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Playing it straight? It’s all about timing with Laurel and Hardy in Saps At Sea (1940)
What’s their chemistry? Creative or romantic, adventurous or anarchic, real or fictional, who gets a prominent lyrical or titular appearance in a song, ideally where they are the primary focus rather just a passing mention?
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David Bradley in Kes (1969)
It’s time to swoop down and grasp for songs related to these birds of prey, and the emotional and physical impact their generate, from hawks, eagles, falcons, kestrels, kites, ospreys, buzzards, harriers and more, as well as the scavengers – vultures, sea eagles and condors
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Seeking some special rhythm? How about with help from Omara Portuondo?
Jamaica to Japan, inner city London to the American south, Cuba to Scotland and Ireland, this week’s playlists cover all sorts of searches from love to spiritual and material quests, and turn into a treasure trove of finds put together by guest of the week ajostu
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Search engines … Monty Python and The Holy Grail. The low-budget classic film was variously funded by among others, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Charisma Records, and possibly Elton John
Love, food, shelter, identity, meaning? Rare vinyl? Most of our existence is about searching for something, but in what ways is this expressed in song lyrics? Here’s some other forms of inspiration and, after all, what is the true holy grail?
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It’s an open road for songs and music that capture the experience of driving and the journey …
This is not so much songs about roads and cars, instead those that best accompany the journey, shows not tells, enhances the sensations and capture that strangely magical movement of human and vehicle through a landscape. Enjoy here some road movies for inspiration …
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What goes around …
The end has to come, but how, in an outro or coda, does a song or piece offer something different, original, unusual or memorable, musically or even lyrical form, a twist, a mood change, upbeat, downbeat or even a sense of unresolved mystery?
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Getting into the swing of it: Trapeze artists, 1890
Roll up! Roll up! This week we’re going under the big top and looking to capture the excitement, the artistry, the adventure, tragedy and also cruelty of circus culture. For audience or performers, it’s all about the show, in music and lyrics
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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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Hey, this way. Don’t forget the moths, says the rosy maple
Fragile mutability, intangible beauty, or a hairy horror with collecting obsessives? Metaphor or more, in lyrics or music, with a four-stage life cycle, from egg to pupae, caterpillar to winged wonders, let’s hear it for all these wondrous lepidoptera, with as much for the moths as for the butterflies
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So, do you want this, or not? Well, let’s see …
Ever felt in two minds? Caught between two stools? Stuck between a rock, pop, and hardcore place? All the wobbles and vacillations about everything in life are expertly and entertainingly captured by guest Olive Butler, chosen from nominations for last week’s topic. But which list will it be?
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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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Vladmir Kush’s African Sonata
From practical life problems, work, relationships, craft or crisis, to all sorts of creative problems, or even channelling dreams, it’s time to access the right hemisphere and see how the imagination can be used, as expressed in song lyrics. Read on for more stimulation …
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Sands of time …
It’s time to celebrate the Bar’s seven years with poetic inspiration for a topic that also endures – and songs about romantic love or friendship that’s perpetual through life, or forever enshrined in in the memory even if tragically cut short
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Rare, and always on the move: Halley and Billie
From celestial to historical, the fictional to the emotional, while rarities are exactly as described, there’s a huge variety, and many songs about them. Picking from last week’s huge range of nominations, guest Marco den Ouden makes heavenly choices
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Some activities are rarer than others … Thomas Rowlandson’s satirical work of 1811
Looking up or down, from sights of rare astrological bodies to unusual encounters with unusual or unique people or events, from birth to death, it’s time to capture the rare in song form, from personal or universal perspectives
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The Shangri-Las in full conversational flow …
Duelling tablas to bar-room or bandmate banter, flirty duets to star-crossed lovers, chatty parody to skilful dissing, all the questions and answers are here in a creatively conversation playlist picked by guest Amylee from an enormous offering of nominations last week
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Pointed dialogue: John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction
Can you tell me what this is all about? Sure. Whether between two or more vocalists, or reported within the lyrics by one, or even involving instrumentalists, songs that include communication between more than one person. There’s lots of examples to get your ideas flowing. OK, thanks.
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Just the ticket: pricey or priceless?
Whether music, sport, film, travel, or wider culture, they mean different things to different individuals, but all are items that trigger or preserve memories, personal or more universal. Let’s explore these specific objects in song, overall or in specific lyrical detail
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Warning: diversions expected ahead …
Prepare for the unexpected. This week in song, it’s all about moments of divergence, digression, and distraction, of interruption and intervention, leading to the unplanned, whether that be because of oneself, another person, events, or circumstances
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Not a curtain-raiser for 2023, but a hair-raiser …
Not a curtain raiser, but a hair-raiser for 2023. It’s a sign that music is at its optimum effect, but when and why does it happen? From Darwin’s explanation to more recent studies, and some musical examples, it’s time to share your goosebump inducting songs and explain why …
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