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The Life of a Song

  • Sunday, 13 April, 2025
    Music
    Who by Fire — Leonard Cohen’s 1974 track adapted an ancient Jewish prayer

    Written at a time of creative resurgence for the singer, the song has been covered widely

    A man stands playing an acoustic guitar with concentration
  • Sunday, 6 April, 2025
    Music
    Tea for Two — from Shostakovich to Doris Day, it’s a tune steeped in musical history

    The 1920s track has popped up in films, musicals, jazz — and at the BBC Proms

    An elegantly dressed man and woman sit at a table clinking teacups and smiling at each other; behind them are women in glamorous dresses and a man in a tuxedo
  • Sunday, 30 March, 2025
    Music
    Roadrunner — Jonathan Richman’s drive-by 1970s classic is still motoring

    The singer has returned to the track’s lonely charm several times, while acts such as Joan Jett have got behind the wheel

    A man stands on stage with an electric guitar hanging to one side
  • Monday, 24 March, 2025
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    When Woody Guthrie, Sinéad O’Connor and others took a stand — the stories behind 22 protest songs
  • Sunday, 23 March, 2025
    When Woody Guthrie, Sinéad O’Connor and others took a stand — the stories behind 22 protest songs
    Sunday Bloody Sunday — how U2 responded to a grim day in Northern Ireland’s Troubles

    The band adopted a title used by John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band in a song that became a staple of their live shows

    A man wearing a sleeveless top sings into a microphone held in his hand; his other hand is reaching out to hold the microphone stand
  • Monday, 17 March, 2025
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    Fascinating tales behind 20 country and folk classics by Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and more
  • Sunday, 16 March, 2025
    Fascinating tales behind 20 country and folk classics by Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and more
    Wild Mountain Thyme — stirring ballad has become a folk-music fixture

    Originating in Scotland, it was modified by Irish singer Francis McPeake and later sung by artists such as Bob Dylan and Judy Collins

    A man sings into a microphone and plays acoustic guitar, surrounded by microphones
  • Sunday, 9 March, 2025
    Music
    Umbrella — Rihanna had to fight hard for her 2007 hit

    The singer was not first in line for a song that made her a global star and spawned some curious covers

    A female singer stands on stage singing into a microphone; she has a furled umbrella tucked under her arm
  • Sunday, 2 March, 2025
    Music
    Im Nin’Alu — how Israeli singer Ofra Haza brought a Hebrew poem to a global audience

    The track, with origins in 17th-century Yemen, has been remixed for dancefloors and adapted by Madonna

    A female singer sings into a microphone against a background of multicoloured strips of light
  • Monday, 24 February, 2025
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    The stories behind 13 of The Beatles’ finest recordings
  • Sunday, 23 February, 2025
    The stories behind 13 of The Beatles’ finest recordings
    Here Comes the Sun — George Harrison’s track lit up The Beatles’ Abbey Road album

    The 1969 song established Harrison as a songwriter on a par with Lennon and McCartney — and spawned hundreds of covers

    A long-haired bearded man plays electric guitar, smilling
  • Sunday, 16 February, 2025
    Music
    Avalon — Roxy Music’s 1982 hit signalled the end of an era

    The track’s wistful, elegiac quality captured a moment in the band’s story

    A man in a white shirt sings into a microphone on stage
  • Sunday, 9 February, 2025
    Music
    I Walk on Guilded Splinters — Dr John’s track sounded like nothing else

    The 1968 song summoned the spirit of voodoo and lives on in covers and samples

    In a wood-panelled room, a man wearing a long robe and a headband plays electric guitar and sings into a microphone; behind a man plays drums, another a saxophone
  • Sunday, 2 February, 2025
    ReviewMusic
    ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us’ — the 1974 track that turned Sparks into a sensation

    The Mael brothers were virtual unknowns until they decamped to the UK and released this surreal classic

    Two men pose for a photograph; one holds a pair of sunglasses, the other points a red-gloved finger upwards
  • Sunday, 26 January, 2025
    Music
    Mustt Mustt — Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan brought devotional music to a global audience

    Dating back to the 13th century, the track by the Pakistani singer has been remixed by Massive Attack and used in a Coca-Cola advert

    A man in clothing typical of the Indian subcontinent sits on stage singing into a microphone with one arm raised; behind him are seated several musicians
  • Monday, 20 January, 2025
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    Twenty-one floor-filling funk and disco classics and their stories, starring James Brown, Prince and more
  • Sunday, 19 January, 2025
    Twenty-one floor-filling funk and disco classics and their stories, starring James Brown, Prince and more
    Kiss — how Prince gave his 1986 hit away

    The singer eventually reclaimed a funk classic that went on to be widely covered

    A sharply dressed male singer dances on stage
  • Sunday, 12 January, 2025
    Music
    All Night Long — Curtis R Lewis’s song explores unrequited love, with a twist

    Nancy Wilson and Randy Crawford are among those who have recorded this widely covered track

    A female singer sings into a microphone suspended above her; her arms are raised, her eyes closed
  • Sunday, 5 January, 2025
    Twenty-one floor-filling funk and disco classics and their stories, starring James Brown, Prince and more
    I Will Survive — Gloria Gaynor gave voice to an anthem of resilience

    The 1979 disco hit went on to be covered by artists such as Diana Ross and Miss Piggy

    A female singer in a shimmering dress sings while holding out her microphone towards the audience
  • Sunday, 22 December, 2024
    Music
    The stories behind 11 of the finest Christmas songs
  • Sunday, 22 December, 2024
    The stories behind 11 of the finest Christmas songs
    We Three Kings — popular carol has been subject to mischievous variations

    Written in the 19th century, the story of the Magi has been jazzed up, folkified and adapted for the playground

    A medieval painting shows a nativity scene with Mary holding the baby Jesus, and the Three Kings in attendance, one of whom is kneeling
  • Sunday, 15 December, 2024
    Music
    People Get Ready — Curtis Mayfield’s track became a civil rights anthem

    The song’s message of believers journeying to the promised land resonated with campaigners such as Martin Luther King

    A man plays electric guitar and sings into a microphone on stage; alongside him two men sing and dance. All wear smart suits
  • Sunday, 8 December, 2024
    A chronicle of heavy rock in 12 songs, from AC/DC to Led Zeppelin
    Thunderstruck — AC/DC’s 1990 track became a stadium-rock rabble-rouser

    Lightning hitting a plane? A childhood toy? Stories vary as to the origins of a song that sealed the band’s comeback

  • Sunday, 1 December, 2024
    When Woody Guthrie, Sinéad O’Connor and others took a stand — the stories behind 22 protest songs
    Zombie — Fela Kuti’s 1976 track sparked a savage military response

    Radical and provocative song has been kept alive by the Nigerian bandleader’s sons and stars such as Beyoncé

    A man plays a keyboard with an expression of intense concentration while behind him musicians play horns, drums, etc
  • Wednesday, 27 November, 2024
    From Dolly Parton to Motörhead: the very best of The Life of a Song
    From Judy Garland to Adele, the stories behind 23 songs from musicals and films
Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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