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Feeling better yet? It's all part of the service …
Hospital care, pills, patients and patience, we’ve got a musical medicine cabinet of the finest healthcare for you, administered by guest playlist writer Dr Severin and readers nursing great song suggestions
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NHS founder Nye Bevan visits Park Hospital, Davyhulme, Manchester, in 1948.
This week we’re giving it the special treatment to mark the NHS 70th anniversary, but also looking for music that mentions any kind of medical care, especially nursing, and its emotional effect in lyrics
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Irreplaceable: The Modern Lovers
Replacements for players, soldiers, husbands, lovers, even robot sex – it’s all going on this these superb playlists chosen by our guest lister Marco den Ouden, who also replaces some of his words with those by nominators
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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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The men from CIA? Fugs-style.
Who are they? Where are they? And what are they doing? Are the answers in songs nominated? It’s time to burrow deep with our mystery guest playlister Deep Throat-Singer to see how the plot plays out …
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Meeting of metaphor or the literal? Well, it's all a question of scale …
No, it’s not the World Cup. Or is it? This week let’s delve into music’s interpretation of the murky world of imagined or otherwise undercover plots from Roswell to JFK, 9/11 to Russian interference, and er … lizards
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How does Two Suns end up? Bat For Lashes is joined by Scott Walker
Where will it all end? With medicine, moonlight, sleep or a starship? All of these and much more, as our guest playlist writer ParaMhor picks two superb sets of conclusions to hundreds of nominated songs
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Sunset ending? Not every ride goes so smoothly …
No – it’s not the World Cup. This week we’re looking at all kinds of ends of albums and other songs – from surprising, sudden, or summing up, to those that are ambiguous, serious, comical or take us to a new place
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Peter Tosh. No need to ask which side of the fence he's on.
Bongs to the Byrds, ditch weed to Nick Drake, spliff to Steppenwolf and tea’n’tree to Peter Tosh, everybody must get stoned with a woozily wonderful playlists by guest writer megadom from last week’s theme
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Louis Armstrong liked a good blow now and then
Mary Jane to hash, pot to pipes, it's time to take a toke on songs that hit on this long-established recreational drug and painkiller, from its many names to the effect it has on mind, society and music
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Shonen Knife are stirring the hot chocolate
Looking for some musical refreshment? From Shonen Knife’s Hot Chocolate to Emmylou Harris’s Deeper Well of water, this week’s playlist writer Rachel Courtney has a fully-stocked bar for you inspired by last week’s nominations
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The Song Bar is really milking this topic …
This week at the Bar we're putting aside the booze, and ’cordial’ly invite song suggestions about any amount of softer beverages, from the fizzy to juicy, milkshakes to mocktails, and hot or cold water drinks
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Bouncy inappropriateness: The Smiths
Death, depression and other dark matter is given the jaunty, upbeat treatment by guest playlister DJ PP99, spinning superb and starkly contrasting styles and subjects from last week’s nominations
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Altogether now ....
The lyrics are about dark matters, but they are played with extremely contrasting upbeat music. This week let’s explore songs that, through stark contrast, can unlock humour, tragedy, comedy and empathy
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Ghetto blaster beach bag. What? You don't have one?
Welcome to the left luggage office. Baggage to boxes, trunks, baskets or handbags, look inside this clutch of music with two wonderful playlists by this week’s playlist writer takeitawayGuru opened from last week’s theme
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Cassettes? What a carry on.
Travelling to shopping, fashion houses to homeless hobos, suitcases to handbags, briefcases to guitar cases, bags are the performer’s constant companion carried out in many songs, but it’s also about the contents …
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A voice everlasting: Mahalia Jackson
Want to achieve immortality? After a fountain of youth of song nominations last week, guest playlist writer treefrogdemon takes amusing musical solutions via reincarnation to science, Neil Young, Bob Dylan to David Bowie
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The Immortal Jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, which can reverse the life cycle process
Gods to vampires, myth to religion, nature to the supernatural, or simply need to preserve yourself in song, this week we explore that age-old obsession with living forever, or at least a mighty long time
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Neneh Cherry's taking a confident Buffalo Stance
From the plucky and cocky to the bold and brave, Beyonce to Blondie, Sparks to Stevie Wonder, this week’s guest Severin has picked two superb playlists from the nominations that will have your striding down the street
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Paws for thought: is confidence is what you see in yourself?
It's cleverer and sexier than brains or beauty. Musicians and performers have it spades – but in equal measure to insecurity. So this week let's explore songs all about wanting it, getting it, using it or losing it
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