OVER THE RAINBOW. Poem by Michael Leach
I peer into the rear-view mirror/ at my sister’s baby face/The tears brimming
THE GAMBLER by KENNY ROGERS. Story by Angela Savage
Over the years, while my mother’s faith in Christianity declined, her belief in country music only increased.
BAD REPUTATION by JOAN JETT and the BLACKHEARTS. Story by Rick Kane
It was as if I had heard Bad Reputation for the first time. As it directly related to my sister. As it stands as a song. And it is, my friends, a ripper.
RUN by SNOW PATROL Reflection by Lucia Nardo
At home and still in my funereal black, I do the obligatory YouTube search for the track. The internet soon shepherds me away from The King’s back-catalogue to a tear-invoking power-ballad from a band I’d followed since the 1990s.
MORNINGSIDE by NEIL DIAMOND Story by Jane Leonard
I’m watching Dad working on the huge driftwood table he’s been making out of wood that he’s found and dragged home from the beach.
PURPLE SNEAKERS by YOU AM I Story by Martina Medica
I wasn’t a fan of his music, but I went along to impress the new fella in my life.
CARRICKFERGUS by BRYAN FERRY Story by Stephen Andrew
A quarter of a century later, I hear this song again, rising spontaneously through the eucalypts.
SKY PILOT by ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS Memoir by Annette Signorini
You are at the American War Museum with your daughter. Same age as your brother was back then. No life and death decisions in her life.
BRIGHT EYES by ART GARFUNKEL. Memoir by Melanie Cheng
As fitting as it was to imagine Mrs Hart perched atop a fleecy cloud, my sympathies were firmly with her howling, motherless child.
MY WAY by FRANK SINATRA Story by Luke Davies
Luke Davies pays tribute to his father, via Frank Sinatra's version of My Way.