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The Life of a Song

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  • Sunday, 25 February, 2024
    Music
    Live and Let Die — Paul McCartney’s song helped take Bond into a new era

    His track for the 1973 film was unusually structured, including a section written by Linda McCartney, and gave rise to a memorable cover version

    A woman and two men wearing headphones stand in a recording studio singing into microphones
  • Wednesday, 21 February, 2024
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    From Judy Garland to Adele, the stories behind 20 songs from musicals and films
  • Wednesday, 21 February, 2024
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    The history of rock’n’roll, as told in the songs of Elvis Presley, Little Richard and others
  • Sunday, 18 February, 2024
    Music
    Bei Mir Bist du Schön — curious story of The Andrews Sisters’ 1937 hit

    Adapted from a Yiddish musical comedy number, the track became a sensation — and was used by the Nazi propaganda machine

    Three women with clothing and hairstyles of the 1930s-’40s smile together
  • Sunday, 11 February, 2024
    Music
    Time Is on My Side — how Irma Thomas reclaimed her 1964 track

    The singer’s powerhouse performance brought the song to the attention of The Rolling Stones

    A woman sings into a microphone with one hand raised
  • Sunday, 4 February, 2024
    From Judy Garland to Adele, the stories behind 20 songs from musicals and films
    Night and Day — Cole Porter’s yearning number had north African roots

    Inspired by Moroccan rhythms and first sung by Fred Astaire, the track became a fixture in the Great American Songbook

    In an image from a 1934 film, a smartly dressed woman and man dance with their arms raised in front of them
  • Sunday, 28 January, 2024
    Music
    Ten of the toughest, angriest punk, garage and new wave songs
    A photograph from 1977 shows young punk fans jumping and colliding at a concert
  • Sunday, 28 January, 2024
    Music
    Silly Games — Janet Kay’s 1979 hit became a lovers rock anthem

    The singer hit a memorable high note that continues to resonate

    A gently smiling woman poses for a photograph with her hand on her chin; she has spectacles pushed up in her hair
  • Sunday, 21 January, 2024
    The history of rock’n’roll, as told in the songs of Elvis Presley, Little Richard and others
    Blue Suede Shoes — tragedy and comedy lay behind Elvis’s hit

    The track was first recorded by its reluctant author, country singer Carl Perkins

    Elvis Presley on stage singing into a microphone, his hair flopping over his forehead, one hand extended
  • Sunday, 14 January, 2024
    Music
    Canon in D — 300 years on, Pachelbel’s melody is still circulating

    The German composer’s simple, interlocking round has been adapted by acts such as The Farm and The Village People

  • Sunday, 7 January, 2024
    Music
    Hickory Wind — how Gram Parsons pioneered country rock with his signature song

    The ill-fated singer’s track horrified Nashville but drew in a wider audience

  • Tuesday, 26 December, 2023
    From Judy Garland to Adele, the stories behind 20 songs from musicals and films
    New York, New York — celebratory song that became a New Year favourite

    First sung by Liza Minnelli and popularised by Frank Sinatra, this paean to the city is bawled out at parties and in karaoke bars

    A man in a suit and black bow tie sings into a microphone while pointing with one hand
  • Monday, 18 December, 2023
    Music
    The stories behind 10 of the finest Christmas songs
  • Monday, 18 December, 2023
    The stories behind 10 of the finest Christmas songs
    Driving Home for Christmas — the heartwarming story behind Chris Rea’s seasonal classic

    Written after a long car journey north, the track became a favourite festive cover

    A man stands playing electric guitar, singing into a microphone
  • Monday, 11 December, 2023
    Music
    Killing in the Name — how Rage Against the Machine’s track became a Christmas number one

    Sparked by the 1991 police beating of Rodney King, the song became the band’s signature — and an unlikely seasonal chart-topper

    A rock singer performs energetically on stage while a man plays electric guitar behind him
  • Monday, 4 December, 2023
    Music
    Reason to Believe — Tim Hardin’s ballad was widely covered, and misunderstood

    The singer’s 1966 track was often treated as a love song, though its lyrics portray dark themes

    A man sits on a chair in a recording studio playing an electric guitar
  • Monday, 27 November, 2023
    Music
    Mad World — Tears for Fears’ 1982 track was born out of unhappy childhoods

    The track’s downbeat mood was later a perfect fit for the film Donnie Darko, as sung by Gary Jules

    Two young men look towards each other
  • Monday, 20 November, 2023
    Music
    Au suivant — Jacques Brel’s cavalcade of disgust sparked a chain of covers

    Scott Walker’s was perhaps the best known of the many versions of the song that became ‘Next’

    Viewed from the side, a singer stands on stage singing into a microphone, one arm extended
  • Monday, 13 November, 2023
    From Judy Garland to Adele, the stories behind 20 songs from musicals and films
    Somewhere — Leonard Bernstein’s classic is studded with ‘borrowings’ from other composers

    The song from West Side Story has fascinating roots — and a fruitful afterlife

    A young man and a young woman sit together in a room, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes
  • Monday, 6 November, 2023
    Music
    Dancing in the Street — Martha and the Vandellas’ 1964 hit chimed with the times

    Though singer Martha Reeves rejected claims that it was a civil rights anthem, the song projected confidence and power

    Three female singers in identical dresses perform on stage in the 1960s
  • Monday, 30 October, 2023
    Music
    Ring of Fire — the tune that helped ignite a love story

    The track written by June Carter and later sung by Johnny Cash brought the pair closer together

    A woman and a man sing into a microphone
  • Monday, 23 October, 2023
    Music
    I Forgot to Be Your Lover — William Bell’s soulful lament was widely covered

    The singer’s 1968 track attracted the attention of reggae producer Lee Perry — and peroxide pinup Billy Idol

    A man in a smart suit swings his arms to the side in a posed publicity photograph
  • Monday, 16 October, 2023
    Music
    Macarena — the hit that sparked a dance craze

    First released with a flamenco beat in 1993, Los del Río’s track went global two years later as a dance remix

    Two middle-aged men stand and sing in a sunny street
  • Monday, 9 October, 2023
    Music
    You’re the Voice — the power ballad that saved John Farnham’s career

    The 1986 track was a global hit for the Australian singer, and has had a long and fruitful afterlife

    A man stands singing at a microphone
  • Tuesday, 3 October, 2023
    Music
    David Bowie — six songs that shook the world of music
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