This week on A Symposium of Popular Songs, we’re listening to songs about success—its joys, its sorrows, and its dangers. Send your song recommendations to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
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0:00
Ella Fitzgerald, “They All Laughed” (Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook, Vol. 1, 1959)
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4:01
Reading: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
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7:10
Pedro the Lion, “Slow and Steady Wins the Race” (Winners Never Quit, 2000)
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10:45
Randy Newman, “Lonely at the Top” (Sail Away, 1972)
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15:02
Jonathan Groff and Lindsey Mendez, “That Frank” (Merrily We Roll Along, 2023 Revival)
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19:30
Daniel Amos, “Big Time/Big Deal” (Alarma!, 1981)
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22:25
Reading: C.P. Cavafy, “Ithaka”
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24:53
Van Morrison, “Glad Tidings” (Moondance, 1970)
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28:36
Bob Dylan, “When the Ship Comes In” (The Times They Are a-Changin’, 1964)
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31:48
Clint Black, “When My Ship Comes In” (The Hard Way, 1992)
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36:25
Phil Madeira, “King of the Lucky Guys” (Falcon, 2025)
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39:25
Pilot, “January” (Second Flight, 1975)
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43:07
Reading: Plutarch, “Pompey”
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45:53
Courtney Bartnett, “Small Poppies” (Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit, 2015)
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52:49
Michael Knott, “Make Me Feel Good” (Rocket and a Bomb, 1994)
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58:17
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, “Into the Great Wide Open” (Into the Great Wide Open, 1991)
