SAILING TO PHILADELPHIA by MARK KNOPFLER. Essay by Ann Banham.
I am intrigued with the lyrics sung by the distinctive gravelly vocals of Knopfler. Who is this Jeremiah Dixon?
FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK by THE POGUES. Poem by Mary Pomfret.
Mary Pomfret writes a lyrical response to the song Fairytale Of New York in the wake of the death of Shane McGowan.
A BOAT LIKE GIDEON BROWN by GREAT BIG SEA. Story by Bill Arnott.
Sailing hard for ten hours, we ploughed our way into a lee at the mouth of a river, a sailors’ safe haven for centuries.
THE NUT BROWN MAIDEN, a traditional Scottish song. Story by Alex Barr.
I sometimes think of my father as a cold, bleak Icelandic landscape, and his songs as those hot springs that bubble up from unknown depths.
SMOOCHIE by FATHER JOHN MISTY. Story by Kate Foulds.
Here and now, a deer disappears over the distant mound. Three ducks peacefully paddle, winding their way ahead of the flowing waterfall gently calling me towards the steep terrain of my nightmares.
The Fig Tree Replanted by Arnold Zable
We are a nation of Indigenous peoples and immigrants, a new world with an ancient past, a land of many melodies
INIS OÍRR Story by Paul Bateman
Now here I am, in a country town, in a pub of good spirit, in a song without end, in the company of people content to play their role, with the ghost of Walt Whitman hovering at my side.
GREENSLEEVES (and ice-cream vans)
Greensleeves is the sound of anticipation. The sound of promise and summer. The sound of hot days. The sound of ice-cream on your tongue, melting over your fingers, dripping onto your toes.
DETECTORISTS by JOHNNY FLYNN. Story by Vin M
Every morning I ride a few minutes to my school crossing and park my bicycle under my Detectorists tree.
ASHOKAN FAREWELL by JAY UNGAR Story Luke R Davies
For a time I was transported to a place that's hard to explain. It was sublime, an experience one might call spiritual. Confirming even an atheist can be touched by the unknown.