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Playlists: songs about going back to school, college or work

September 16, 2025 Peter Kimpton

There’s no escaping it …

It has come to us all, inescapable feeling, a time of mixed dread and hope, as the old routine beckons. With Monday at the forefront, Loud Atlas captures all these feelings in a superbly entertaining schedule of songs from last week’s topic

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In avant-garde, blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, lounge, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, showtime, songs, ska, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, school, work, The Mamas and Papas, The Boomtown Rats, Timmie 'Oh Yeah' Rogers, Gary US Bonds, Albert Collins, The Unthanks, Anthony Szmierek, Richard Dawson, The Police, BC Camplight, Gene Autry, Dido, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, The Isley Brothers, Robocobra Quartet, Todd Rundgren, The Skoidats, The Strawbs, Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, The Prodigy, Tony Perkins, Jerry Blavat, Men At Work, Graham Parker, The Rumour, Rod Stewart, My Chemical Romance, Eduard Klassen, Blink-182, Lady Parts, Loud Atlas
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Returns to normal: songs about going back to school, college or work

September 11, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Gregory’s Girl (1980)

Distinctive smells, sights and stories, anxiety and awkwardness, comfort and routine, ambition and ordinariness, this week it’s time, after the holidays, to return to settings of routine and familiarity captured in song …

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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 songs, playlists, school, work, Steve McQueen, Tina Fey, Bette Davis, Robert Frost, Oscar Wilde, A.A. Milne, Albert Einstein, Film, TV, film soundtrack
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Get on up: songs about or inspiring motivation

January 2, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Some people have no time to sit …

Some people have no time to sit …

New Year resolutions, revelations or revolutions? Whether it’s from or for love, money, survival, fear, self-respect or more, let’s open 2020 with songs that may motivate, but ideally also tell us where that comes from

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, instrumentals, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, motivation, work, money, relationships, sex, ambition, fear, survival, Mark Twain, Robert De Niro, Confucius, Bruce Lee, Richard Hawley, Chris Cornell, Gary Hume, Tori Amos, Conor Oberst, George Michael, Carl Orff, Joe Simpson, Boney M, William Shatner, George Clooney, The Beatles, Sylvester Stallone, Family Guy, Wreckless Eric, Bill Withers, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, Chumbawumba, Bob Marley
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Playlists: songs about different jobs

November 20, 2019 Peter Kimpton
‘The morning is here and there’s work to be done': Who sings a story of the ‘navvies’ who built our railways?

‘The morning is here and there’s work to be done': Who sings a story of the ‘navvies’ who built our railways?

Drivers to traders, craftsmen to carers, traffic wardens to roadies, this week’s superb playlists by guest writer ShivSidecar capture a huge spectrum of styles, emotions, toil and characters, and after so many nominations, it’s a job very well done indeed

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In avant-garde, blues, country, dance, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, work, jobs, Buck 65, Elliott Smith, Glasvegas, Richard Dawson, Kacey Musgraves, The Pogues, Elbow, The Bevis Frond, The Whitlams, The Beatles, St Vincent, Richard Thompson, Linda Thompson, Neil Young, Hoodoo Gurus, Webb Wilder, Nico Wayne Toussaint, Brooklyn Funk Enterprises, Talking Heads, Angelique Kidjo, Charlie Parr, Mark Kozelek, Jimmy LaValle, The Unthanks, Patrice Holloway, Blotto, Belle & Sebastian, Robb Johnson, Captain Beefheart, Television Personalities, T Rex, Roger Daltrey, John Cale, Clive Gregson, Christine Collister, Iron + Wine, RIchie Havens, The Wailing Souls, Cotton Mather, The Loud Family, Voice Of The Beehive, Spencer Davis Group, Johnny Burton, Lal Waterson, Mike Waterson, Johnny Ryan, Sidecar Shiv
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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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World Cup? Not quite. It's songs about substitutes

June 28, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The real thing or substitutes? The Beatles at Madame Tussauds

The real thing or substitutes? The Beatles at Madame Tussauds

Are they meant to be better, or not as good, artificial or the real thing? From sport to food, people to plans, work to worries and distraction, let’s explore substitutions in life and music

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, gospel, folk, electronica, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Songs, substitutes, The Beatles, Madame Tussauds, Tom Waits, Paul Simon, Adam Savage, Somerset Maugham, Christmas, childhood, John Lennon, teachers, work, Elon Musk, Alaister PIlkington, Aesop, Carl Jung, psychology, Malcolm Muggeridge, Christopher Hampton, Saint Augustine, Rush Limbaugh, Mary Wollstonecraft, Iris Murdoch, Robert Louis Stevenson, Anthony Burgess, Candice Bergen, computers, technology, Robert McNamara, Charles Dickens, Paul Cezanne, Mark Twain, Janet Fitch, Nick Nolte, Peter Falk, Ray Liotta, Goodfellas, The Sopranos, James Gandolfini, Liam Neeson, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Will Smith, Keanu Reeves, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Macaulay Culkin, Tom Hanks, John Travolta, Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, film, food, Yotam Ottolenghi, cooking, sugar, gardening, football, Marlon Brando, sport, Yvonne Fair, Patsy Cline, Henrik Larsson, David Fairclough, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Paulo Coelho
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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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Go ahead, punk, make my … songs about days of the week

March 9, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Band of the week: the performing planets

Band of the week: the performing planets

Blue Mondays to lazy Sundays, strange Tuesdays to Fridays on your mind, peruse your calendar of titles and lyrics to make it a cultural and musical week to remember 

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Tags Songs, days of the week, astronomy, myth, astrology, Robert Smith, The Cure, religion, work, history, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, time, Ozzy Osbourne, Sid Vicious, ancient gods, calendars, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, books, Nilsson, John F Kennedy, financial crisis, retail industry, The Easybeats, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, Film, Albert Finney, Sam Cooke, John McNaughton, poetry, Margo Guryan, New Order, David Bowie, Anthony Newley, Charles Mingus
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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

Galaxy Lemonade


SNACK OF THE WEEK

Orange twiglets from Jupiter


New Albums …

Featured
Tori Amos - In Times of Dragons.jpg
May 6, 2026
Tori Amos: In Times of Dragons
May 6, 2026

New album: The acclaimed American singer-songwriter and pianist’s 18th album in a 35-year career is a grandiose, powerful 17-track album of odyssey and allegory around politics, power and feminist resistance, fuelled by the current state of her nation, set from the view of fictionalised marriage to a dangerous billionaire and an escape across the country with a narrative twist

May 6, 2026
Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere.jpeg
May 6, 2026
Kacey Musgraves: Middle of Nowhere
May 6, 2026

New album: Moving away from the pop-folk direction of 2021’s Star-Crossed and 2024’s Deeper Well, the Nashville singer-songwriter returns with this seventh LP back to her country roots with gently trotting, stripped-back finely crafted collection of witty, catchy, candid numbers covering a spectrum of moods

May 6, 2026
OUTTANATIONAL by Pigeon.jpeg
May 5, 2026
Pigeon: OUTTANATIONAL
May 5, 2026

New album: Hugely enjoyable, stylish, playfully eclectic debut LP of indie, electronica and Afro-disco and krautrock grooves by the Margate band fronted by the multi-lingual artist Falle Nioke from Guinea Conakry, West Africa, with songs about identity and ancestry, and a sound somewhere between New Order and William Onyeabor

May 5, 2026
KNEECAP - FENIAN.jpeg
May 3, 2026
KNEECAP: FENIAN
May 3, 2026

New album: Still the scourge of the establishment after 2024’s debut LP Fine Art, a hugely entertaining second LP of punchy, slick, defiant Irish Gaelic rap by Belfast’s Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, and beatmaker DJ Próvaí, with an expanded sound aided by innovative producer Dan Carey and an appearance by Kae Tempest

May 3, 2026
Long Wave Home by Jesca Hoop.jpeg
May 2, 2026
Jesca Hoop: Long Wave Home
May 2, 2026

New album: Brilliantly inventive, eclectic, poetic, experimental folk and art-pop by the acclaimed Manchester-based Californian singer-songwriter and guitarist in her first self-produced album, variously about the end of relationships, life changes, technology’s social effects, Gaza victims and other contemporary issues with perhaps her finest yet

May 2, 2026
Sam Grassie - Where Two Hawks Fly.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Sam Grassie: Where Two Hawks Fly
Apr 29, 2026

New album: Beautiful debut LP by the London-based Glaswegian fingerstyle folk guitarist and singer-songwriter, with added saxophone, double bass, flute, clairsach and clarinet in a release of mostly the traditional, covers, sung or instrumental, and supported by the Bert Jansch Foundation

Apr 29, 2026
Irmin Schmidt - Requiem.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Irmin Schmidt: Requiem
Apr 29, 2026

New album: A strangely mesmeric, avant-garde and analogue-ambient, field recording-based experimental release by the last surviving founding member of experimental ‘krautrock’ band CAN, who, approaching the age of 89, has also written over 40 TV and film scores

Apr 29, 2026
Gia Margaret - Singing.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Gia Margaret: Singing
Apr 28, 2026

New album: Gently profound, and full of wondrous, mesmeric, slow, delicate experimental songs, this simple title has a powerful resonance – it is the Chicago artist’s first vocal album since 2018’s There’s Always Glimmer (there have been two instrumental LPs since), having suffered and recovered from a severe vocal injury, she returns with a delicate, candid, whispery but hauntingly beautiful delivery

Apr 28, 2026
Angel In Plainclothes by Angelo De Augustine.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Angelo De Augustine: Angel in Plainclothes
Apr 28, 2026

New album: A beautiful, delicate fifth LP from the Los Angeles singer-songwriter, friend and collaborator with Sufjan Stevens with whom he shares a stylistic resemblance, here with themes on life's fragility, second chances, and picking up the pieces after an undiagnosed illness forced him to re-learn basic abilities

Apr 28, 2026
Carla dal Forno - Confession.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Carla dal Forno: Confession
Apr 28, 2026

New album: This lo-fi, darkly minimalist but also oddly candid fourth LP by the Australian, Castlemaine-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist centres on the conflicted, obsessive feelings about “a friendship that became emotionally charged in an unexpected way”, and “an album about closeness that arrives late and unexpectedly. About stability rubbing up against desire.”

Apr 28, 2026
Friko - Something Worth Waiting For album.jpeg
Apr 26, 2026
Friko: Something Worth Waiting For
Apr 26, 2026

New album: Passionate, powerful, dynamic indie rock in this sophomore LP by the Chicago-based quartet that gallops forwards with a driving momentum, some elements of early PJ Harvey and Radiohead, and is produced by John Congleton

Apr 26, 2026
White Denim - 13.jpeg
Apr 26, 2026
White Denim: 13
Apr 26, 2026

New album: This 13th LP in two decades by the Austin, Texas rock band fronted by James Petralli has a particularly mischievous experimentalism, spreading styles far beyond breathlessly paced prog rock, with wrily humorous, surreal, personal and passionate numbers across heavy funk, dub, soul, psyche, country, dirty blues and more, joined by host of outstanding extra musicians

Apr 26, 2026
Asili ya Mama by Hukwe Zawose Foundation.jpeg
Apr 24, 2026
Hukwe Zawose Foundation: Asili ya Mama
Apr 24, 2026

New album: Wonderfully evocative field recordings release of Wagogo, Waluguru and Wasambaa Tanzanian women singing traditional songs in their villages, rarely heard outside of their own circles, the title is translated as The Origin of Mother, rich in stories and capturing the place where song is first learned, first felt, first shared

Apr 24, 2026
They Might Be Giants - The World Is To Dig.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
They Might Be Giants - The World Is To Dig
Apr 23, 2026

New album: Four decades since their self-titled debut, Brooklyn alternative rockers John Flansburgh and John Linnell return with their 24th LP, packed with of punchy, pacy, wistful, whimsical, clever wordplay and indie rock-pop, buoyantly satirical and also a little world weary at times, they remain oddball, lively commentators on the ongoing absurdity of life

Apr 23, 2026

new songs …

Featured
Zoh Amba - Eyes Full.jpeg
May 6, 2026
Song of the Day: Zoh Amba - Eyes Full
May 6, 2026

Song of the Day: An impassioned, stirring, dark and driving country/indie-rock number about what makes someone’s heart full and questioning why by the NY-based band with Kingsport, Tennessee roots, with this title track of the forthcoming debut LP Eyes Full, out on 5 June via Matador Records

May 6, 2026
Cowboy Mouth by Sophie Royer.jpeg
May 5, 2026
Song of the Day: Sofie Royer - Cowboy Mouth
May 5, 2026

Song of the Day: A catchy, cool, stylish fusion of indie and electro-pop by the classically trained, California-born, Vienna-based Iranian-Austrian artist, inspired by reading Patti Smith and Sam Shepard’s play of the same title, reimagining the play’s characters as Angel and Cowboy, and out now on Stones Throw Records

May 5, 2026
Hodge - Wiggler.jpeg
May 4, 2026
Song of the Day: Hodge - Wiggler
May 4, 2026

Song of the Day: A hugely fun, energising, infectious, effervescent, repetitive electronic dance track by the Bristol-based DJ/producer (aka Jake Martin) featuring a 3D pipe bassline by Memotone, and released alongside another track,Trust, out on Local Action

May 4, 2026
Return to Sender by Ibibio Sound Machine.jpeg
May 3, 2026
Song of the Day: Ibibio Sound Machine - Return To Sender
May 3, 2026

Song of the Day: Fizzing with vibrant energy and intricate rhythms, a fabulous new single with a personal accidental backstory by the London electronic afro-funk band out of London fronted by vocalist Eno Williams, out Merge Record

May 3, 2026
The Puppini Sisters - The Birthday Party.jpeg
May 2, 2026
Song of the Day: The Puppini Sisters - Total Eclipse of the Heart
May 2, 2026

Song of the Day: A fabulous new version of the Jim Steinman-penned 1983 Bonnie Tyler power pop hit, arranged by Marcello Puppini in an entirely different style for her swing-jazz trio and band, part of their 20th anniversary celebrations and album, The Birthday Party, out now on Millionaire Records

May 2, 2026
Bleachers - Everyone For Ten Minutes.jpeg
May 1, 2026
Song of the Day: Bleachers - I'm Not Joking
May 1, 2026

Song of the Day: Featuring harpsichord, Hammond organ, Dobro and more, producer Jack Antonoff and his New Jersey rock band return with a heartfelt love song single heralding the upcoming album, Everyone For Ten Minutes, out on 22 May via Dirty Hit

May 1, 2026
Alewya - Saleh.jpeg
Apr 30, 2026
Song of the Day: Alewya - Selah
Apr 30, 2026

Song of the Day: Striking, stylishly agile electronica and dance with a rich African and Arabian influence by the London-based British singer-songwriter, producer, multidisciplinary artist and model Alewya Demmisse, heralding her upcoming album, Zero, out on 26 June via LDN Records

Apr 30, 2026
metric romanticize-the-dive.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Song of the Day: Metric - Crush Forever
Apr 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Uplifting, effervescent electro-disco-pop by the Toronto indie rock band, with a song vocalist/keyboardist Emily Haines describes as “my love letter to strong girls in this world”, taken from their recently released 10th album, Romanticize the Dive, out on Metric Music via Thirty Tigers

Apr 29, 2026
Jim Ghedi - The Hungry Child single.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Jim Ghedi - The Hungry Child
Apr 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Dark, gripping, visceral folk by the Sheffield singer-songwriter, with a striking number based on an early 19th-century German poem about the fatal story of a child pleading for food, and, following last year’s acclaimed album, Wasteland, also out on Basin Rock, it heralds his upcoming soundtrack for the Hugh Jackman film, The Death of Robin Hood.

Apr 28, 2026
holybones with Baxter Dury - SLUGBOY.jpg
Apr 27, 2026
Song of the Day: holybones (with Baxter Dury) - SLUGBOY
Apr 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Dark, unsettling, sleazy and strange, this is arrestingly vivid new collaborative single between the clandestine London electronic collective and the downbeat, deep-voiced poetic Londoner, out on Promised Land Recordings

Apr 27, 2026
Hand Habits - Good Person.jpeg
Apr 26, 2026
Song of the Day: Hand Habits - Good Person
Apr 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Gentle, droll, humorously self-deprecatingly, and also delicately beautiful, this new experimental folk single by the moniker of Los Angeles singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Meg Duffy addresses the love-hate relationship with making music, out on Fat Possum

Apr 26, 2026
Pigeon - Miami.jpeg
Apr 25, 2026
Song of the Day: Pigeon - Miami
Apr 25, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, sunny, upbeawt indie synth-pop with an African twist by the Margate band fronted by Falle Nioke, with flavours of William Onyeabor, Hot Chip and New York 70s disco, heralding their upcoming album OUTTANATIONAL, out on 1 May via Memphis Industries

Apr 25, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
Song thrush 2.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
Word of the week: throstle
Apr 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

Apr 23, 2026
Undine - Novella.jpeg
Apr 9, 2026
Word of the week: undine
Apr 9, 2026

Word of the week: It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus

Apr 9, 2026
Veena player.jpg
Mar 27, 2026
Word of the week: veena
Mar 27, 2026

Word of the week: This ornate, curvaceous, south Indian classical instrument, the saraswati veena, is a special bowl lute with a rich, resonant tone, has 24 copper frets with four playing strings and three drone strings, and is used for Carnatic music

Mar 27, 2026
Snail on a wall.jpeg
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
Swordfish.jpg
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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