Your Custom Text Here
Towards armistice: some of the First World War determined
On the eve of the First World War Armistice centenary, this week we look at songs about striving through extremely difficult circumstances, whether in conflict or peacetime, extreme or daily situations
Read more
No two walks are the same …
We all walk slightly differently, so this week it’s all about music that expresses various strolls, swings, swaggers, ambles or strides, and whether in politics or personal, marching bands or military, let’s capture the movement of the people
Read more
The Devil does his thing in Tenacious D
Who’s your devil in disguise? Who has all he best tunes? This week, in a fun week leading up to Halloween, let’s explore songs that mention, in whatever form, the Devil, Satan and any other names he takes
Read more
Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, 200m medal ceremony, Mexico 1968
Whatever the platform, the genre or message, this week we’re exploring the issue of equality, if not being the same, from gender to race, politics to work, how to get and if it’s even possible, all through lyrics
Read more
Does this raise or lower the bar …?
Feeling on song? They may be derived from literature, media or historic, regular usage, but this week we’re looking how common phrases can jump out at you in lyrics, and ideally are used creatively or cleverly
Read more
Oh England … Kate Bush
This is England. It began with a journey on the A roads and B roads, but instead of taking a geographical journey, this week’s guest barbryn travelled to the heart of identity, ascending beautiful heights, led by the lark
Read more
England is dreaming? … Who? Keith, Roger, Pete and John
Let’s take a musical trip around this strange, sceptr’d isle, this land of eccentric frontmen, this place of punk and flourishing fashion, to pick up lots of place names and perhaps also define the nature of being English
Read more
Creative halves: Two Kings In A Cipher - DOP (Deric Angelettie) and the Noble Ahmen-Ra (Ron Lawrence)
How do you separate so many great nominated songs into two playlists? This week’s guest, ParaMhor, divided and conquered hundreds of suggestions into two brilliant divisions, from Beatles to Steely Dan
Read more
Which songs will get a cut this week?
The world is divided, but not always in a bad way. This week we look for songs with lyrics that mention halves, thirds, quarters, eighths and smaller, and any words that pertain to fractions that make up the whole or one …
Read more
Let’s dust off, or blow away the ‘oose’ of our vocabulary air some great words
This week let’s delve deep into the musical lexicon for instances where unusual, oddball, inappropriate, funny, pretentious, antiquated or obscure words jump out, sometimes working well, or otherwise
Read more
Bright Sparks. The very real Ron and Russell pose a few questions and have some of the answers
Got a problem? Sex and relationships? Work? Retail choices? All your questions will be answered by this week’s problem-solving guru Uncleben, who turns from agony uncle into ecstasy-inducing music playlister
Read more
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
Read more
Brief Encounter (1945)
Fleeting romance to brief encounters, the transient to the terse, the brusque to burnout, the concise or condensed, our time is limited on Earth, but there’s still enough to suggest songs on this universal subject
Read more
Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer, Blind Melon, Beastie Boys, Blur … there all here, you know, and very different. And that’s just a few of the Bs. This week’s guest playlist writer amylee gives you a whole lot more than fantastic playlists inspired by last week’s topic.
Read more
Heading your way .. Julian Cope as Mr Squbbsy in London, 1990.
Eccentric historical figures to those who are currently out there, black sheep to persons offbeat, songs that express the outsider/insider paradox, this week let’s open our doors to songs about difference
Read more
What's cooking in the Song Bar foundry? Silvery and other sounds are in this week's melting pot
Things are hotting up at the Song Bar foundry, as guest alchemist TatankaYotanka, filled with treasures from last week’s nominations, smelts up a priceless recipe of musical riches ready to play to you
Read more
Sounds of silver …
Leaving aside gold, steel and iron, let’s dig out songs that lyrically refer, in literal or metaphorical terms to the poetic or practical qualities of silver, copper, brass, tin, aluminium, tungsten, magnesium and much more
Read more
The astonishing Marble cave, in Rio Tranquilo, Brazil.
This week it's time to dig deep in your record collections for find all things subterranean, whether that's in the beauty of natural geology, to man-made caverns or even the metaphorical underground
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more