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“Actually, I think you’ll find these are not stocks, it’s a pillory …”
Far bigger than embarrassment, shame can be private, deep-seated and complex, covering all sides of society, psychology, religious, private or public life, a many-sided identity that can be corrosive but also controlling, useful but also harmful. How does it show in song?
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It’s Coney Island, baby
Good mass gatherings to bad, random or organised, peaceful marches to riots, gigs, sports events, and even songs that feature crowd noises, join the in-crowd and suggest your songs that describe and capture the behaviour of the collective conscious
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Norway’s popular Pulpit Rock or Preikestolen
Actual or metaphorical, from windows to riverbanks, doorways to cliffs, to mental or physical extreme places, this week let’s go to a variety of precipices, stare into the abyss, but also find astonishing new perspectives in song
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Right place at the right time come into focus …
Moments of realisation? From scientific to practical, physical, emotional, philosophical or spiritual, expressed in one lyrical line, one musical rush, or building slowly, and then suddenly and unexpectedly coming into focus in song
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Fragile, insecure synchronicity. Simon & Garfunkel.
What makes for a great duo and how does is that dynamic expressed? Perfect balance of sound? Unspoken understanding and harmony? Symbiosis of roles? Contrast in character? Fragility, insecurity and tension? It’s time for two’s company …
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Which way are you thinking?
Let’s celebrate the cerebrum and engage with the encephalon through lyrics and song subject, whether it is the biological makeup of this squidgy Tardis, or mindful thoughts and functions it can control. Worth a thought, anyway …
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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
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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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Mac users: Amon Düül II
Psychological perspectives to sexual proclivities, social commentary to downright silliness, our guest playlist writer attwilightlarks covers a large articulate range of the human psyche in the wordy titles from last week's topic
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Hang out at the Bar. You'll enjoy it.
Folk to rock, pop to hip hop and more, from grisly executions to leisure time with friends, to ending phone calls, let's hang out at the Song Bar and explore songs using these many idioms
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Tina Turner ... turning suffering into art just like JMW Turner (see below)
Hurt can be the source of most songs, but this week we look at the when pain can be positive, and suggest songs that take the upbeat, or even pleasurable view of pain in the mind and body
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What does it mean and how does it feel to be clever, smart, savvy, canny, brainy, or have clout? Or the opposite? What is emotional and musical intelligence? It's time to play out these ideas in song
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