Soul Music

Soul Music episodes:

• 04.20.2024

  I Can See Clearly Now

  "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...

  
• 04.13.2024

  Someone to Watch Over Me

  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...

  
• 04.06.2024

  Sweet Thing

  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...

  
• 11.11.2023

  Songs My Mother Taught Me

  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...

  
• 11.04.2023

  Fire and Rain

  James Taylor's song of suicide, loneliness and addiction somehow remains hopeful and uplifting, even as people experience their own dark times. Holly Sinclair was driving through a Missouri winter to see her brother, in hospital after a suicide attempt, when...

  
• 10.28.2023

  Pata Pata

  Miriam Makeba recorded 'Pata Pata' in 1967 with the help of American producer Jerry Ragovoy. It became a huge hit and Miriam Makeba used newfound fame to speak the injustices of apartheid. Her records were banned and South...

  
• 10.21.2023

  Defying Gravity from Wicked

  Wicked the musical is 20 years old in 2023. The story of the Wizard of Oz told from the witches' perspective examines themes of difference, power and alienation. The so called Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba born with green...

  
• 10.14.2023

  I Will Always Love You

  Written by Dolly Parton... sent stratospheric by Whitney Houston; I Will Always Love You is a song that has a worldwide fanbase reflected by the diverse memories shared here: Nagham Kewifati tells how her mother, Mayada Bseliss, had a...

  
• 07.05.2023

  Fast Car

  'Fast Car' is one of Tracy Chapman's biggest hits, with listeners from around the world finding striking connections with their own lives in the song's story. It was released in April 1988, and that summer, the American singer-songwriter performed...

  
• 06.24.2023

  I Say a Little Prayer for You

  When Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David wrote I Say A Little Prayer For You in 1967 the war in Vietnam was raging. The song was intended as message of support for the soldiers there. It was originally recorded...

  
• 06.17.2023

  Ghost Town

  'Ghost Town' was recorded by British two-tone band The Specials as a comment on urban decay and social unrest. It was released in June 1981 as riots were springing up around the UK and with the help of an...

  
• 06.10.2023

  I Only Have Eyes For You

  When I Only Have Eyes For You first emerged in 1934 it was a jaunty ditty written by Harry Dubin and Al Warren for the movie "Dames". But it gained huge popularity when the 1950s doo wop group The...

  
• 12.24.2022

  I Believe in Father Christmas

  Some people say it's a protest song about the commercialisation of Christmas. Others that it's anti-religious. I Believe In Father Christmas is about neither, although lyricist Peter Sinfield concedes that it does include a touch of cynicism but says ultimately...

  
• 12.17.2022

  Nessun Dorma

  'None shall sleep'. Jon Christos watched the Italia 90 World Cup with his Dad and says that the live performance of 'Nessun Dorma' by Pavarotti at the tournament was the only time he ever saw his Dad cry. ...

  
• 12.10.2022

  Killing Me Softly with His Song

  "Strumming my pain with his fingers... Singing my life with his words..." Killing Me Softly with His Song is a song about the pleasure and embarrassment of being seen. The feeling that someone has reached into your deepest, most...

  
• 12.03.2022

  Into My Arms by Nick Cave

  "I don't believe in an interventionist God" has to be one of the most original opening lines to a song. It's one that resonates with the people in this programme who take comfort from Nick Cave's love song. ...

  
• 11.26.2022

  Chervona Kalyna

  Powerful stories linked to this beautiful and stirring Ukrainian folk song which inspired Pink Floyd to reform so they could release their own version, 'Hey Hey Rise Up', alongside Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox. Chervona Kalyna is a clarion call with...

  
• 06.18.2022

  Bruch's Violin Concerto

  A Violin Concerto in G minor, Opus 26, became the best-known work of the German composer Max Bruch. Originally written in 1866 it went through many revisions before finally being completed in 1867. It was performed extensively but...

  
• 06.11.2022

  Ne Me Quitte Pas

  Ne Me Quitte Pas is a song about begging someone not to go; of promising the world to them, if they'll only stay. From Haiti to New York, Provence to Glasgow... in versions by Nina Simone, Dusty Springfield and Scott...

  
• 05.30.2022

  Purple Rain

  "I never meant to cause you any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain..." True stories of what Prince's epic ballad means to different people around the world, from the very first jam in 1983 to the global hit...

  
• 05.28.2022

  Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton

  Candi Staton and others celebrate this 1970's disco classic which delivers an optimistic message. Written by David Crawford and released in 1976 this is the kind of song that feels like a carefree celebration, something to lose yourself in on...

  
• 12.18.2021

  A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten

  In 1942, Benjamin Britten boarded the M.S. Axel Johnson, a Swedish cargo vessel, to make the journey home to England after three years in America. During the voyage, the ship stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Britten came across a...

  
• 12.11.2021

  U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

  More gospel than rock, this 1987 hit has inspired great change in people's lives and created memories for music lovers across the world. Brendan McManus was a corporate high flyer with an inexplicable sense that his life needed to change...

  
• 12.04.2021

  Song to the Siren

  "Long afloat in shipless oceans": So begins Song To The Siren whose lyrics were inspired by Homer's Odyssey and the story of the Sirens who lured unwitting sailors to their deaths on the rocks. There is something so ancient...

  
• 11.27.2021

  Unfinished Sympathy

  Personal stories inspired by Massive Attack's breakthrough single. Featuring the vocals of Shara Nelson, the track together with its iconic video would help catapult this band from Bristol onto the global stage. Stories include the photographer Giles Duley...

  
• 11.20.2021

  Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific

  Ezio Pinza was the first person to sing Some Enchanted Evening when South Pacific opened on Broadway in 1949. His granddaughter, Sarah Goodyear, recounts his extraordinary life story: from international opera singer, to political prisoner, then a star...

  
• 11.13.2021

  Ain't No Mountain High Enough

  Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell made Ain't No Mountain High Enough a hit for Motown in 1967. Diana Ross followed suit in 1970 as a solo artist with her version of the song. It has a place in...

  
• 08.04.2021

  Take Me Home, Country Roads

  "Country roads, take me home To the place I belong" Written by Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert with and for their friend John Denver, the song went on to be covered by Ray Charles, Toots and the Maytals, Olivia Newton John...

  
• 07.28.2021

  The Parting Glass

  "So fill to me the parting glass... Goodnight and joy be to you all." A popular toast at the end of an evening or a heartfelt farewell to a departed or deceased person? The Parting Glass has become synonymous with leaving....

  
• 07.21.2021

  We've Only Just Begun

  The Carpenters - brother and sister duo Richard and Karen - were one of the most popular groups of the 1970s. His outstanding compositions and her stunning vocals created several massive hits including We've Only Just Begun. Originally written...

  
• 07.14.2021

  Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat

  This disco classic tells a powerful story: that of a young, gay man leaving his homophobic small town for the freedom of the big city. Released in 1984, Smalltown Boy continues to resonate and has become an anthem...

  
• 02.12.2021

  Sunshine on Leith

  "While I'm worth my room on this earth......" Sunshine on Leith was released in 1988 but didn't become the big hit The Proclaimers had hoped for. However it has endured and become an anthem of love and a celebration...

  
• 01.09.2021

  David Bowie - Life on Mars?

  Life on Mars was released on David Bowie's Hunky Dory album in 1971. Two years later it came out as a single in its own right. Famous for its exploration of disillusionment and alienation, there is no one...

  
• 12.29.2020

  Once In A Lifetime

  Stories from people about how ‘Once In A Lifetime’, Talking Heads' existential hit from 1980, touched their lives. Talking Heads emerged out of the post punk scene of the late 1970s. 'Once In A Lifetime' is the iconic single...

  
• 12.22.2020

  I Wonder as I Wander

  As Christmas approaches, Soul Music leads you through Advent with the Appalachian carol "I Wonder as I Wander". Written by American folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles, its origins come from a song fragment collected in 1933. Mysterious, inspiring,...

  
• 12.08.2020

  Lean On Me by Bill Withers

  An enduring classic which delivers a message of support and friendship. Never more so than in 2020 when Lean On Me by Bill Withers was the musical backdrop to the Covid crisis in the UK, and at Black...

  
• 08.10.2020

  I Will Survive

  "At first I was afraid, I was petrified"... From a breakup to a shipwreck, emotional true stories of what Gloria Gaynor's iconic disco anthem I Will Survive means to different people around the world. A woman sets out to...

  
• 07.22.2020

  Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte by Maurice Ravel

  Ravel's beautiful Pavane For A Dead Princess touches many people. While it is not actually about a dead princess it does evoke a sense loss. For Carla van Raay it symbolises the loss of innocence she experienced...

  
• 07.15.2020

  Feeling Good

  The surprising history behind a track made famous by Nina Simone. Feeling Good was written for a now obscure musical and originally performed by Cy Grant, the first black man to appear regularly on British TV. ...

  
• 01.22.2020

  Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay

  Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay was written whilst Otis Redding was reflecting on his life on Sausalito Bay, California, in the summer of 1967. Its upbeat, laidback melody belies the loneliness of the lyrics. In...

  
• 01.15.2020

  Days

  “It’s a goodbye song, but it’s also an inspirational song, It could also mean a new beginning" - Ray Davies Written by Ray Davies and released by the Kinks in 1968 'Days' had a very different sound to the rest...

  
• 01.08.2020

  Toto's Africa

  Released in 1982, Toto's soft-rock anthem has become an unlikely viral smash-hit. Africa is a song that has changed lives, helped to raise thousands of pounds for charity and provided an unexpected musical cornerstone in a critically acclaimed play....

  
• 12.25.2019

  Coventry Carol

  Performed as part of the mystery plays, the 'Coventry Carol' is from the Pageant of the Shearman and Taylors and tells the story of the Slaughter of The Innocents. A copy of the manuscript survived a fire in Birmingham...

  
• 12.18.2019

  We Are Family

  We Are Family written by Nile Rodgers and performed by the Sledge Sisters Kathy, Kim, Debbie and Joni was released in 1978 at the height of disco's popularity. Kim Sledge says it has become the anthem for diverse groups...

  
• 12.11.2019

  The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel

  People who connect directly with the lyrics and have a deep personal connection to Simon & Garfunkel's masterpiece 'The Boxer' discuss what it means to them. Seamus McDonagh is a former boxer. He describes the tumultuous time he had during...

  
• 07.31.2019

  Farewell to Stromness

  Personal stories about Farewell to Stromness, by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Written in 1980 as a protest against uranium mining in Orkney, the music has touched and changed people's lives. The Orkney landscape which inspired Max's music...

  
• 07.24.2019

  Wind of Change

  “I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park… listening to the wind of change.” The German rock band Scorpions’ lead singer Klaus Meine was inspired to write Wind of Change at a rock festival in Moscow in the summer of...

  
• 07.17.2019

  Streets of London by Ralph McTell

  Ralph McTell and others discuss a song that was written for a heroin addict, became an anthem against homelessness, and transcended the folk genre to become an enduring classic. Ralph McTell says he’s thought constantly about the “blip in my...

  
• 07.10.2019

  Back to Black

  Amy Winehouse died in July 2011 aged just 27. 'Back to Black' - the title track of her second and final album - is a torch song to tragic love, addiction and loss. People who loved her and...

  
• 01.23.2019

  Let the River Run

  The story of how a song from a classic 1980s movie became an inspirational anthem for a 21st-century generation. Carly Simon’s ‘Let the River Run’ was originally conceived as the title track for the 1988 movie ‘Working Girl. It went...