Paul McCartney - silly love songs, 1976

"The song, which features disco overtones, was seen as being written in response to music critics (as well as John Lennon) accusing McCartney of predominantly writing "silly love songs" and "sentimental slush"; however, McCartney has since clarified that the song was actually directed to John Lennon who accused him of writing such songs."

The Mamas And The Papas - midnight voyage, 1968

"The song Midnight Voyage which closes the album has the distinction of being one of a very few Mamas and Papas tracks to be released with false starts and studio chatter, giving the listener a brief snippet of how a song comes together."

The Radio Dept - pet grief, 2006

"Fill up it does, with the heavy, industrial, almost tribal-like percussion that gives way to title track “Pet Grief.” The synthesizer carries the instrumental, while beautiful piano and acoustic guitar enter to round out the sound. The dreamy, listless, accented vocals are trademark Radio Dept., as Johan Duncanson lets you in on his inner monologue, his urge to be there for his friend who’s just been dumped clashing with his unspoken love for them. He holds back, “I’ll shut my mouth for you,” but he knows how feckless he comes across, “what can I say, what can I do for me to analyze you?” It’s a situation that has no optimal outcome (“It is a double bind, I can’t win this one“), but he chooses the passive option here to keep from pushing them away."

Such a great song!

Bee Gees - alone, 1997

"That was one of the first ones we wrote for the album. I really remember having a good time writing it. We were sort of set up in the studio here with the three of us just together and I got some bagpipe sounds. We were just screwing around. And BG programmed this groove on the computer. We thought it was cool. We don't actually go in and plan to write a ballad or an R&B song. We just say, 'Let's go that route.' And we'll follow it. And 'Alone' came out of that. I love the line 'I'm on a wheel of fortune with a twist of fate.' Because of the harmony and that chorus, it was like a bit of '50s as well. And I like the idea of being that sort of Beatlesque type of song. I wanted that rambling. That sort of Byrds type, the 12-string thing going, but we just did it with the bagpipes instead and made it all connect. It was a very exciting demo. We weren't too sure about the bagpipes, but Robin actually persisted. He said, 'They're great; you gotta keep the bagpipes.'"

Pet Shop Boys - here new extended mix, 2003

"Their immaculate synthpop packages emotion in cosmopolitanism, characterising love and loss via Italian subcultures, the Bolshevik uprising and David Lodge novels."

The Go-Betweens - finding you, 2005

“I really like the powerful build-up, it hits the line about lightning and then it’s like a crescendo. It’s written by Grant and he wrote it probably two years or something before he died, and I think it’s one of the best five to 10 songs he ever did. Magnificent song.“

Saint Etienne - who do you think you are cover, 1993

"Stewart Mason from AllMusic felt that "Who Do You Think You Are" is "one of St. Etienne's most groove-oriented tunes." Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "English modern-pop act delves into Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods' pop evergreen with fanciful, disco-minded results. Singer Debsey offers a soft, sugar-coated vocal with a pleasant, cushiony house groove resting beneath."

Camel - fritha, 1975

“Sanctuary” (1:05) and “Fritha” (1:19) are songs that I consider as bridges that connect to title track “The Snow Goose” (3:12) which contains guitar solo augmented with long sustain organ in the vein of Jan Akermann of Focus."

Neil Young - southern pacific, 1981

"Southern Pacific" launches an album side largely devoted to lyrics about transportation. "Southern Pacific" finds Young imagining life as a train conductor nearing retirement. In the 1980s, Young enjoyed sharing a model trainset with his son, and would later acquire a share in Lionel, and help invent a remote control model train operating system. "Southern Pacific" would feature prominently in Young's country setlists in 1984 and 1985 during his tour with the International Harvesters, and again during Young's 1999 solo acoustic tour."

Marillion - incubus, 1984

"1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

Death Cab For Cutie - brothers on a hotel bed, 2005

"December is the last month of the year and often the coldest. While it’s usually celebrated with the greatest of holidays, the rest of the lyrics, “cause I’m not who I used to be,” lets on that this might not be the carol you’re looking for."

Bee Gees - lonely days, 1970

"Lonely Days" is a ballad written and performed by the Bee Gees. It appeared on their album 2 Years On, and was released as a single, becoming their first Top Five hit in the US, peaking at number three in the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching number one in the Cashbox and Record World charts. Barry Gibb later re-recorded the song with country quartet Little Big Town for his 2021 album Greenfields."

The Style Council - my ever changing moods, 1984

"In a 2020 article for the Los Angeles Review of Books, Thomas McLean called "My Ever Changing Moods" "one of Weller’s best compositions," identifying the song's debt to the Classics IV's "Stormy" (1968) and its influence on Santana's "The Game of Love". Calling attention to the song's mix of personal and political, McLean reads the song lyric "the hush before the silence, the winds after the blast" as "a potent reference to nuclear fears in the Thatcher/Reagan era" and praises the line "Evil turns to statues," declaring it "as brisk a summing up of commemorative history as I know, and one that takes on new significance in 2020."

The New Pornographers - my rights versus yours, 2007

"The theme of conflict is present before you even slit the plastic and play the disc, no more so assertively than with “My Rights Versus Yours,” a strange, poetic reflection on relationships masked by the blunt zero-sum title. It’s a chill, autumnal song. The imagery of warring factions is reinforced by the final lines of the first refrain; “You left your sorrow dangling / It hangs in the air like a school cheer,” conveying a sense of a football skirmish watched against the backdrop of an icy blue sky of a fall afternoon."

Per Sahlström - miles away, 2009

"alternative indie pop sweden swedish pop songwriter Sweden"

Bee Gees - intro you should be dancing alone live, 1976

"A lot of disco was just funk repurposed for the dance floor."

Neil Young - i'm the ocean live, 1995

"I’m the Ocean has been one of my favorite NY songs since I first heard it. Incredible lyrics and I love how the chord progression just has this constant ascending feeling (not sure if that makes sense) like it’s always building to something and then it just keeps delivering. I never get tired of it!"

Beirut - le phare du cap bon, 2022

"The intro reminded me of a 90's pop song"

Echo And The Bunnymen - buried alive, 2001

"Wall of Sound gave a positive review, stating "Flowers features the familiar psychedelic-tinged pop songwriting, chiming guitars, and unmistakable voice that have always been the group's trademark, but 20 years down the road, experience, nostalgia, and longing have tempered the band's sound."

Bee Gees - fallen angel, 1993

“Our heroes were The Beatles. Everything they did was different. We took a page from that book going back to our first album. And we wanted variety on this album. We didn’t want to do one kind of music.”

Belle And Sebastian - late developers, 2023

"‘Late Developers’ should be applauded on its own merits, the work of a group whose continued evolution is tied to an astute awareness of where their talents lie. ‘Late Developers’ is a fine piece of pop whimsy, delivered with self-deprecating panache."

Paul McCartney - all my loving live, 1993

"All My Loving" was playing on the sound system at Roosevelt Hospital emergency room when Lennon was pronounced dead after being shot on December 8, 1980."

New Order - avalanche, 1993

"Avalanche has the most atmosphere, the most beautiful melodies and orchestration, and the most heart of any track on the album. It feels like they all put their differences aside one last time to channel the sublime; drawing as they collectively did some of their finest instrumental performances on Republic: the lovely interplay between bass and acoustic guitars, the washes of synth, strings and reverbed piano, the deep tones and echoes, the simple but metronomic drum loop, and of course Gillian’s voice – as if it were itself a backing violin. Avalanche has a real melancholy cinematic quality to it, and that final held note is like the dimming light at dusk – always my favourite time of day."

Strand Of Oaks - dream brother, 2018

"While Tim’s personal life had begun to heal in some ways, he had also experienced one of the most traumatic events of his life. Over lunch at a Cheesecake Factory in a mall made to look like ancient Rome, Tim talked about his younger brother being unconscious in the hospital for two weeks after his heart suddenly stopped, due to a rare condition. Tim had flown back to Goshen and didn’t leave the hospital for a week. He didn’t sleep for five days, either, and eventually he was forced to leave and return home to Pennsylvania. The gravity of nearly losing his brother is one more factor that’s led to Tim dismissing his tendency for “fetishizing sadness” on his records up to, and including, HEAL. It also resulted in a track called “Dream Brother,” a trippy but melancholic song that captured the surreal place Tim went to during his brother’s brush with death."

Etienne Daho - late night, 1986

"Let’s just get something straight here: Étienne Daho is very cool. He’s cooler than the coolest popstar you have at the top scale of cool. Better still, his voice is so good it makes every song it graces sound like the coolest song you’ve ever heard. All those styles from synthpop to surf rock, Étienne can do it all."

The Radio Dept - the worst taste in music, 2006

"This is a really lovely song. I've been looking for their album for awhile now but it isn't available in most stores."