Soul Music

Nov 09 2024 166 ep. 28 mins 30.5k

Soul Music Podcast artwork

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

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Benedictus

Nov 09 2024 27 mins

Sir Karl Jenkins' Benedictus is the penultimate movement from his anti-war mass, The Armed Man. Written twenty-five years ago this year and performed over three thousand times, Sir Karl dedicated it to the victims of the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. It was originally commissioned by The Royal Armouries Museum and premiered for the millennium. The Armed Man as a whole reflects the descent

Lovely Day by Bill Withers

Oct 26 2024 27 mins

"Lovely Day" was released in 1977. Its simple blissful melody masks profound lyrics which on closer examination offer hope and solace to many fans of the song. Some of them share their stories here of what it means to them, including two people who had the privilege of meeting and working with Bill Withers. Taro Alexander was a shy insecure young man with a stutter who founded an o

Tender

Oct 19 2024 28 mins

"Tender is the night lying by your side / Tender is the touch of someone that you love too much..." - Chris Lightfoot will always associate Blur's song 'Tender' with his first big love. A relationship he moved across the world for, with someone he loved deeply and who changed the course of his life. A relationship he ultimately couldn't make work. The song came on, and they held ea

Diamonds and Rust

Oct 12 2024 27 mins

“Well, I'll be damned, Here comes your ghost again…”Joan Baez, also known as the "Queen of Folk", is halfway through writing a song one day when she gets a call from Bob Dylan. It’s 1974; almost 10 years after their relationship ended. The song went on to become the iconic ‘Diamonds and Rust’, an outpouring of memories from their time together in the early sixties.Music

Tiny Dancer

May 04 2024 27 mins

Elton John's slow burner is now one of his most beloved tracks. Released in 1971 during a prolific period for Elton and Bernie Taupin, many people see themselves in the lyrics.Eliza Hewitt grew up in a strict household in Pennsylvania. During the tumultuous early 70s, her brother introduced her to the music of Elton John, and she's still a tiny dancer in her late 60s.Lee Hall wrote

Northern Sky

Apr 27 2024 27 mins

"I never felt magic crazy as this....."For some it's a beacon of hope, for others a metaphor for love. 'Northern Sky' is the penultimate track on Nick Drake's 1971 album 'Bryter Layter'. The sound was shaped by the Velvet Underground's John Cale who added the piano, organ and celeste. His records didn't sell well much to Nick's disappointment, but after his death in 1974 his music

I Can See Clearly Now

Apr 20 2024 27 mins

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind / It's gonna be a bright / Bright sunshiny day"I Can See Clearly Now was written by the Houston-born singer-songwriter Johnny Nash. First released in 1972, it became a huge hit and the song has been covered by hundreds of artists, from the Jamaican singer Jimmy C

Someone to Watch Over Me

Apr 13 2024 27 mins

Written by George Gershwin for the musical Oh Kay, Someone To Watch Over Me has endured as a tender ballad about searching for someone special. It has been recorded by many different artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Willie Nelson but it's perhaps Ella's version that is best known. Lyn Mackay grew up listening to it as a small child at her parents' home in Swansea. As she grew up and

Sweet Thing

Apr 06 2024 27 mins

Sweet Thing by Van Morrison has an atmosphere full of tenderness, wonder and joy. But underneath this there a feeling of transience, a melancholy sense of things coming to an end, and of inevitable change. It was written for his 1968 album Astral Weeks, at a time when the Northern Irish born Van had left his home country and was down-and-out in Boston, USA. We hear how the track ha

Songs My Mother Taught Me

Nov 11 2023 27 mins

Antonin Dvorak wrote his Gypsy Songs in 1880. He was passionate about the folk music of his native Bohemia and set a poem by Czech poet Adolf Heyduk to music. Songs My Mother Taught Me is the fourth song in the cycle.Songs my Mother taught me In the days long vanished Seldom from her eyelids Were the teardrops banished....It's a wistful melancholic piece evoking memory and loss. So