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Jarvis Cocker’s student pass for the art course he took when aged 25
Days of college, university, polytechnic, art school, institute or more, this week we examine education after secondary or high school and graduation, what it all means, from learning to social experience, captured though the prism of song
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Go deeper ...
Dig deep: it’s time to go downstairs, take the lift and explore songs in an underground setting - basements or lower, from tube and metro stations from servants in the kitchen, to sewers and pipes, this is often where society is run
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Handy: which band was inspired by the rather cutting-edge Struwwelpeter story?
Enchanting, mysterious, beautiful, crazy, or the downright cruel, the imagination doesn’t come any more vivid in fairytales. Woven from last week’s nominations, guest Loud Atlas spins a set of sharp tales into superbly absorbing playlists
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The famous Grimm’s edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham
They fuelled the fevered imaginations of our childhoods, and contain many adult themes of love and lust, violence and identity, but how are these characters and narratives used in song? Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin …
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A bigger splash: humpback whale breach
Cetaceans are dolphins, whales and porpoises – familiar yet mysterious, those large, intelligent water mammals that have inspired oceans of songwriters, but in what way? On freedom, tragedy, slaughter, or wondrous, otherworldly sounds?
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Smash hits: Donna Reed as Mary edits the collection in 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life
Hearts, bones, laws, bread, levees, glass, ice, records, lyrically as literal or metaphor, and so much more. It’s time to break new musical ground, from the destructive or creative, darker or lighter contexts of this topic
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Flemish harpsichord
Across all genres, it’s time to revive and bring out the delicate sound of this once popular, plectrum-triggering keyboard instrument – not just the harpsichord, but its smaller relatives – virginal, clavichord, clavicytherium, ottavino, pedal and other variants
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The common nightingale
The inspiration of poets and songwriters for thousands of years, advertising with infinite music invention and energy, it’s also the national bird of Ukraine, defending its territory. So let’s celebrate the nightingale, and thrush cousin, in music and lyrics
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Urban jungle? A growing trend …
Ugly or beautiful, hostile or friendly, boring or dynamic, urban environments are where people live but they are constantly in flux. This week it’s time to get a different sense of place in this potentially vast subject that also can do into tiny detail
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Preface to a translation of Nostradamus’s Prophecies
From Julius Caesar feeling the sharp end in the Roman Senate to Nostradamus and his verse of things to come that will make the world worse. But what predictions will come from this week’s quatrains? Some playlists, for sure …
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Avalon man: Mississippi John Hurt
Avalon to Cádiz, New York City to Paris, Mexico to West Indies, this week’s playlists make up a music journey of poetic proportions, an atlas d’amour perfectly prepared by guest picker Uncleben, jet propelled by last week’s huge topic
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The heart-shaped island, Galesnjak, Croatia
Where are we going, exactly? With lyrical or title references as specific and detailed as possible, let’s take a global trip of songs and music giving affection to particular towns, areas, viewpoints, streets, or even smaller nooks and crannies
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Martha, my dear: Rufus Wainwright with his beloved fellow singer sister
Deep affection, solidarity, loyalty, but also a variety of bittersweet melanges, this week, after a tsunami of perceptive suggestions, guest of the week George Boyland picks songs of deep emotion and variety that sing out for the sister
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Chet Baker: in search of the ideal
Days, nights or settings, love, relationships, words, compliments or phrasing, sounds, singing and so much more, guest of the week Loud Atlas comes up with all the aces with series of immaculate playlist choices reflecting last week’s perfect topic
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Evolution’s purest clickbait: kitten in field
Nothing’s ideal, no one’s impeccable, nothing’s completely pure, but this week it’s time to search for the beautifully formed, the perfectly pitched, the adorably flawless and more as the lyrical focus. Or that’s the plan …
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In living Memorex …
Lyrics that refer to listening methods: gramophones to turntables and records, radio, cassettes and reel-to-reels, CDs to MP3s, iPods to the internet cloud and streaming platforms. When it comes to revolutions, there’s always a revival …
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Cross my palm with song suggestions, and I see a future where there will be wonderful new playlists …
Do we have one, or is it fake? Both. But either way, this week’s theme, inspired by approaching the Song Bar’s Sixth Birthday as all about intuition, a gut instinct, a feeling in your bones, notions of unknown source, sensing something without knowing why
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Time to wake …
Songs to get your up and motivated, or songs that are also about the morning? Don’t be alarmed, it’s all covered in this special two-parter, picked by guest of the week DiscoMonster from a huge dawn chorus of nominations from the past week
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The flurry of first light
Morning always comes, but how might you start it musically? This is a topic not about the morning and everything that goes with it, although those details may figure, but is one more about complementary mood, style, feeling and pace
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Harvesting hope: The Isley Brothers
Chosen from a vast number of suggestions from last week’s topic, from the 1930s to the past year, jazz, soul, reggae, pop and more, guest playlister DiscoMonster reaps a harvest of uplifting songs to put a spring in your step
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