A Symposium of Popular Songs
Edgy and Dull: Songs About Obsession
For a while, the episode risked becoming an episode on unreliable narrators—but really we’re talking about obsession, a subject I suspect we all know something about. Send your song suggestions to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
More Episodes of A Symposium of Popular Songs
I Only Want to Drown: Songs About the Ocean
We’re approaching the ocean from fourteen different directions on this week’s A Symposium of Popular Songs, featuring, for whatever reason, some very long songs (as well as a few short ones). Send…
Centrifugal Motion: Songs About Kissing
We’re listening to songs about kissing this week. This is one of the perpetual themes of pop music, so I’m going to try to play only artists whom I’ve never played on…
Breaks in the Line: Songs About the Telephone
No readings this week—just fifteen songs about landlines, and some musing on why there aren’t any great songs about cell phones. Send your song suggestions to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
You Play a Caryatid Easy: Songs About Constancy
We start with some songs about faithful women this week before moving on to some more abstract examinations of constancy. Send your song suggestions to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
Set Me Free from This Mighty, Mighty Fire: Songs About Salvation
It’s songs about salvation this week on A Symposium of Popular Songs—and not nearly as much Christian rock as I was afraid I’d play! Send your song recommendations to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com.
Talking to You Is Like Long Division: Songs About Falling in Love
Just in time for summer, it’s a bunch of songs about falling in love. Send your song suggestions to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
Keeps Me Up at Night with the Memory: Songs About Nostalgia
We’re looking back with a golden haze this week on A Symposium of Popular Songs, listening to songs about nostalgia (and its high-class cousin, antiquarian feeling). Send your song suggestions to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
When You Win, Everyone Wants In: Songs About Success
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!
Writing from the Heart: Songs About Sincerity
Boy, I had very little idea what I wanted to say about sincerity when I started recording, so you’ll hear me sincerely try to figure it out as we listen through these…
Calling All in Transit: Alternative Rock Songs
A friend of mine recently asked me for a Spotify playlist of alternative rock—but I don’t use Spotify, so I decided to make the playlist here. This week on A Symposium of…
Life Could Be So Very Fine: Songs About Happiness
We’re listening to songs about happiness this week on A Symposium of Popular Songs, and trying to find a way to separate songs about happiness from songs about being in love. Send…
Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon: Songs of Laurel Canyon
In honor of my wife’s birthday, we’re listening to songs from her favorite musical scene: Laurel Canyon. Send your song suggestions to symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
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