Sir Karl Jenkins' Benedictus is the penultimate movement from his anti-war mass, The Armed Man. Written twenty-five years ago this... more

America is Anita's all singing, all dancing number from the musical West Side Story. The Puerto Rican Sharks gang... more

"Lovely Day" was released in 1977. Its simple blissful melody masks profound lyrics which on closer examination offer hope and... more

"Tender is the night lying by your side / Tender is the touch of someone that you love too much..."... more

“Well, I'll be damned, Here comes your ghost again…”Joan Baez, also known as the "Queen of Folk", is halfway through writing... more

Elton John's slow burner is now one of his most beloved tracks. Released in 1971 during a prolific period for... more

"I never felt magic crazy as this....."For some it's a beacon of hope, for others a metaphor for love. ... more

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone... more

Written by George Gershwin for the musical Oh Kay, Someone To Watch Over Me has endured as a tender ballad... more

Sweet Thing by Van Morrison has an atmosphere full of tenderness, wonder and joy. But underneath this there a feeling... more

Antonin Dvorak wrote his Gypsy Songs in 1880. He was passionate about the folk music of his native Bohemia and... more

James Taylor's song of suicide, loneliness and addiction somehow remains hopeful and uplifting, even as people experience their own dark... more

Miriam Makeba recorded 'Pata Pata' in 1967 with the help of American producer Jerry Ragovoy. It became a huge... more

Wicked the musical is 20 years old in 2023. The story of the Wizard of Oz told from the witches'... more

Written by Dolly Parton... sent stratospheric by Whitney Houston; I Will Always Love You is a song that has... more

'Fast Car' is one of Tracy Chapman's biggest hits, with listeners from around the world finding striking connections with their... more

When Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David wrote I Say A Little Prayer For You in 1967 the war in... more

'Ghost Town' was recorded by British two-tone band The Specials as a comment on urban decay and social unrest. ... more

When I Only Have Eyes For You first emerged in 1934 it was a jaunty ditty written by Harry Dubin... more

Some people say it's a protest song about the commercialisation of Christmas. Others that it's anti-religious. I Believe In Father... more

'None shall sleep'. Jon Christos watched the Italia 90 World Cup with his Dad and says that the live performance... more

"Strumming my pain with his fingers... Singing my life with his words..." Killing Me Softly with His Song is a... more

"I don't believe in an interventionist God" has to be one of the most original opening lines to a song.... more

Powerful stories linked to this beautiful and stirring Ukrainian folk song which inspired Pink Floyd to reform so they could... more

A Violin Concerto in G minor, Opus 26, became the best-known work of the German composer Max Bruch. Originally... more

Ne Me Quitte Pas is a song about begging someone not to go - and of promising the world to... more

"I never meant to cause you any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain..."True stories of what Prince's... more

Candi Staton and others celebrate this 1970s disco classic which delivers an optimistic message.Written by David Crawford and released in... more

In 1942, Benjamin Britten boarded the M.S. Axel Johnson, a Swedish cargo vessel, to make the journey home to England... more

More gospel than rock, this 1987 hit has inspired great change in people's lives and created memories for music lovers... more

"Long afloat in shipless oceans":So begins ‘Song To The Siren’ whose lyrics were inspired by Homer's Odyssey and the story... more

Personal stories inspired by Massive Attack's breakthrough single. Featuring the vocals of Shara Nelson, the track together with its... more

Ezio Pinza was the first person to sing Some Enchanted Evening when South Pacific opened on Broadway in 1949. ... more

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell made Ain't No Mountain High Enough a hit for Motown in 1967. Diana Ross followed... more

"Country roads, take me home To the place I belong"'Take Me Home, Country Roads' was written by Bill Danoff and Taffy... more

"But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise And you should not I'll gently rise and softly call Goodnight and joy... more

The Carpenters - brother and sister duo Richard and Karen - were one of the most popular groups of the... more

This disco classic tells a powerful story: that of a young, gay man leaving his homophobic small town for... more

Sunshine on Leith was released in 1988 but didn't become the big hit The Proclaimers had hoped for. However... more

Life on Mars was released on David Bowie's Hunky Dory album in 1971. Two years later it came out... more

Stories from people about how ‘Once In A Lifetime’, Talking Heads' existential hit from 1980, touched their lives.Talking Heads emerged... more

As Christmas approaches, Soul Music leads you through Advent with the Appalachian carol "I Wonder as I Wander".Written by American... more

An enduring classic which delivers a message of support and friendship. Never more so than in 2020 when Lean... more

"At first I was afraid, I was petrified"... From a breakup to a shipwreck, emotional true stories of what Gloria... more

It's a love song about growing old. Neil Young's Harvest Moon released in 1992 is a nod to the 1970s... more

Ravel's beautiful Pavane For A Dead Princess touches many people. While it is not actually about a dead princess... more

The surprising history behind a track made famous by Nina Simone. Feeling Good was written for a now obscure... more

Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay was written whilst Otis Redding was reflecting on his life on Sausalito Bay,... more

“It’s a goodbye song, but it’s also an inspirational song, It could also mean a new beginning" - Ray DaviesWritten... more

Released in 1982, Toto's soft-rock anthem has become an unlikely viral smash-hit.Africa is a song that has changed lives,... more

Performed as part of the mystery plays, the 'Coventry Carol' is from the Pageant of the Shearman and Taylors and... more

We Are Family written by Nile Rodgers and performed by the Sledge Sisters Kathy, Kim, Debbie and Joni was released... more

People who connect directly with the lyrics and have a deep personal connection to Simon & Garfunkel's masterpiece 'The Boxer'... more

Personal stories about Farewell to Stromness, by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Written in 1980 as a protest against uranium... more

“I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park… listening to the wind of change.”The German rock band Scorpions’ lead singer... more

Ralph McTell and others discuss a song that was written for a heroin addict, became an anthem against homelessness, and... more

Amy Winehouse died in July 2011 aged just 27. 'Back to Black' - the title track of her second and... more

The story of how a song from a classic 1980s movie became an inspirational anthem for a 21st-century generation.Carly Simon’s... more

Charlie Chaplin wrote the music for 'Smile' in 1935 for the film 'Modern Times', but the lyrics were only added... more

The B-Flat Piano Sonata D960, which Schubert completed two months before his death, in 1828, is a vast and complex... more

Shine On You Crazy Diamond discussed by voices including David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.Understood to have been written about Syd... more

Soul Music with stories of the lasting impact of Joni Mitchell's song 'River', from her iconic 1971 album Blue. A... more

"Your true colors...are beautiful, like a rainbow..."Billy Steinberg's lyrics were originally inspired by his mother but his song writing partner... more

"God only knows what I'd be without you"For artist Kim Lynch God Only Knows is a song that she has... more

Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun speaks to artists of different kinds. Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson recalls... more

Why has Procol Harum's surreal track ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ remained enduringly popular for over 50 years? Soul... more

Actor Clarke Peters narrates this special edition to mark 50 years since the assassination of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther... more

Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25... more

Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25... more

Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25... more

How Kraftwerk's classic album Computer World has changed people's lives. On their first wedding anniversary, David Sanborn and Jennifer Huber... more

Boys Don't Cry by The Cure is, on the surface, a tribute to teenage angst and a slice of pop... more

JS Bach wrote his cantata Ich Habe Genug for the Feast of the Purification of Mary to be performed in... more

"If you've never heard of Bob Marley then you must be living under a rock" - Neville Garrick, Bob Marley's... more

"O' Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining..." and so begins the gentle carol of reflection that has touched the... more

Sandy Denny was just 19 years old when she wrote 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes?', her much-loved song about... more

You Are My Sunshine was written in or around 1939 and was adopted by the then governor of Louisiana, Jimmy... more

Wagner's peaceful Siegfried Idyll was written to thank his wife after the birth of his son Siegfried. On her birthday... more

"Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens". Guests from around the world share their special memories of The Sound of... more

Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks was released in 1967. Soul Music hears the poignant, thoughtful and life-changing memories of those... more

America's national anthem was written by a lawyer, Francis Scott Key, after watching the British navy bombing Fort McHenry in... more

Memories of first love, first borns and loss are stirred by 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'.This timeless... more

"Jerusalem" has become a quintessentially middle-class and very English song, but it is held in the hearts and memories of... more

Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come has become synonymous with the American Civil Rights Movement.It was released in December... more

'Feed The Birds' was written for the film Mary Poppins by Richard and Robert Sherman.

How Mozart's Requiem, written when he was dying, has touched and changed people's lives. Crime writer Val McDermid recalls how... more

'The Way You Look Tonight' was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 film 'Swing Time'. Sung... more

Memories of a prison camp in the Arizona desert, a tsunami and a plane crash are stirred by the bittersweet... more

Bring Him Home is a beautiful and moving prayer-in-song that has developed meaning and identity outside of the hit musical,... more

The tragi-comic tale of love gone sour and shattered dreams eloquently depicted in the Christmas classic Fairytale of New York... more