An attempt to organise the hundreds of Readers Recommend and Song Bar topics into common themes. The categorisation is somewhat subjective, but it’s hopefully of some interest – and a way of sparking ideas for future topics.
Part A covers topics about musical or structural characteristics, use of language or narrative, the tone or feel of a song, the circumstances of its recording or publication, and so forth.
Parts B-I cover ‘songs about …’ topics, i.e. where the theme is the subject matter of the lyrics or title:
- Part B: songs about music, art & literature
- Part C: songs about people & relationships
- Part D: songs about history, geography, religion & magic
- Part E: songs about animals, nature & time
- Part F: songs about food, drink, sport & leisure
- Part G: songs about physical objects & media
- Part H: songs about messages, activities & behaviours (doing and saying stuff)
- Part I: songs about feelings, conditions & qualities
PART A: MUSICAL, LINGUISTIC OR TONAL CHARACTERISTICS
A1. MUSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Vocal characteristics
Instrumental characteristics
- Instrumentals
- Dance instrumentals
- Songs with best bass lines
- Songs featuring steel guitar
- Songs with orchestral string instruments
- Songs with violin
- Songs featuring the cello
- Songs featuring the double bass
- Songs with harp, lyre or zither
- Best piano songs
- Songs with great keyboard solos & riffs
- Songs featuring the organ
- Songs featuring the harpsichord
- Best brass songs
- Best saxophone songs
- Songs featuring trombone
- Songs with flute, pipe or whistles
- Songs with accordion
- Songs with harmonica
- Songs with great drumming
- Songs with outstanding percussion
- Songs with instruments played with hand-held mallets or hammers
- Songs featuring steelpan
- Songs with handclaps
- Music without percussion
Sonic characteristics
- Songs with odd noises or instruments
- Songs with sound effects
- Songs featuring alarm & alert sounds
- Songs that mention, mimic or sample birdsong
- Songs with audible breaths or breeze
- Distinctively quiet songs
- Discordant songs
- Successful out-of-tune songs
- Songs that express the movement or feeling of walking
Genre or influence
Structural characteristics
Performer characteristics
Covers & samples
Publishing characteristics
Time of recording
Geographic origin
A2. LINGUISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
Use of narrative or language
- Storytelling songs
- Songs with a gripping or intriguing narrative
- Songs with shaggy dog stories & tall tales
- Songs with unusual narrators
- Songs with pathos
- Songs with great opening lines
- Songs with arresting opening lines
- Songs with famous last words
- Songs that aren’t what they seem
- Songs with or about ambiguity
- Songs with a twist
- Songs with non sequiturs
- Songs with conditional phrases
- Songs with unusual rhymes
- Songs with strange, rare or unlikely words
- Songs inventively using acronyms
- Sweary songs
- Songs with innuendo
- Songs with jokes
- Songs with dialogue
- Songs featuring conversations
- Songs in French
- Songs in Spanish
- Multilingual songs
- Songs with ten or fewer words
- List songs
- Songs with patterns & sequential lyrical lists
- Songs that go ‘la’
- ‘Na na hey hey’ songs
- Songs with alliteration
- Songs with idioms
- Songs with similes
- Songs with personification
- Songs with onomatopoeia
- Songs using collective nouns
- Songs featuring superlatives
- Indecipherable songs
- Songs with misheard, nonsense or inaudible lyrics
- Self-referential songs
- Meta songs
- Chicken & egg songs
Song titles
A3: TONAL OR AFFECTIVE QUALITIES
Tonal qualities
Affective qualities
Songs for particular times or occasions
Quality of song
PART B: SONGS ABOUT MUSIC, ART & LITERATURE
B1. MUSIC & MUSICIANS
Music
Musicians
B2. DANCING
B3.LITERATURE & WRITERS
B4.ART, PHOTOGRAPHY & DECORATION
B5.FILM, TV AND THEATRE
PART C. SONGS ABOUT PEOPLE & RELATIONSHIPS
C1: FAMILY, FRIENDS & RELATIONSHIPS
Family & friends
Stages of life
Relationships
C2: TYPES OF PEOPLE
General
Tributes or hatchet jobs
Positions & occupations
C3: NAMES & TITLES
PART D: SONGS ABOUT HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION & MAGIC
D1: HISTORY
D2: GEOGRAPHY
Specific places
Types of place
D3: PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SUPERSTITION & MAGIC
Philosophy
Religion
Myth & superstition
Magic & supernatural
E: SONGS ABOUT ANIMALS, NATURE & TIME
E1: ANIMALS
E2: ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY
Anatomy
Physiology
E3: THE NATURAL WORLD
E4: SCIENCE & PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
E5: CHEMISTRY & GEOLOGY
E6: COLOURS
E7: NUMBERS & SHAPES
Numbers
Shapes
E8: TIME
Times of day & week
Times of year
Time
Temporal qualities
F: SONGS ABOUT FOOD, DRINK, SPORT & LEISURE
F1: FOOD, DRINK & DRUGS
General
Food
Drinking
Smoking & drugs
F2: SPORT & LEISURE
Sport & games
Leisure
G: SONGS ABOUT PHYSICAL OBJECTS & MEDIA
G1: TRANSPORT
G2: CLOTHING & FASHION
G3: OTHER MANUFACTURED ITEMS
G4: MEDIA
H: SONGS ABOUT MESSAGES, ACTIVITIES & BEHAVIOURS (SAYING & DOING STUFF)
H1: MESSAGES & COMMUNICATION
Types of message or communication
Songs with a message for other people
H2: SOCIETAL ACTIVITIES
Work
Commerce & the economy
Agriculture
Healthcare
Education
Politics & sociology
Crime & punishment
Warfare & revolution
H3: PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES
Movement
Travel
H4: EVENTS & BEHAVIOURS
Positive events & behaviours
Negative events & behaviours
Other events & behaviours
I: SONGS ABOUT FEELINGS, CONDITIONS & QUALITIES
I1: FEELINGS
Love
Positive feelings
Negative feelings
I2: CONDITIONS & STATES
I3: QUALITIES
Personal identity
Position
Physical qualities
Positive qualities
Negative qualities
Other qualities