Hard to beat? Not necessarily. While most songs are in 4/4 time, and others in 3/4 waltz, there are many fascinating variants that push the boundaries, often in a catchy way. It’s not necessary here to name the numbers, just how it feels when you count …
Read morePlaylists: songs inventively using acronyms
From catchy hooks to deeper meanings revealed, a combination of letters can be a clever way to compose lyrics or a song title. Guest playlister ajostu unscrambles hundreds of suggestions from last week’s topic to superbly spell it all out
Read moreHow does it end? Songs with notable outros and codas
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?
Read morePlaylists: songs featuring conversations
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
Read moreFood for the soul: songs about music as nutrition
Music is indisputably good for you, but how is this expressed in song, for improvement of mood, brain and body? Firstly this might come up lyrics, but also this topic can get more subjective and more impressionist with songs that really hit the spot
Read moreNot merely playing it: songs about innocence
Innocence lost or regained, from childhood to animals, in fact or fantasy, lyrics or style, this week we enter less cynical world, one of wide-eyed wonderment and promise, all in the form of songs and more
Read morePlaylists: songs about natural disasters and climate events
Pompeii to pollution, plague, pestilence and pressure drop, volcanoes, falling rocks, Fiery Furnaces to forest fires, this week's playlists by guest writer ParaMhor, whipped up by last week's topic, will surely go down a storm
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'
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