Cultural events to sport, travel, parties or imagined prizes in lotteries, whether as literal or as metaphor in lyrics, it's all about those bits of real or virtual paper allowing access. Where will yours get you?
Read moreThis topic is the greatest! Boastful songs
This week, from lyrical non-ironic self-proclamation to nuanced false narrators, a brimming edition of self-aggrandisement with a dash of arrogance, of big-headed and bombastic braggadocio, of cockiness, conceited crowing and crazed confidence, with a dollop of self-delusion …
Read moreIdeas brewing? Songs about tea
The routine, the ceremony, the warming up, the cooling down, the flavour, the comfort, the refreshment and everything that goes with it. This week we’re brewing up and leafing through our music collections …
Read moreOut of their time: original songs with a striking retro style
This week we look back to look forward with artists who wrote new songs with a style from the past, ignoring their zeitgeist and harking back to a former era or decade though musical stylings, choice of instruments, lyrics and more
Read moreVisit this: songs about surprise encounters
Songs that capture that moment of a surprise encounter, wherever it is, doorstep or elsewhere, and wherever it might lead – to romance, tragedy, comedy, death, or more, perhaps profoundly life-changing, or brief, and fleeting
Read moreLet's get physio: songs about bodily motion and exercise
This could be a fine body of work. Everything from stiffness to full fluidity of exercise – bending, flexing, twisting, stretching, it’s time limber up and pick up on songs that capture corporeal movement in any context
Read moreValentine's Day? Reveal your songs about secret admirers
Clandestine cravings and crushes? To spice up a romantic tradition, this week’s topic is all about secret love longings expressed through song, here inspired by real-life examples of musicians, alongside film, books and theatre
Read moreStrident in song: music that expresses the movement and feeling of walking
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 moreTime is short: songs about brevity
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 moreEvery breath you take: songs featuring the harmonica
It plays out like the voice, beautifully expresses emotion, can wail like a train and is popular across blues, rock, pop, jazz, classical and other genres. This week it's time to inhale deeply and get harmonious with the harmonica
Read moreDoctor, doctor! Bang goes the knighthood: songs featuring honorific titles
Earls to Dukes, Your Honour to Your Excellency, Knights to Dames and Mr and Mrs, privilege or deserving, let's explore the meaning, use and tone of honorific titles in song lyrics and why society bestows them
Read moreSing out for unsung heroes: songs with great backing vocals
They're the brilliant singers who blend beautiful and really make the music. From Motown and soul to to church and gospel, barbershop to pop or even punk, suggest songs made backed brillliantly by the unknown or famous
Read moreBake-off? No, far better: songs about bread, cake, pastry and biscuits
This week it's less about the reality TV competition, instead a much tastier treat into the world of lyrical bagels and brot, cupcakes and buns, breadlines and Bourbons. Take your pick and dig in …
Read moreBorn this way … biographical and autobiographical songs
Let me tell you a story … this week we're looking for songs that capture the narrative or arc of a person's life, about themselves or others, famous or unknown, whether that's in the first or third person
Read moreAny requests? Songs about asking, begging or pleading
Gentle query to formal demand, subtle hint to outright down-on-your-knees supplication, let's ask questions about songs that include the expression of wanting something or someone
Read moreTake a deep breath: songs with arresting opening lines
Profound statements to emotional exclamations, sexual provocation to oddball situation, suggest your favourite and outstanding starter lyrics as we examine a host of musical and literary examples at the bar
Read morePicture this: songs about painters, painting and drawing
This week the Bar becomes a special gallery filled with music stars' work! Peruse the paintings and name their famous creators, and suggest songs inspired by art and artists from any period or genre
Read moreUnforgettable? Songs about the first time … or last time
There's nothing quite like the emotions or physical impact of first, formative experiences. From first sex to seeing New York to new sounds, revisit your innocence in song, and also any that try to say 'never again'
Read moreShare: songs with misheard, nonsense or inaudible lyrics
Why did the Bee Gees like steak and a knife? Is Duffy obsessed with birdseed? And why do it in the road with the Beatles. This week indulge in creative lyrical earslips and a whole load of other lovely nonsense
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