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They’re a very common part of our language, but in lyrics or titles where are they consciously and creatively used? With meaning instantly recognisable or more cryptically unpacked, their sound might perhaps be used musically or to help create memorable lines or rhymes
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Talking Heads - but what’s in the book?
Read all about it! Or in some cases, don’t believe a word. From books to letters to the media and more, guest of the week George Boyland picks out a classy selection from last week’s topic nominations. Browse and enjoy …
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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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Evel Knievel attempts to jump 13 buses in London, 1975. What could possibly go wrong?
Love, death, survival, creativity – at times they all seem impossible or insurmountable. After a seemingly inconceivable recent world history, it’s time to play with the idea of impossible in song, and work out what really is from what isn’t. Is it all down to perception?
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Stereo-typing
Which type are you? Portraying or satirising, explaining or exploding, this week we explore these social generalisations about race, gender, age, nationality, class or profession as expressed in song lyrics or even musical style
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Herd this? Non sequiturs are instrumental in this week’s musical zoo
Often poetic, strange, vivid, but definitely illogical, this week we explore lyrics that don’t really follow what preceded it, but somehow their meaninglessness masquerading as meaning, can also end up being something highly musical
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A cartoon postcard at home that could be applied to most weeks
As restrictions loosen in some countries, it's time to reflect on these last three months with titles and lyrics from any time that could now be applied to lockdown experience, as well as more recent songs specifically about the situation
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The art of incongruity: This is Spinal Tap
This week we look at titles that appear to have nothing to do with the songs they signpost, using words that don’t appear in the lyrics, and seem to create an interesting and entertaining dissonance
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Genuine lip syncers Milli Vanilli
Being true to yourself or others to genuine article in objects, this week we’re seeking songs that, in lyrics, are about searching for authenticity, but might sometimes find the opposite from forgery to falsehood, bootleg to bullshit
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Image of Hurricane Patricia (2015) which, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, reached speeds of 345 km/h (215 mph)
Hurricanes, tornados, tidal waves, floods, blizzards, earthquakes to volcanoes, whether about actual events or in metaphor, it's time to batten down the hatches, put out the sandbags and face the music
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Iggy Pop and friend are watching the news
How did it all unfold on election night? Narrated through perfect playlists of running coverage, our guest reporter EnglishOutlaw, inspired by last week's topic, cleverly sneaked inside No 10 Downing Street …
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The Day Today ... the perfect headline.
Headlines in lyrics or titles, to songs about the press, TV, websites and social media, this week it’s time to retell stories of how the news and its communication can also be a musical muse for songwriters
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Away from all the political turmoil, it’s time for musical rest, something poetic. Honouring soldiers or victims of war to family, friends or lost fellow bandmates, suggest music that remembers the departed on a personal, profound and beautiful note
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Bad Benny
Sleazy to sexy, rampant to repressed, Bacchanalian to baroque, hip-hop to rock, suggest your lust-based songs here to help create a playlist we might all desire
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