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The bells! The bells! Handheld bells ...
They resonate through time, marking beginnings and endings, life and death, and have a host of meanings and contexts. Alone or in harmony, large or small, as instrument or sound effect, what tintinnabulum tickles your fancy in music?
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They call him Mr Tibbs: Sidney Poitier shows Rod Steiger how real detective work is done - In The Heat of The Night (1967)
There’s a body, but what’s the motive, and whodunnit? Gathering a cast of famous detectives and a pile of tracks about them to spin in the Bar, Chief Inspector Marco den Ouden solves the case with musical cues and keys, inspired by last week’s topic
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What’s inside the bar this week?
There’s a smoky haze in the Bar this week as dozens of suspicious individuals sit down for a quiet drink, but what are they up to? Are they real or fictional. It’s time to do the sleuth work and find some musical inspiration
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Sleeve of Japrocksampler: How the Post-war Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll – by Julian Cope (2007)
It’s a huge market for the industry, inspired by outsider music, and this extraordinary land also delivers much of its own, but what songs captures the essence of Japanese people and culture? Here’s a tiny dish of metaphorical sushi to get your tastebuds tingling ….
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You simply don’t mess with Tura Satana, portraying Varla in 1965’s Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Ambiguous, mysterious, sexy, full of charm but also harm, they're the objects of obsession, as it's often unclear what the balance of good-bad may be. Fictional or real, famous or personal, let's find songs inspired by them ...
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Take a seat, sip a drink, and soak up the easy sounds …
From the becalming, serene and romantic – bars to hotel lifts, airports and shops with mood-affecting orchestral pieces of the 1950s and 60s, all the way to retro nostalgia in the 1990s and contemporary sounds, guest playlister pejepeine perfectly captures this broad genre topic from a huge wave of nominations
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To mark 80 years since that key day, this song topic is not only about those events – the landings, the battles, the individuals, the big stories, but also in a wider sense about the very idea of D-Day, of those moments where it's really do or die, or in some cases do and die, where necessity means you must be decisive and take action
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Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse. But how many crooners are there in this photo?
This week it’s time to to get close to the microphone explore the evolution of crooning in the full range, the style, the technique, the good, bad and ugly, emotive, intimate and excellent, the creative, the cosy, and the cringeworthy, the sensitive and sentimental
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Eight? How many pieces do you have?
Precious, rare, valuable, timeless? Monetary or something more intangible? How do you define treasure? This week we celebrate eight years of of Song Bar from a phase from a Robert Louis Stevenson novel and seeking songs on this theme
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Calm looks: from Beyoncé’s Lemonade:designs based on Yoruba culture by Brooklyn Nigeria-born designer Laolu Senbanjo
From Arican itutu to European sprezzatura, American jazz and poetry to hip hop, and a lot more besides, how do you define coolness, whether in lyrics, or expressed in the music itself? It’s time to compose yourselves with some cultural inspiration …
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Rogues’ gallery, some of the many …
Notorious, violent, controlling, paranoid, ruthless, and excessive, history is filled with them, their rise supported by the fear and apathy. Constantly a threat, from history to the present and future, what are their traits, and how are they portrayed in song?
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Psych is always on the move …
Delay, fuzz, distortion, flanger, echo, sitars, and mind-altering drugs? It’s a style chiefly associated with the late-60s but what are it’s key characteristics and where else do they come up in the world of music? Let’s go on a journey through time and space …
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Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Classical to classic pop, rock, folk, African, jazz and beyond, the instrument provides an unmistakably rich, powerful, emotional voice. Inspired by a beautiful, broad scope of nominations from last week’s topic, guest Loud Atlas presents out some equally wonderful playlists
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Jacqueline du Pré with Daniel Barenboim
With its beautiful, versatile vocal sound, this baroque instrument features not classical pieces but genres of all kinds. But where does it play a strong, influential and essential part? And perhaps alongside the sound, where it might also feature in lyrics?
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Eyes wide shut?
What does it mean, and what form does it take? From formal religion to private conversation, hope and supplication to comfort and meditation, and even parody of well-known prayers, it’s time explore this mysterious human activity in song
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Freud’s famous paper was published exactly a century ago
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 …
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Deep and meaty?
This week’s topic is sensual rather than cerebral, and extremely subjective. It’s less a lyrical lookup, more seeking out music that makes you, at least metaphorically, vibrate, and even salivate. Please suggest examples and describe the accompanying feeling
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Playing it straight? It’s all about timing with Laurel and Hardy in Saps At Sea (1940)
What’s their chemistry? Creative or romantic, adventurous or anarchic, real or fictional, who gets a prominent lyrical or titular appearance in a song, ideally where they are the primary focus rather just a passing mention?
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Maya Angelou
Whether in the face of sudden trauma or dealing with ongoing difficulty it’s time pick out songs about bouncing back, finding fortitude, seeking strength and toughness, rolling with punches, being flexible, and sinkable. Here’s some personal stories, and famous examples …
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Search engines … Monty Python and The Holy Grail. The low-budget classic film was variously funded by among others, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Charisma Records, and possibly Elton John
Love, food, shelter, identity, meaning? Rare vinyl? Most of our existence is about searching for something, but in what ways is this expressed in song lyrics? Here’s some other forms of inspiration and, after all, what is the true holy grail?
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