All is sweetness and light in the prompts for Song Lyric Sunday this week – ‘delightful’, ‘pleasant’ and ‘sweet’: ‘heavenly’, indeed. I believe that this may have been the last 45rpm single (ask your grandad) that I ever bought. That would have been back in 1971. It’s another of those earworms that are going to…
Jim’s theme for this week is faithfulness, with his illustrative key words being ‘resolute’, ‘staunch’ and ‘steadfast’. The song I’ve selected doesn’t use any of these words specifically, but certainly conveys their meaning. “Stand By Me’ is a much-loved, much covered classic. Arguably, the best-known version is that of Ben E King, who wrote it…
There’s a festive theme to Jim’s Song Lyric Sunday this week. Well, we’ll see about that. This is a song that certainly fits the brief in terms of title, although it is anything but festive. Bruce Springsteen wrote ‘The Last Carnival’ in memory of former E Street Band member Danny Federici. It features on the…
The broad theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday could be described as ‘duplicity’. I doubt that many could accuse Bob Marley of that particular character flaw – what you saw is what you got. This is one of those instances where I had to fulfil the theme through the lyric (‘observing the hypocrites’) rather…
‘Sporting songs’ constitute the theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week. Please be grateful that I intend to spare you any of the truly execrable ditties churned out over the years by England football squads as they head off to inevitable defeat and disappointment at World Cup or European Championships. The iconic ‘Three Lions’ is…
From the posthumously released album ‘Black Star’, the haunting, deeply moving and, yes, disturbing ‘Lazarus’. Look up here, I’m in heavenI’ve got scars that can’t be seenI’ve got drama, can’t be stolenEverybody knows me now Look up here, man, I’m in dangerI’ve got nothing left to loseI’m so high, it makes my brain whirlDropped my…
‘Blood On The Tracks’, released in 1975, is widely considered to be one of Dylan’s finest studio albums and this is certainly one of the highlights. In the accompanying video here it’s performed by the Jerry Garcia Band in a gentle stretched-out version – ideal for a Sunday morning. Jerry died on August 9th 1995.…
Way back in 1984, when Morrissey was almost normal…. Punctured bicycleOn a hillside desolateWill Nature make a man of me yet? When in this charming carThis charming man Why pamper life’s complexitiesWhen the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat? I would go out tonightBut I haven’t got a stitch to wearThis man said “It’s…
Song Lyric Sunday this week is all about automobiles, be they limousines, jalopies or anything in between. Or, in this case, any that happen to be passing by outside a cheap motel room. From the ‘L.A. Woman’ album and with writing credits for all four band members, this is just a very simple, traditional 12-bar…
This week’s topic for Song Lyric Sunday is breaking up. Famously hard to do – according to Carole King at any rate – and (almost) always a sad occasion: one that can generate overwhelming emotions of grief and misery in the party on the receiving end, as it were. However, here it’s Dylan doing the…
