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Up and away: songs about balloons and ballooning

February 19, 2026 Peter Kimpton

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

From fragile gifts for children to party inflations, early hot air expeditions to the plight of dirigible blimps and zeppelins, balloons offer a profound literal and metaphorical set of emotions to fill the lungs of song

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In African, avant-garde, blues, bossa nova, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, experimental, exotica, 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 Tags songs, playlists, balloons, ballooning, travel, science, advertising, warfare, hot air balloons, Mark Twain, Terry Pratchett, ee cummings, A.A. Milne, Bob Dylan, fiona apple, Thom Yorke, GK Chesterton, David G. Simons, Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Lenny Kravitz, China, Portugal, France, Montgolfier Brothers, inventions, Hindenburg, zeppelins, Élisabeth Thible, Sophie Blanchard, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, Karl Marx, Hegel, Cleveland, Ohio, Albert Lamorisse, Film
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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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Sing out, act on CLIMATE CHANGE

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'DRINK' OF THE WEEK

Lucky 13 Seed Co. romulan ale


SNACK OF THE WEEK

Baker's Dozen (+) mini donuts


New Albums …

Featured
The Sophs - Goldstar.jpeg
Mar 17, 2026
The Sophs: Goldstar
Mar 17, 2026

New album: A fairytale story of a debut for the Los Angeles six-piece fronted by Ethan Ramon, who cold-emailed demos to Rough Trade Records before even playing a live gig and were signed – that instinctive leap of faith rewarded by this stylish, bold, mercurial, confident, darkly humorous, eclectic debut leaping between rock, indie, pop, hoedown country, delta blues and beyond

Mar 17, 2026
Kim Gordon - Play Me album.jpeg
Mar 13, 2026
Kim Gordon: Play Me
Mar 13, 2026

New album: Following 2024’s The Collective, the former Sonic Youth frontwoman’s fourth solo LP continues her extraordinary experimental, innovative journey, moving to more melodic beats and shorter tracks with a motorik krautrock-style driven coloured by strange sounds, intense emotions and sharply angled, dark, droll social commentary

Mar 13, 2026
ELIZA - The Darkening Green.jpeg
Mar 11, 2026
ELIZA: The Darkening Green
Mar 11, 2026

New album: The London artist Eliza Caird (formerly under the mainstream pop moniker Eliza Doolittle) returns with more of the cool, slow, sensual, gentle, sophisticated experimental soul-funk style evolving from her 2022 album A Sky Without Stars, here with particularly polished, silky, stripped back grooves and vocals

Mar 11, 2026
Irreparable Parables by Andrew Wasylyk.jpeg
Mar 11, 2026
Andrew Wasylyk: Irreparable Parables
Mar 11, 2026

New album: The Scottish multi-instrumentalist and composer returns with a new selection of soothing, meditative mix of experimental classical and jazz, but this time joined with six different singers represented by the birds on the album artwork

Mar 11, 2026
waterbaby - Memory Be A Blade.jpeg
Mar 10, 2026
waterbaby: Memory Be A Blade
Mar 10, 2026

New album: A delicate, experimental, understated soulful chamber pop debut by the pure-voiced Stockholm-born singer-songwriter (aka Kendra Egerbladh) in 25-minute, eight-track release of lo-fi, lyrically semi-improvised numbers about heartbreak and self-renewal in a world of gorgeous musical sensations

Mar 10, 2026
Joshua Idehen - I Know You're Hurting ....jpeg
Mar 10, 2026
Joshua Idehen: I know you're hurting, everyone is hurting, everyone is trying, you have got to try
Mar 10, 2026

New album: With a strikingly long title, a euphoric and honest full debut LP by the British-born Nigerian poet, spoken word artist and musician based in Sweden, working with his musical partner Ludvig Parment’s sonic layers, packed pacy dance and hip-hop grooves, clever sampling, slower reflections, and articulate expressions of positivity through the ups and downs of grief and hope

Mar 10, 2026
Atlanta by Gnarls Barkley.jpeg
Mar 10, 2026
Gnarls Barkley: Atlanta
Mar 10, 2026

New album: Finally, after an 18-year gap since their last collaboration in the heady days of the hit Crazy, with the St Elsewhere and The Odd Couple LPs a third and supposedly final album from fabulous singer CeeLo Green and producer and musician aka Brian Burton with a mix of soaring soul, hip-hop, pop and RnB with songs filled with vivid lyrical memories and strong, emotive melodies

Mar 10, 2026
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Mar 9, 2026
Various: HELP(2) - War Child Records
Mar 9, 2026

New album: Not only a timely and topical milestone charity record following the first in 1995 to help bring aid and wide variety of support to children in war zones around he world, but an impressive double-LP array of stellar British and international talent and powerful, poignant 23 songs from Arctic Monkeys to Young Fathers

Mar 9, 2026
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Mar 9, 2026
Bonnie “Prince” Billy: We Are Together Again
Mar 9, 2026

New album: Just over a year after 2025’s The Purple Bird, but from parallel recording sessions and familiar co-musicians, the veteran Louisville-Kentucky singer-songwriter Will Oldham returns with another collection of exquisite, intimate, gently defiant lo-fi folk to troubled times, an ode to community with a beautiful array of acoustic instruments and his poignant, insightful lyrics and delivery

Mar 9, 2026
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Mar 5, 2026
DEADLETTER: Existence Is Bliss
Mar 5, 2026

New album: This second LP by the South Yorkshire/London six-piece expands their post-punk sound palette with a collection of arresting, thrumming songs, often dark and challenging, with richly exploratory lyrics across dystopian and existential questions, yet despite a climate of difficult, shows how gasping for life’s oxygen is essential

Mar 5, 2026
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Mar 5, 2026
Lala Lala: Heaven 2
Mar 5, 2026

New album: Moving from Chicago to New Mexico, Reykjavík, then London and now Los Angeles, the UK-born artist Lillie West’s experimental indie dream pop is a fascinating release about restless escapism while trying to stay where she is

Mar 5, 2026
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Mar 3, 2026
Iron & Wine: Hen's Teeth
Mar 3, 2026

New album: Timeless, poetic, gentle folk-rock in this eighth solo album by the North Carolina multi-instrumentalist and producer Sam Beam, in warm, tender album with a title that suggests the idea of the impossible yet real, and an earthier, darker, more more tactile companion to his Grammy-nominated 2024 album Light Verse

Mar 3, 2026
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Mar 3, 2026
Buck Meek: The Mirror
Mar 3, 2026

New album: The Brooklyn-based Texan guitarist of Big Thief returns with his fourth solo LP filled with tender, thoughtful, beautiful folk-country-rock, a tiny splash of analogue synths, joined by bandmate James Krivchenia as producer, Adrianne Lenker on backing vocals, plus guitarist Adam Brisbin and harp player Mary Lattimore

Mar 3, 2026
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Mar 1, 2026
Mitski: Nothing’s About To Happen To Me
Mar 1, 2026

New album: Following 2023’s acclaimed The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, now an eighth LP of sublime beauty, wit and melancholy and silken vocal tones from the American singer-songwriter, mixing pop, rock, echoes of Laurel Canyon era, and stories and metaphors of love and loss, insecurity, independence and solitude all set at home – and no shortage of cats

Mar 1, 2026

new songs …

Featured
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Mar 17, 2026
Song of the Day: Kacey Musgraves - Dry Spell
Mar 17, 2026

Song of the Day: A catchy, witty, innuendo-filled new number about being and single and lonely, with some stylistic echoes of Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, heralding the acclaimed Grammy-winning Texas country singer-songwriter’s upcoming seventh album, Middle of Nowhere, out 1 May on Lost Highway

Mar 17, 2026
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Mar 16, 2026
Song of the Day: Jaakko Eino Kalevi - Black Diamond
Mar 16, 2026

Song of the Day: A splendidly rousing eight-minute retro-style electro-pop baroque melodrama by the Finnish artist with the deep, rich voice, one that stylistically and in his own fashion, draws a pentagram between Goblin, Rondo Veneziano, Cerrone, Doris Norton and Lindstrom, out on Domino Records

Mar 16, 2026
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Mar 15, 2026
Song of the Day: Hannah Lew - Sunday
Mar 15, 2026

Song of the Day: An appropriate day to highlight this classy latest single of shimmering 80s-style synth-pop with echoes of OMD, with themes about pain, love and grief from the upcoming debut album by the Richmond, California artist, out on 10 April via Night School Records

Mar 15, 2026
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Mar 14, 2026
Song of the Day: Mei Semones - Tooth Fairy (featuring John Roseboro)
Mar 14, 2026

Song of the Day: A charming cross-genre fusion of bossa nova, jazz, folk and chamber pop sung in English and Japanese by the Brooklyn-based American musician with a tale of losing a tooth on the subway and friendship, from the upcoming album Kurage, out 10 April on Bayonet Records

Mar 14, 2026
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Mar 13, 2026
Song of the Day: Robyn - Blow My Mind
Mar 13, 2026

Song of the Day: Quirky, sensual electro-pop with a dash of Kraftwerk by the acclaimed Swedish singer, songwriter and producer Robin Miriam Carlsson, in this latest from the upcoming album Sexistential out on 27 March via Konichiwa / Young Records

Mar 13, 2026
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Mar 12, 2026
Song of the Day: Lava La Rue - Scratches
Mar 12, 2026

Song of the Day: The latest single by the London singer-songwriter is punchy, powerful psychedelic rock number with tearing riffs and lyrics about damage from troubled relationship, abuse and self-harm, from the forthcoming EP Do You Know Everything?, out on BMG

Mar 12, 2026
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Mar 11, 2026
Song of the Day: Alewya - City of Symbols (featuring eejebee)
Mar 11, 2026

Song of the Day: A stylish fusion of electronica, soul, hip hop and Ethiopian rhythmic influences centring on themes of heritage, family by London singer, songwriter, producer and multidisciplinary artist, with drums from eejebee and guitar from Vraell, heralding from the forthcoming new debut Zero out 22 June via LDN Records / Because Music

Mar 11, 2026
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Mar 10, 2026
Song of the Day: Huarinami - Carried Away
Mar 10, 2026

Song of the Day: Explosive, stylish, gritty, restless indie-psychedelic punk with angular, angry guitars, driving bass and wonderfully arresting vocals by Pauline Janier (aka Cody Pepper) fronting the French London-based four-piece in this single fuelled by the frustration of big-city life, and heralding their sophomore EP Nothing Happens, due for release on 6 June

Mar 10, 2026
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Mar 9, 2026
Song of the Day: Avalon Emerson & The Charm - Written into Changes
Mar 9, 2026

Song of the Day: Following the singles Eden and Jupiter and Mars, another stylish, experimental indie synth-pop release by the New York artist with the title track of upcoming second Charm moniker album, out on 20 March via Dead Oceans

Mar 9, 2026
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Mar 8, 2026
Song of the Day: Aldous Harding - One Stop
Mar 8, 2026

Song of the Day: An enigmatic, oddly stylish, stripped back, piano-based new experimental folk single by the New Zealand singer-songwriter, namechecking John Cale, and from her upcoming album Train on the Island out May 8 via 4AD

Mar 8, 2026
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Mar 7, 2026
Song of the Day: Max Winter, Asha Lorenz & Rael - Candlelight
Mar 7, 2026

Song of the Day: A dark, stylish, striking fusion of hip-hop, trip-hop, spoken word, and jazz by the London-based rapper and friends, and the the first single from the collaborative mixtape Like the season!, out on Secret Friend

Mar 7, 2026
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Mar 6, 2026
Song of the Day: SPRINTS - Trickle Down
Mar 6, 2026

Song of the Day: The feisty, ferociously fun Dublin post-punk band return with a punchy, on-point angry new number about the flawed economic term, watching systems fail in slow motion, housing crisis, rising costs, culture wars, climate collapse, and frustratingly being told to stay patient while everything burns

Mar 6, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
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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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Feb 12, 2026
Word of the week: yanggeum
Feb 12, 2026

Word of the week: A form or hammered dulcimer, this traditional Korean instrument, with a flat and trapezoidal shape, has seven sets of four metal strings hit by thin bamboo stick

Feb 12, 2026
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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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