Tantalising, striking, quirky, perhaps violent or sexually strange, offbeat, bizarre combinations of words, numbers or symbols and more, awful, wonderful, suggest songs that cry out to be heard and live up to their title
Read morePlaylists: songs and music featuring the violin
Bridging huge swathes of musical genre from folk to classical, reggae to hip hop, India to China, it's time for our guest writer amylee to take a 'bow' for superb playlists inspired by last week's huge and fiddly topic
Read moreWe're on the fiddle: songs and music featuring the violin
Classical, folk, pop, rock, traditional or contemporary, Irish to Romanian, Hungarian to American to the far east, suggest music about or featuring this beautiful stringed instrument in a prominent role
Read morePlaylists: songs about hanging - swung in all directions
North, south, east, west, left to right, Ayers to Zeppelin, this week's guest writer nosuchzone took charge of the musical swingometer, and inspired by nominations, created marvellous playlists that really move
Read moreKept in suspense? Songs about hanging – in all senses
Folk to rock, pop to hip hop and more, from grisly executions to leisure time with friends, to ending phone calls, let's hang out at the Song Bar and explore songs using these many idioms
Read moreGoing once, going twice … playlists: songs about sales, selling and bargains
Sold! Paddle at the ready, and waiting for the gavel to drop, this week's excellent guest playlister EnglishOutlaw takes on a musical journey through the auction house, watching other punters and bidding for with some fabulous songs
Read morePlaylists: great tracks to begin albums, mixtapes or radio shows
Is it best to set light slowly or start with a big bang? In what turned out to be topic of epic proportions and suggestions, this week's guest ParaMhor creates a superb selection of illuminating playlist openings
Read moreGrand openings: great tracks to begin albums, mixtapes or radio shows
Songs or instrumentals, suggest music that sets a tone, a pace, a mood or is a statement of intent, and makes a great start to an album, at the top of a radio show or any other work or event
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 morePaws and play: share your musical discoveries of 2017
How has your year been? Share your 2017 unearthed musical treasures, new or old, rediscovered or newly perceived, picked up here at the Bar or elsewhere, as well as favourite live music experiences
Read morePlaylists: songs about snow and ice
Clearlake to Cocteau Twins, Tchaikovsky to Jethro Tull, last week's topic included an avalanche of nominations, from which this week's guest takeitawayGuru has sculptured two of fine flakes and frozen shapes
Read moreSlippery people: songs about snow and ice
Flakes that meander down to frozen formations, beautiful and deadly, used literally or metaphorically in emotions or landscapes, let's explore songs that preserving this water in lyrics and titles
Read morePlaylists: songs with lyrical or musical onomatopoeia
Bees buzzing to cement mixers churning, Bowie's garden to Mingus hogging to Cramps' chickens clucking, enjoy two noisily evocative playlists picked by guest Severin from last week's nominations
Read moreWhizz, wham and wah-wah: songs with lyrical or musical onomatopoeia
Boing! Bash! Splash! Whoosh! This week it's time to get noisy with songs containing words that mimic the sounds they describe, but also those with conventional instruments that copy other sounds
Read moreWe'll meet again: songs about reunions
Bumping into ex-lovers to family occasions, high-school meetups to friends reunited, tales of long-lost lust to saved revenge, it's time to catch up with those songs that capture all the emotions and ties of old acquaintance
Read morePlaylists: Songs about sitting and standing
Standing up to sitting pretty, benches to balconies to boats, this week's guest playlister treefrogdemon takes on a beautiful and poetic knee-bending tour, arranged after very long legs of nominations
Read moreIn the lap of the gods: songs about sitting or standing
This week's topic will not only bend your minds, but also your knees. From standing up to authority or reaching other heights, to staging a sit-in, suggest songs that refer to any associations in titles or lyrics
Read morePlaylists: songs about windows
Aphex Twin's wet windscreen to Sonny Boy Williamson escaping out the bedroom window, it's all going on here. Guest playlister nosuchzone is pure glass – giving us stunning sights and sounds from last week's topic
Read morePleasure and pane: songs about windows
Clear or stained-glass, from or into rooms, trains, windscreens or more, literal or metaphorical, from the soul to an opportunity, it's time to shine light through and suggest titles or lyrics with this theme
Read morePlaylists: songs about mythical beasts and creatures
If you go down to the woods today … then listen carefully. You will hear intriguing tales by guest playlister Suzi, and marvellous songs inspired last week's topic. Find out where the path might lead …
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