals, playlists, pop, punk, prog, postpunk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, maps, cartography, geography, history, books, Film, Nicholas Crane, Judith Schalansky, Roseanne Barr, Mark Haddon, Miles Harvey, Ptolomy, Da Ming Hun Yi Tu, China, Babylonia, Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Louise Penny, Charles H. Hapood, Lennart Meri, Muhammad Ali, Lech Walesa, Poland, European Union, Charles Darwin, Gerald Durrell, Marion Cotillard, Andrew Bird, Bill Bryson, Ken Jennings, Bill Dedman, Roisin Murphy, Google, GPS, Google Earth, Google Maps, Carlo Ratti, Eric Schmidt, Yuval Noah Harari, Catherynne M. Valente, Gilles Deleuze, Charles Frazier, Reif Larsen, David Mitchell, Terry Pratchett, JRR Tolkien, Stanislav Grof, psychiatry, Alexander McCall Smith, Nelson DeMille, Debbie Lee Wesselmann, Lisel Mueller, Mark Jenkins, Bea González, Amie Kaufman, Christopher Barzak, Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Gina Greenlee, Rebecca Solnit, Christopher Columbus, Noam Bardin, Dean F. Wilson, Bangambiki Habyarimana, John Steinbeck, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson, Humphrey Bogart, Monty Python, Joni Mitchell, Bjork, Luke Abbott
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Vote labour: choose songs about different jobs

November 14, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Panda nanny, anyone? Hours may be long …

Panda nanny, anyone? Hours may be long …

Habitual to unusual, the professional or the manual, the skilled or the basic, gig economy to obscure and hidden, this week we look at a variety of job titles and what they all entail, all evoked through song

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In avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, soul, songs, soundtracks, traditional, ska Tags songs, song titles, jobs, work, careers, Lena Horne, Neil Young, Kathy Skaggs, Charles Bukowski, Jimmy Webb, Glen Campbell, Al De Lory, Ken Loach, Richard Dawson, Pablo Picasso, Mehmet Murat ildan, Michelle Obama, Jessie Belle Rittenhouse, Frederick Herzberg, David Graeber, Ken Poirot, Mokokoma Mokhonoana, Terry Pratchett, Studs Terkel, service industry, poetry, art, books
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I know why the caged bird sings: songs about or expressing empathy

August 15, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Maya Angelou: “I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.”

Maya Angelou: “I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.”

I feel for you. Reach out and I’ll be there. This week we’re seeking song-related understanding and connection the form of songs about empathy, and though it’s different perhaps also little secondary sympathy, in form or content

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, metal, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, songs, ska, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, empathy, sympathy, relationships, Maya Angelou, William Blake, Leslie Jamison, Brené Brown, RIchard Louv, science, neurology, psychology, music, Brian Eno, Jay Griffiths, Gloria Steinem, Conor Oberst, Mary Gauthier, Viv Albertine, Anohni, Antony and the Johnsons, politics, Nathan Englander, Theodore Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Ben Harper, Steve Martin, Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, Margaret Atwood, Marty Rubin, Yann Martel, Morgan Neville, Film, books, Justin Simien, Roger Ebert, Harper Lee, Joseph Conrad, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Sterling K. Brown, James Baldwin, Mehmet Oz, John Connolly, Mohsin Hamid, Neil Gaiman, Rumaan Alam, Terry Pratchett, Nitya Prakash, Elizabeth Goudge, Paul Auster, Eric Micha'el Leventhal, Gustave Flaubert, Elizabeth Bowen, Walt Whitman, Jorge Luis Borges, William Shakespeare
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Put in a spell on this: songs about witches and witchcraft

April 11, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Sorceress Siouxsie Sioux

Sorceress Siouxsie Sioux

Good, bad, beautiful or ugly, purveyors of black or white magic, and the effect they have on others, from witch-finders to fans, this week we explore the culture of witchery, but which way, and what magic will this conjure up in songs?

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, country, comedy, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, witches, witchcraft, William Shakespeare, Johnny Mercer, Siouxsie Sioux, superstition, Radiohead, Lotte Lenya, Lene Lovich, Kate Bush, religion, pagan rituals, Devil, Heinrich Kramer, The Bible, Salem witch trials, Arthur Miller, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, League of Gentlemen, Vincent Price, Film, television, Mark Gatiss, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, Jack Nicholson, Roald Dahl, Terry Pratchett, Aleister Crowley, Game of Thrones, George RR Martin, André Breton, Peter Grey, Sam Ervin, politics, McCarthy era, Cass McCombs, Anthony Horowitz, Yoko Ono, Florence Welch, Margot Adler, Paulo Coelho
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Just keep on dancing: songs about staying and remaining

July 19, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Last four couples in a 1930s dance marathon

Last four couples in a 1930s dance marathon

We’re not leaving, but showing endurance, fortitude and steadfastness. There’s a whole lot of staying power going on in this week’s topic, from physical to mental strength …

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Songs, playlists, staying, remaining, staying power, stamina, Christopher Marlowe, Neil Tennant, Pet Shop Boys, Dolly Parton, Sly & The Family Stone, Oliver Reed, Brexit, Mick Jones, The Clash, evolution, Sir David Attenborough, biology, history, Film, Stephen Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Neil Peart, John Lee Hooker, Martin Freeman, Sherlock Holmes, The Hobbit, Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac, The New York Dolls, Terry Pratchett, Patrick Swayze, Al Green, The Bee Gees
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Grand openings: great tracks to begin albums, mixtapes or radio shows

January 4, 2018 Peter Kimpton
It's a 2018 curtain raiser …

It's a 2018 curtain raiser …

Songs or instrumentals, suggest music that sets a tone, a pace, a mood or is a statement of intent, and makes a great start to an album, at the top of a radio show or any other work or event

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In playlists, music Tags Songs, playlists, opening tracks, Film, TV themes, television, radio, Bob Dylan, Paul Weller, The Jam, TS Eliot, Terry Pratchett, Pink Floyd, Rick Wakeman, AC/DC, Beyonce, Big John's Rock 'N' Roll Circus, The Grand Opening, John Roger Olsson, Kenny Everett, Barry Levinson, Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams, Adrian Cronauer, HBO, The Bee Gees, Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta, James Bond, Shirley Bassey, Adele, Dick Dale, Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction, Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver, Bernard Herrmann, Spike Lee, Do The Right Thing, Public Enemy, Rosie Perez, Roy Budd, Get Carter, Michael Caine, Harold and Maude, Cat Stevens
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Would, could or should? Songs about alternative outcomes

October 19, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Planet of the Apes. Already happened or may yet occur? Still a gobsmacking idea.

Planet of the Apes. Already happened or may yet occur? Still a gobsmacking idea.

Songs of regret, in retrospect or about the 'if only'? This week we look at lyrics that imagine other pasts, presents or futures caused by different decisions, actions, circumstances and chains of events

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Tags songs, past, present, future, time, film, books, poetry, television, Comedy, TS Eliot, John Greenleaf Whittier, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sliding Doors, Oedipus Rex, Marlon Brando, On The Waterfront, Elia Kazan, Philip K Dick, Bladerunner, Total Recall, Terminator, The Man In The High Castle, second world war, Robert Harris, Fatherland, history, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Terry Pratchett, The Simpsons, Planet of the Apes, Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Matrix, Keanu Reeves, Cypher, espionage, Erwin Schrödinger, multiverse theory, Talking Heads, animals, birds
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Hang on a minute … it's songs about waiting

August 10, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Which song or songwriter will take the lead on this topic?

Which song or songwriter will take the lead on this topic?

Anticipation, excitement or apprehension, for anything from the rapture to Robert De Niro, opportunity or a bus, the light, love or in limbo, place your songs in our waiting room and see what happens … 

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Tags songs, waiting, Amy Winehouse, Bertrand Russell, philosophy, Bob Hope, film, Mae West, Brexit, travel, work, sport, football, baseball, cricket, Ray Davies, The Kinks, Bob Marley, Donovan, Vietnam War, Foreigner, Noel Gallagher, Oasis, George Michael, Future Islands, David Letterman, Gretchen Peters, The Rolling Stones, Amelia Earhart, ZZ Top, Violent Femmes, Phil Lynott, Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner, New Order, Bernard Sumner, Glenn Gould, Jean Houston, Terry Pratchett, Samuel Beckett, theatre, Anna Neagle, animals
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Arrr! It's songs about pirates and piracy

June 29, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach

Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach

Golden Age rogues from Blackbeard to Anne Bonny, Calico Jack to Treasure Island, from the Caribbean to modern marauders of Somalia, in folk to rock, metal to reggae, set sail with your song suggestions

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Tags songs, Music, pirates, piracy, history, books, film, folk, metal, rock, reggae, indie, classical, Blackbeard aka Edward Teach, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Lessig, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Terry Pratchett, Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Scissorfight, Barbarossa brothers, Captain Kidd, Sir Francis Drake, John 'Calico Jack' Rackham, Henry Morgan, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, Captain Pugwash, television, Tin Tin, The Night Pirates, Deborah Allwright, Peter Harris, Captain Charles Johnson, Somalia, pollution, environment, Steve Goodman
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Constant comment tea


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New Albums …

Featured
Tyler Ballgame - For The First Time Again.jpeg
Jan 30, 2026
Tyler Ballgame: For The First Time, Again
Jan 30, 2026

New album: With that sublime, soaring, soulful voice, and echoes of Roy Orbison, the Rhode Island-raised singer-songwriter’s truly gorgeous debut LP captures all the range of of the love – warmth, longing, tenderness and heartbreak through classy and crafted retro sound of 60s and 70s rock

Jan 30, 2026
Tessa Rose Jackson - The Lighthouse.jpeg
Jan 29, 2026
Tessa Rose Jackson: The Lighthouse
Jan 29, 2026

New album: Beautiful, intricate, understated, poetic and intelligent, this warm, inviting experimental folk by the Dutch-British singer-songwriter is the first LP under her own name, having previously released three as the artist Someone

Jan 29, 2026
Lucinda Williams - World's Gone Wrong.jpeg
Jan 28, 2026
Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong
Jan 28, 2026

New album: The acclaimed veteran country, rock and Americana singer-songwriter and multi-Grammy winner’s latest LP has a title that speaks for itself, but is powerful, angry, defiant and uplifting, and, recorded in Nashville, features guest vocals from Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Brittney Spencer

Jan 28, 2026
Clotheline From Hell.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Clothesline From Hell: Slather On The Honey
Jan 27, 2026

New album: His moniker mischievously named after a wrestling move, a highly impressive, independently-created experimental, psychedelic rock debut the the Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Adam LaFramboise

Jan 27, 2026
Dead Dads Club.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Dead Dads Club: Dead Dads Club
Jan 27, 2026

New album: Dynamic, passionate, heart-stirring indie rock in this project fronted by Chilli Jesson (formerly bassist of Palma Violets) with songs spurred by the trauma of losing his father 20 years ago, retelling a defiant and difficult aftermath, with sound boosted by producer Carlos O’Connell of Fontaines D.C.

Jan 27, 2026
The Paper Kites - IF YOU GO THERE, I HOPE YOU FIND IT.png
Jan 25, 2026
The Paper Kites: If You Go There, I Hope You Find It
Jan 25, 2026

New album: Warm, tender, gently-paced, calmly reflective, beautifully soothing, poetic, melancholic alternative folk and Americana by the band from Melbourne in their seventh LP in 15 years

Jan 25, 2026
PVA - No More Like This.jpeg
Jan 24, 2026
PVA: No More Like This
Jan 24, 2026

New album: Inventive, alluring, sensual, mysterious, minimalistic electronica, trip-hop and experimental pop by the London trio of Ella Harris, Joshua Baxter and Louis Satchell, in this second album following 2022’s Blush, boosted by the creativity of producer and instrumentalist Kwake Bass

Jan 24, 2026
Imarhan - Essam.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Imarhan: Essam
Jan 20, 2026

New album: A mesmeric fourth LP in a decade by the band from Tamanrasset, Algeria, whose name means ‘the ones I care about’, their Tuareg music mixing guitar riffs, pop melodies and African rhythms, but this time also evolves slightly away from the desert blues rocky, bluesy influence of contemporaries Tinariwen with electronic elements

Jan 20, 2026
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine
Jan 20, 2026

New album: Emotional, beautiful, stirring, Americana, folk and indie-pop by singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, in this latest studio LP in of soaring voice, strong melodies, love, vulnerability and heartbreak, longing and bravery

Jan 20, 2026
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore - Tragic Magic.jpeg
Jan 18, 2026
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic
Jan 18, 2026

New album: Delicate, beautiful, ethereal, meditative new work by the two American experimental composers in their first collaborative LP, with gentle understated vocals, classic synth sounds, and rare harps chosen from from the Paris Musée de la Musique Collection

Jan 18, 2026
Sleaford Mods- The Demise of Planet X.jpeg
Jan 16, 2026
Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X
Jan 16, 2026

New album: The caustic wit of Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with a 13th LP of brilliantly abrasive, dark humoured hip-hop and catchy beats, addressing the rubbish state of the world, as well as local, personal and social irritations through slick nostalgic cultural reference, some expanded sounds, and an eclectic set of guests

Jan 16, 2026
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Jan 14, 2026
SAULT: Chapter 1
Jan 14, 2026

New album: As ever, released suddenly without fanfare or any publicity, the prolific experimental soul, jazz, gospel, funk, psychedelia and disco collective of Cleo Sol, Info (aka Dean Josiah Cover) and co return with a stylish, mysterious LP

Jan 14, 2026
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Jan 14, 2026
The Cribs: Selling A Vibe
Jan 14, 2026

New album: A first LP in five years by the likeable and solid guitar indie-rock Jarman brothers trio from Wakefield, now with their ninth - a catchy, but at times with rueful, bittersweet perspectives on their times in the music business

Jan 14, 2026
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Jan 9, 2026
Dry Cleaning: Secret Love
Jan 9, 2026

New album: This third LP by the London experimental post-punk quartet with the distinctive, spoken, droll delivery of Florence Shaw, is packed with striking, vivid, often non seqitur lyrics capturing life’s surreal mundanities and neuroses with a sound coloured and polished by Cate Le Bon as producer

Jan 9, 2026

new songs …

Featured
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Jan 31, 2026
Song of the Day: Bruce Springsteen - Streets of Minneapolis
Jan 31, 2026

Song of the Day: A powerful brand new protest song by the Boss, tackling America’s controversial influx of ICE agents into Minneapolis and their recent murders of innocent bystanders Alex Pretti and Renée Good, released on Columbia

Jan 31, 2026
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Jan 30, 2026
Song of the Day: Robber Robber - The Sound It Made
Jan 30, 2026

Song of the Day: Striking, dynamic, noisy stop-and-start, stylish experimental post-rock and post-rock by the band from Burlington, Vermont, fronted by Nina Cates, heralding their new album, Two Wheels Move the Soul, out on 3 April via on Fire Talk

Jan 30, 2026
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Jan 29, 2026
Song of the Day: Holly Humberstone - To Love Somebody
Jan 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Shimmeringly catchy and singalong, effervescent Abba-esque and Fleetwood Mac-ish piano and synth pop with an eye-catching, vampiric-themed video by the British singer-songwriter from Grantham, heralding her second album Cruel World out on 10 April via Polydor/Universal.

Jan 29, 2026
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Jan 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Nathan Fake - Slow Yamaha
Jan 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Hypnotic electronica with woozy layers of smooth resonance and a lattice of shifting analogue patterns by the British artist from Norfolk, taken from his forthcoming album, Evaporator, out on InFiné Music

Jan 28, 2026
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Jan 27, 2026
Song of the Day: Charlotte Day Wilson - Lean (featuring Saya Gray)
Jan 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Stylish, striking, sensual experimental electro-pop and R&B in this fabulous collaboration between the two Canadian singer/ multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, out on Stone Woman Music/ XL Recordings

Jan 27, 2026
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Jan 26, 2026
Song of the Day: Lime Garden - 23
Jan 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Wonderfully catchy, witty, quirky indie pop about age and adjustment by the Brighton-formed quartet fronted by Chloe Howard, heralding their upcoming album Maybe Not Tonight, out on So Young Records on 10 April

Jan 26, 2026
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Jan 25, 2026
Song of the Day: Madra Salach - The Man Who Seeks Pleasure
Jan 25, 2026

Song of the Day: A powerful, slow-simmering and gradually intensifying, drone-based original folk number about the the flipsides of love and hedonism by the young Irish traditional and alternative folk band, with comparisons to Lankum, from the recently released EP It's a Hell of an Age, out on Canvas Music

Jan 25, 2026
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Jan 24, 2026
Song of the Day: Adult DVD - Real Tree Lee
Jan 24, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, witty, energised acid-dance-punk with echoes of Underworld and Snapped Ankles by the dynamic, innovative band from Leeds in a new number about a dodgy character of toxic masculinity and online ignorance, and their first release on signing to Fat Possum

Jan 24, 2026
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Jan 23, 2026
Song of the Day: Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night (for War Child HELP 2 charity album)
Jan 23, 2026

Song of the Day: A simmering, potent, contemplative new track by acclaimed Sheffield band, their first song since 2022’s album The Car, with proceeds benefiting the charity War Child, heralding the upcoming HELP (2) compilation out on 6 March with various contributors

Jan 23, 2026
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Jan 22, 2026
Song of the Day: White Denim - (God Created) Lock and Key
Jan 22, 2026

Song of the Day: The Austin, Texas-formed LA-based rockers return with an infectiously catchy groove fusing rock, funk, dub, soul, and down-dirty blues with some playful self-mythologising and darker themes, heralding 13th album, 13, out on 24 April via Bella Union

Jan 22, 2026
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Jan 21, 2026
Song of the Day: Holy Fuck - Evie
Jan 21, 2026

Song of the Day: The Canadian experimental indie rock and electronica quartet from Toronto return with a pulsating new track of thrumming bass and shimmering keyboards, heralding their forthcoming new album Event Beat, out on 27 March via Satellite Services

Jan 21, 2026
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Jan 20, 2026
Song of the Day: KAVARI - IRON VEINS
Jan 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Exciting, cutting-edge electronica and hardcore dance music by innovative the Birkenhead-born, Glasgow-based artist Cameron Winters (she), with a stylish, striking video, heralding the forthcoming EP, PLAGUE MUSIC, out digitally and on 12-inch vinyl on 6 February via XL Recordings

Jan 20, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
Zumbador dorado - mango bumblebee Puerto Rico.jpeg
Jan 22, 2026
Word of the week: zumbador
Jan 22, 2026

Word of the week: A wonderfully evocative noun from the Spanish for word buzz, and meaning both a South American hummingbird, a door buzzer, and symbolic of resurrection of the soul in ancient Mexican culture, while also serving as the logo for a tequila brand

Jan 22, 2026
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Jan 8, 2026
Word of the week: aspectabund
Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: This rare adjective describes a highly expressive face or countenance, where emotions and reactions are readily shown through the eyes or mouth

Jan 8, 2026
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Dec 24, 2025
Word of the week: bellonion (or belloneon)
Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: It sounds like a bulbous, multi-layered peeling vegetable, but this obscure mechanical musical instrument invented in 1812 in Dresden consisted of 24 trumpets and two kettle drums and, designed to mimic the sound of a marching band, might also make your eyes water

Dec 24, 2025
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Dec 4, 2025
Word of the week: crapulence
Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025
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Nov 20, 2025
Word of the week: discalceate
Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025

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