Soul Music

When I Only Have Eyes For You first emerged in 1934 it was a jaunty cinema ditty written by Harry Dubin and Al Warren for the film "Dames".

But it gained huge popularity when the 1950s doo wop group The Flamingos - under Terry Johnson’s musical arrangement - transformed it into a dreamy otherworldly love song.

Terry explains how he turned the song into an evergreen hit that’s been covered by many including Art Garfunkel and Carly Simon.

Musicologist Luis Cruz attributes the genius of the song to its pedal chord - the repeated use of the C note. This adds to the feeling of fixation where the singer can’t see anyone else but the object of his affection.

The song is obviously one that speaks of deep love and Vivian Fransen was one of many who chose the song to play at her wedding. She'd been introduced to the Art Garfunkel version in 1975 when she met the man who was to become her husband.

12 years later he revealed a secret he'd been keeping from her which ended their marriage and caused her to reassess the song's meaning.

Jess Farr Cox would sing the song to her aged rescue dog Pico as his health deteriorated. Only that song - and the theme to Antiques Roadshow - would send him to sleep when he was in pain and distress.

She still gets emotional when she hears it over a year after he was eventually put to sleep. People underestimate the love you get from a rescue dog, she says.

Chris Deerin is a political journalist and part of Scottish band Fat Cops. He recorded a version of I Only Have Eyes For You for the Tiny Changes Young People's Mental Health Charity. This was founded after singer Scott Hutchison died in 2018.

Chris says he and fellow musician Bobby Bluebell had always loved the song and felt it was a fitting tribute to fellow musician Scott.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2023.

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 neither, although lyricist Peter Sinfield concedes it does include a touch of cynicism.

But ultimately it's a song of joy and hope.

When Greg Lake co-wrote it in 1975 he had embarked on a solo career away from Emmerson, Lake & Palmer.

Those around him at the time, including songwriter Peter Sinfield and broadcaster Bob Harris, recall how repeating a simple acoustic guitar exercise led to this giant of a song. It includes a full choir, orchestra, and an extract from Prokofiev to create an enduring Christmas anthem.

For many people it's a comforting song, conjuring images of nostalgic picture postcard Christmases of childhood spent in the ambience of Christmas tree lights and candles with "eyes full of tinsel and fire".

For others, it's a cautionary reminder of the need to look beyond the materialism and commercialism to a more spiritual, quiet time.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2022.

Singer Jon Christos watched the Italia 90 World Cup with his Dad.

He says Pavarotti's live performance of 'Nessun Dorma' at the tournament was the only time he ever saw his Dad cry.

Pavarotti's daughter Cristina talks about the impact this aria had on her father's life and how his 1990 performance inspired many people to become interested in opera.

Beatrice Venezia conducted 'Nessun Dorma' at the 'Puccini day' she created in Lucca in 2018. She also conducted Andrea Bocelli's performance of the aria at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.

Sir Bobby Robson's son Mark was at Italia 90 and talks about the pride he felt seeing his Dad lining up with the England team for the semi-final against West Germany. It was also sung at Sir Bobby's memorial service in Durham Cathedral.

Broadcaster and author Alexandra Wilson explains that the opera Turandot is the story of Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the titular Princess. In 'Nessun Dorma' Calaf expresses his determination to win her hand, ending with that extraordinary refrain 'Vincerò!' or 'I will win'.

Paul Potts won 'Britain's Got Talent' in 2007 performing 'Nessun Dorma' and recalls singing it to over a million people at the Brandenburg Gate on New Year's Eve in 2010.

When Italy locked down in March 2020, hairdresser Piero d'Angelico played 'Nessun Dorma' from a five-story window above Cambridge railway station to show solidarity with his home country and the Italian community in his adopted city.

Voiceovers by Mike Ingham and Rebecca Braccialarghe.

Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio in Bristol

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2022.

"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 private feelings, and laid them bare. It's a song about a singer, and about what music can do and a love song that feels at once happy and sad.

The song was a huge hit in two different generations. It won Grammy Awards for The Fugees in 1997 and for Roberta Flack in 1974.

Ray Padgett is author of Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time. He unfolds the layers of the song's history as a famous cover of a famous cover.

Musicologist Nate Sloan explores what the song does harmonically, oscillating between major and minor chords to create a sense of uncertainty and longing.

Lori Lieberman tells the story of the Don McLean concert that inspired her lyrics for the song, that she was the first to record as a young singer-songwriter in 1972.

It's a song that transports Tiff Murray back to the hot New York summer of 1996, when the Fugees version blared out everywhere. For her it was the soundtrack to falling in love while far from home.

It's also a love song for Julie Daley, but now with a sharp edge. Dr Robin Boylorn listened to the Fugees version as a self-conscious teenager and felt a flush of recognition.

Ben heard it the Christmas he first came to the UK from South Africa, played by a busker early one morning in Covent Garden as the first snow he'd ever seen began to fall.

Perminder Khatkar has treasured the song since it played in the delivery room during the birth of her first child.

Producer: Mair Bosworth

A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2022.

"I don't believe in an interventionist God" must 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.

Els from Belgium was introduced to Cave's music through her partner Guido and Into My Arms became their song.

After Guido died in a road accident Els carried on going to concerts and took great comfort from hearing that song. When she later wrote to Nick Cave's blog The Red Hand Files to tell him her story about Into My Arms she was overwhelmed when Nick Cave responded.

The Reverend John Walker feels a strong connection to the song as it's one his musician son Jonny performed just for him one evening on a rainy street in Leeds City Centre as Jonny was about to pack up and leave his busking spot.

That special father-son moment has become even more cherished since Jonny's untimely death in 2018.

Many different artists have recorded their versions of Into My Arms including the Norwegian singer Ane Brun who performed it as a way of dealing with the heartache of a lost relationship.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on Radio 4 in December 2022.

Powerful stories linked to this beautiful and stirring Ukrainian folk song.

Chervona Kalyna inspired Pink Floyd to reform so they could release their own version, 'Hey Hey Rise Up', alongside Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox.

It's a clarion call with roots stretching back to 17th century Cossack history; as meaningful now as then, this episode of Soul Music reflects how music can be a unifying force in the most dangerous and difficult of times.

Anti-Russian, it was banned prior to Ukrainian independence in 1991 with one of its lyrics calling to 'free our brothers Ukrainian from Muscovites shackles'.

Its full title 'Oi u luzi chervona kalyna' translates as 'Oh the red viburnum in the meadow': red viburnum is a common plant in Ukraine and in the song it's a metaphor for the country itself.

Telling their stories:

* Taras Ratushnyy, journalist turned soldier, discusses his beloved son, Roman, and the heroic role he played in Ukrainian society both before after the war began.

* Elizaveta Izmalkova is a young Ukrainian singer who now lives in Lithuania. She performed Chervona Kalyna as part of a flash-mob co-organised by Egle Plytnikaite who describes why she and other Lithuanians wanted to demonstrate their support for Ukraine.

* Nadia Morykvas wrote a book about the cultural polymath, Stepan Charnetskyi, who - in the early 20th century - adapted Chervona Kalyna for one of his plays. (Volodymyr Oleyko translates for Nadia Morykvas).

* Andrij Halushka is a Ukrainian who now lives in London. He describes how his family history, down multiple generations, connects with the song.

* Julia and Kateryna came to England under the 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme when the war began. Under the name 'Dvi Doli' they raise money for Ukraine by staging concerts where they perform traditional songs on the Bandura.

* Taras Filenko is a pianist and ethno-musicologist. Originally from Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, he now lives in Pennsylvania, USA. He discusses the musicology of the song, and recalls a neighbour from his childhood who was imprisoned for performing Chervona Kalyna in the 1940s.

* Myroslava Hartmond is a British-Ukrainian cultural diplomacy expert. She explains how the current popularity of Chervona Kalyna began when Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the lead singer of Boombox, recorded an a capella version in the centre of Kyiv. This inspired Pink Floyd to collaborate with Khlyvnyuk and release their own version.

Please scroll down to the 'Related Links' box on the Radio 4 Soul Music webpage for further information about some of the interviewees and the different versions of the song used in the programme.

The programme image is of Taras and Roman Ratushnyy.

Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2022.

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 having sold both the publishing and the manuscript Bruch died in relative obscurity in 1920.

The Concerto would continue to be played around the world and the second movement in particular, the Adagio, became a much-loved favourite.

Journalist Claire Read describes how much her Mother loved the piece after Claire learned and performed it in school, and how she would listen to it whilst being treated for cancer.

Ukrainian violinist Kostia Lukyniuk recalls playing it with an orchestra in his home town aged 11, and how music still gives him strength as he plays for those battered by the Russian invasion of his home country.

The second movement brings back fond memories for Archers actor June Spencer who listened to it with her husband and their friends on a veranda in Minorca.

Leader of the Welsh National Opera David Adams was inspired to take-up the violin after listening to a recording of David Oistrakh playing this piece, and later performed it at the Fishguard Festival. It was a favourite of his Mum's and that recording was played at her funeral.

The Carnegie Hall was the setting for violinist Shlomo Mintz's most treasured performance and he describes how it feels to play those soaring melodies.

Curator Robinson McClellan at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York explains how the manuscript of this concerto made its way from Germany to the USA, and why this work would later become a source of resentment for this 'establishment' composer.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2022.

Ne Me Quitte Pas is a song about begging someone not to go - and 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 Walker - we hear stories of what Jacques Brel's song has meant to people around the world.

With contributions from France Brel, Johane Celestin, Alastair Campbell, Brendan McGeever, Peter Hawkins and Malaika Kegode.

Producer: Mair Bosworth

A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2022.

"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 that reigns over us today.

Bobby Z, the drummer from Prince and The Revolution, remembers the buzz of the first ever performance of Purple Rain, and how the recording from that night lives on.

Susan Rogers, Prince's recording engineer, tells stories from the Purple Rain tour, when the crew took bets on how long Prince's guitar solos would last.

Comedian Sindhu Vee first heard the song as a teenager growing up in India and was knocked sideways by it.

Weather reporter Judith Ralston describes the beautiful and rare weather phenomenon of purple rain.

Social historian Zaheer Ali sees the song as a cry out for change, bringing audiences from different backgrounds together in cross-genre harmony.

And finally, an intensive care hospital nurse played Purple Rain to Kevin Clarke while he was in a coma, because his sister knew he loved the song and hoped it might pull him through.

Producer: Becky Ripley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2022.

**** 4 Extra broadcast to mark 40 years since the 45 rpm single was released in the UK on 23rd April 1986 ***

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 the dancefloor.

But its story isn't quite so simple.

As Candi reveals, Young Hearts Run Free was influenced by her own troubled and abusive relationship which she struggled to leave.

In fact the creation of the song helped her gain the confidence to finally walk away.

Other contributors are:

Singer songwriter, Glen Hansard. He performs the song 'as' his mother because it reminds him so much of what the song meant to her.

Ziggi Battles, a singer who chose to cover the song as a way of rejoicing in the role it played in recovering from a very difficult time.

Jason Gilkison, the Creative Director of Strictly Come Dancing. It will forever remind him of the first time he choreographed a group dance for Strictly at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. His grandfather had danced there himself as a young man, before establishing the first dance school in Perth, Australia, which is where Jason developed his own love of ballroom dancing.

Neil Brand, composer and broadcaster, analyses why the piece works musically. He also describes the pure joy of a version by Kym Mazelle and - unlikely as it seems - the actor and opera singer, Paul Sorvino.

It was used as the soundtrack to the ballroom scene in Baz Luhrmann's film of Romeo and Juliet.

Versions used:

Candi Staton

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Karen Gregor.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2022.