Sometimes the visual and audible become inextricable. From nostalgia to drama, guest of the week Loud Atlas channels nominations from last week’s TV topic into playlists that are must-sees and required listening
Read morePlaylists: songs for fictional commercials
Awash with ads for travel, clothing, leisure, painkillers, marijuana, vegetables, and even items to boost sex life? Well, it’s time to be entertained by a string of non-existent ones, framed in snappy marketing musical form, with playlists picked by guest magicman from last week’s topic
Read moreChristmas sale special: give out songs to fit fictional commercials
‘Tis the season to be funny or serious, satirical, cerebral or sensual, simple or complex, abstract or expressive, imaginative and ingenious in suggesting songs for existing or fictional products that could appear in ads that don’t exist
Read moreTip of the iceberg: songs about the id, ego and superego
It’s time to wrestle with the conflicts and complexities of the conscious and sub-conscious mind captured in song lyrics. From that famous paper published by Freud a century ago, there’s also inspiration here in film, literature, comedy, musicians and more …
Read moreWhat's left behind? Songs about legacy
How will you leave it, or be left? It’s a profound idea to think of how we’ll be remembered, or forgotten, as material, ethereal and emotional remains, or what others might leave to us. So let’s widen our musical legacy with some more song ideas on this topic …
Read moreJust ignore this: songs about indifference
Whether genuine or feigned, in love, politics or the natural world, it’s as all-pervasive as gravity, and with a pulling power just as immense. So tugging against it, what bigger form of attention-seeking is there than writing and performing a song? But how do songs deal with indifference?
Read moreVote on what lies beneath: songs about trust
There’s a UK general election today, but here it’s also time to vote for songs about trust, that fragile but vital hub around which the world spins, in love, family, friendships, the self, creativity, religion, but also played in politics and business
Read moreGet on the wrong foot: songs with misleading or incongruous titles
This week we look at titles that appear to have nothing to do with the songs they signpost, using words that don’t appear in the lyrics, and seem to create an interesting and entertaining dissonance
Read moreRefresh your page: songs about milk and other non-alcoholic drinks
This week at the Bar we're putting aside the booze, and ’cordial’ly invite song suggestions about any amount of softer beverages, from the fizzy to juicy, milkshakes to mocktails, and hot or cold water drinks
Read moreMorning glory? Songs about waking up
From gloom to horny joy, scary or strange surprises to dire straits, this week let's explore all the lyrical and musical sides of regain consciousness in song, with some stimuli here from other forms – film and books
Read moreSpecial offer! Going for a song – about sales, selling and bargains
Step right up! This week we look into the psychology of selling and the heartbeat of bargains across our culture. Retail therapy to ripoff, suggest lyrics all about the intimacy and anonymity of commercial transaction
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 moreElection? Publish and be damned: songs about news, reporting and media
Headlines in lyrics or titles, to songs about the press, TV, websites and social media, this week it’s time to retell stories of how the news and its communication can also be a musical muse for songwriters
Read moreWho can't handle the truth? Songs about propaganda, liars and lying
Mass campaigns to crowd manipulation, political U-turns to personal deception, suggest songs about the art and artifice of changing facts for dubious or other purposes, but here to make truthful playlists
Read moreSongs about lust: what do you fancy?
Sleazy to sexy, rampant to repressed, Bacchanalian to baroque, hip-hop to rock, suggest your lust-based songs here to help create a playlist we might all desire
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