By George Boyland
Billy Bragg - Never Buy The Sun
An Essex lad sticking up for us against the media, Thatcher and the police. Most people on Merseyside know someone connected to the Hillsborough disaster. The grief is still raw. I've heard of people having that rag snatched from their hands and ripped up in front of them. Thing is, some people still believe The Sun's dreadful lies. You only have to read some of the football blogs, even in The Guardian.
The Boomtown Rats - Don't Believe What You Read
Good advice, Sir Bob. Anyone can print anything they like. Particularly if they have power and money. The thing is, often editors are just feeding a section of the public with exactly what they want to read.
Edwin Starr - Headline News
Ed's lit up like a Christmas tree. He went searching for gold and found love instead. Lucky man. Now he wants the whole world to know how gleeful he is. One for page six I think.
Johnnie Taylor - I Can Read Between The Lines
From ecstasy to agony. Poor Johnnie is reading the room. She gets up and leaves when the other guy exits the place. With undeniable perspicacity he knows what's going on, but would he be better off ignorant?
Pete Townshend - Classified
Has Pete got his head screwed on? According to him he can find anything in the classifieds: a car, a woman, and when all that's done he's going to buy a baby. Good luck with that.
Nick Lowe - I Read A Lot
A heartbreaker, beautifully sung, sublimely written. He's lost his love, but that's okay, he reads a lot. One of those songs that could flourish in any era. I could easily imagine Ella or Chet singing this.
Talking Heads - The Book I Read
Okay, so David Byrne read a book . . . so have I. But he's shouting it from the rooftops. Does he tell us anything about it? No. Does he make a lot of suspiciously sexual moans and groans. Yes. Sounds like a good read.
Blind Willie Johnson - Nobody's Fault But Mine
How Willie retained his faith after what his family did to him as a child is miraculous in itself. But he did, and he wrote and sang about them teaching him to read the Bible. He was a one off, in more ways than one. Covered by many, occasionally brilliantly, but no one ever approached Willie's emotional connection to this song.
McCarthy - Should The Bible Be Banned?
Hmm, good question. One wonders if the evangelicals have actually read any of it. It's a horror show. Babies heads dashed against walls, incest, murder, rape, genocide, but some people seem to like it. My answer is no, it should not be banned. If we did that then we'd have to ban every holy book in the world, and that's not on. Let's face it, they were all made up by some power freak who wanted control over the women in his village.
PJ Harvey - The Letter
Polly at her most sensual. I mean, who writes letters these days? We can text, we can email, we can phone. But no, she wants to feel the shape of his handwriting, she wants them to smell each other on the paper (I get that). She thinks about the envelope being licked. It turns her on. Well, I'm all for that. Now I'm thinking about letters from Linda. With a shiver I'm moving on.
Joan Armatrading - Your Letter
From what I've seen of Joan Armatrading she is one seriously tough lady. She stomps over TV interviewers if she thinks they are cutting short her plugging of her record. So it's hard to believe that her sorrowful heartbroken songs are extracted from the well of her personal sadness. But, it could just be creativity, her artistic imagination, her talent. Here she is quiveringly desperate for her lover, aching over a letter, searching for a hidden meaning she might have missed. It's art, I suppose.
Swell Maps - Read About Seymour
I can't profess to know much about what the Maps are on about here. It's a great sound. So far I've gleaned that Seymour has been in the news, and now our singer is afraid to look out of the window.
Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind
This man had a gift. Tunes, lyrics - poetry! It's humbling trying to describe his achievements. What bag was he in? I dunno. His own maybe . . .
The Essential Reading A-List Playlist:
The Big Browsing B-List Playlist:
Rocket From The Tombs - Read It And Weep
David Crosby - Hero
Fairport Convention - Book Song
Belle & Sebastian - Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying
Grant Hart - A Letter From Anne Marie
Future Of The Left - Stand By Your Manatee
The Bevis Frond - Book
Reggae George - Read The Bible
Elvis Costello - Riot Act
Julian Cope - Read It In Books
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
Western Promise - Justice For The 96
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Bookmark this: songs about reading. The next topic will launch on Thursday at around 1pm UK time.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address. Also please follow us social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: