Penny Lane by The Beatles. Story by Maria Majsa
Maria Majsa Pakuranga, Auckland 1967There is a radio in a brown leather case on the bench. My mother turns it on during the day when my father has left for work and the house feels different.
The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Story by Nick Gadd.
Nick Gadd Sunday afternoon, Altona, September 2015We tape the L-plates to the windscreen and back window. Gen eases her way into the driver’s seat . I give instructions, trying to invest my voice with the gravitas of an airline pilot, more to calm my own nerves than hers.
VERACRUZ by WARREN ZEVON. Story by Anthony W Collins
Anthony W Collins Auchenflower, Queensland, 1987I had enrolled in a subject about American diplomatic history in the 20th century. I needed the subject to complete a Major - and it gave me a Friday off.
Blackhawk by Emmylou Harris Story by Alan Attwood
Alan Attwood Las Vegas; March 1996The song played in my head when I ran at night along a dead straight road in the darkness of the Nevada desert, which was as real as Las Vegas was fake.
When A Fire Starts To Burn by Disclosure
Shu-Ling Chua New York City, June 2014As we slip through the inky night, from ferry to bus to my windowless hotel room, I think, I could stop this at any time. I could have stopped this hours ago.
Now At Last I Know by Feist
Clare Hennessy Berlin, September 2015The act of filling a day and encountering the world had left me battered. I rattled to my final, haphazardly selected destination via the U-bahn.
Drop Kick Me Jesus by Paul Craft/Bobby Bare
Vin Maskell Local footy ground, Williamstown, Australia Any Sunday morning, 2005 to 2015We're blokes in our 40s and 50s, jogging around in circles, trying to be teenagers again.
This Charming Man by The Smiths
Maria Majsa University of London Union, Malet Street, WC1, 1986He smiled, stared at his shoes and said Hello. He looked so pale and young. I said Hi in a voice I didn’t recognise.
You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC
Hugh Jones Launceston, 1980From about 10 houses down the street I heard Wrightee’s stereo doing overtime. The windows were wide open and tops were off the beer bottles. A voice with all the class of a freight train crossing points was screaming through the screen door.
Don’t Give Up On Us by Shane Howard. Story by Vin M
Vin Maskell Newport Bowls Club, Melbourne; September 2015My mind went blank. No recent song titles came to mind. Hardly any album titles either. I found myself grasping at thin air.