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Songwriter
Ramblin' on My Mind: Delta blues masterpiece cut in a hotel room

Ramblin' on My Mind is an iconic blues song cut by the Delta blues singer Robert Johnson as a part of his first…

July 24, 2021
Songwriter
Harry Hippie: Bobby Womack's recollection of his brother tragic death

Harry Hippie is one of the best-known songs released by Bobby Womack who, throughout his sixty-year long career, has…

July 17, 2021
Songwriter
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On: the record that shot Jerry Lee Lewis to fame

Recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1957, Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On instantly became a major hit in America, highlighting…

July 12, 2021
Songwriter
Flat Foot Floogie: vulgar meaning of the swing hit song

Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy) is a jazz swing song that became a nationwide hit when it was released in the US…

July 1, 2021
Songwriter
The Bells of Rhymney: two major modal modes of famous protest song

The Bells of Rhymney is one of the best-known protest songs of the past century, first recorded in 1958 by the American…

June 29, 2021
Flute
Flute Sonata: canonical performance of Poulenc's best-known piece

The Sonate pour flûte et piano or Flute Sonata is among Francis Poulenc's best-known works, a French composer whose…

June 26, 2021
Songwriter
Hypnotized: Fleetwood Mac's song about aliens

Hypnotized is the best-known track from Fleetwood Mac's 1973 album Mystery To Me, written by guitarist Bob Welch who…

June 24, 2021
Songwriter
Reelin' In the Years: the tandem of effective lyrics and one of the best guitar solos of all time

Reelin' In the Years is one of the most successful tracks of the American jazz-rock band Steely Dan who are known for…

June 16, 2021
Songwriter
Bony Moronie: blues roots of the seminal rock and roll hit

Bony Moronie is one of the best-known tracks of New Orleans singer Larry Williams which, along with his other songs,…

June 14, 2021
Songwriter
Gimme Three Steps: the bar where Lynyrd Skynyrd's frontman almost got shot

Gimme Three Steps is the best-known track from the 1973 debut album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The first…

June 2, 2021
Film
Concerning Hobbits: portraying home with the penny whistle

Concerning Hobbits is a two-minute tune originally composed by Canadian composer Howard Shore for Peter Jackson's 2001…

May 31, 2021
Songwriter
Suavemente: meaning behind Elvis Crespo's merengue hit

Suavemente means softly or gently in Spanish, and Elvis Crespo turned the word into the hook of one of the best-known…

May 26, 2021
Songwriter
Terraplane Blues: first song to compare car problems with intimate relationship

Terraplane Blues is the first single released by Robert Johnson—a traveling blues performer deeply revered by many rock…

May 18, 2021
Songwriter
Mambo Italiano: Bob Merrill's meaningless lyrics composed on restaurant napkin

Mambo Italiano is a timeless hit in the mambo genre written by American songwriter Bob Merrill in the 1950s on a…

May 16, 2021
Songwriter
Yakety Yak: teenager's answer to household chores in a hit song

Yakety Yak is one of the best-known songs written by American songwriting partners Jerome Leiber and Michael Stoller…

May 1, 2021
Film
Hedwig’s Theme: magical mood cast by the celesta melody

Hedwig's Theme, also known as the main theme of all eight Harry Potter films, was the first piece written by John…

April 28, 2021
Music Theory
Popular songs showing the submediant chord in all diatonic modes

In musical theory, the submediant refers to the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, and the triad rooted in the…

April 18, 2021
Songwriter
Muskrat Love: the polarizing song of America

Muskrat Love is a sweet and slightly strange song about a romantic relationship between two anthropomorphic muskrats,…

April 16, 2021
Songwriter
Makin' Whoopee: cautionary song warning against the trappings of marriage

Makin' Whoopee is an ironic song describing the successive transformation of the relationship between two lovers from…

April 7, 2021
Music Theory
6 songs combining harmonic minor and Aeolian mode

The polyphonic structure of Western classical music distinguishes it from other musical traditions such as Indian…

March 27, 2021
Songwriter
Mexicali Blues: debut song by the Grateful Dead's psychedelic poet

Mexicali Blues was first released by Bob Weir, an acclaimed rhythm guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of the…

March 24, 2021
Songwriter
Livin' la Vida Loca: why is Ricky Martin's best song so catchy?

Livin' la Vida Loca is likely one of the best-known tracks in the entire repertoire of the Puerto Rican singer…

March 17, 2021
Songwriter
Three Little Fishies: origin of the cautionary children's song

Three Little Fishies is a well-known novelty song with cautionary tale lyrics that was first recorded by the Hal Kemp…

March 14, 20211 comment
Songwriter
Pancho and Lefty: gangster song that saved Townes Van Zandt from a speeding ticket

Pancho and Lefty is perhaps the best-known song of American songwriter Townes Van Zandt released on his sixth studio…

March 10, 2021
Songwriter
Oye Como Va: meaning and origin of the best-known cha-cha-chá song

Oye Como Va is one of the best-known cha-cha-chá songs, owing its unfading popularity to Carlos Santana who recorded…

February 22, 2021
Songwriter
La Bamba: meaning and tragedy behind the best-known son jarocho

The widely known La Bamba epitomizes one of the most striking examples of the ways in which an old folk tune could be…

February 12, 2021
Music Theory
6 songs to unpack Ionian mode and the major scale

The polyphonic aspects of Western classical music distinguish it from other musical traditions such as Indian Сlassic…

February 7, 2021
Songwriter
Sugaree: Jerry Garcia's song referencing his lyricist's criminal past

Sugaree is a 1972 track that first appeared on Jerry Garcia's debut solo album, the guitarist who is widely regarded as…

February 5, 2021
Songwriter
Lawdy Miss Clawdy: how Lloyd Price's first hit mixes blues and classics

Lawdy Miss Clawdy is a rhythm and blues track that kicked off the career of the prolific New Orleans songwriter Lloyd…

January 31, 2021
Songwriter
Marie Laveau: ballad of the legendary Voodoo Queen

Dedicated to the legendary Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau was composed by award-winning writer Shel…

January 29, 2021