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"When the rain is blowing in your face / And the whole world is on your case / I could offer you a warm embrace / To make you feel my love" Written by Bob Dylan for his Time Out of Mind album, 'Make You Feel My Love' went on to become a huge hit for Adele and has been covered by Billy Joel, Ane Brun and many more. With its promise of unfaltering love, we find out what the song means to different people around the world. It has inspired a translation into a 65,000 year old language and a choral version with the comfort of a psalm; it has soundtracked heartbreak and grief; and become a lullaby of parental love. Featuring music writer Annie Zaleski, musicians Ane Brun and Dyagula, organist and conductor Anna Lapwood, Howard Simons, Aly Halberstadt, and Adele's manager Jonathan Dickins. Produced by Mair Bosworth A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Marking 25 years of the award-winning series, Soul Music features songs from the last 25 years. “I tried to drink it away... I tried to run it away...” Solange’s hit song, written in 2008 and released eight years later, muses on themes of isolation, loneliness, and depression. She penned the lyrics to Raphael Saadiq’s instrumental in a Miami hotel room, gazing out at the cranes filling the skyline during the onset of the housing crisis and financial crash. Solange Knowles released her debut album in 2002 at the age of 16. This single appears on her third album, A Seat at the Table. She's the younger sister of Beyoncé. Featuring: Journalist Douglas Markowitz; music writer Kiana Fitzgerald; author of Why Solange Matters and Big Joanie guitarist Stephanie Phillips; and Rebecca McNeil. Producer: Eliza Lomas

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you..." True stories of what Yellow, one of Coldplay's most iconic songs, means to people 25 years on from its release. It's December 1999 and a relatively unknown band called Coldplay are midway through recording their debut studio album, Parachutes, at Rockfield Studios in Wales. The days are long, often working late into the evening. One night after a recording session, they step outside with their producer Ken, and look up to a sky full of stars. The rest, as they say, is history... Featuring, in order of appearance: Dylan Bode, musician and coma survivor Ken Nelson, music producer on Coldplay's Parachutes album Debs Wild, fan liaison for Coldplay and author of Life In Technicolor: A Celebration of Coldplay Neil Brand, composer, writer and broadcaster Katherine Ho, singer of the Mandarin version of Yellow for the film Crazy Rich Asians Producer: Becky Ripley

A song that was everywhere after it was released as a single in 2000. Moby's Porcelain has been used in films, TV and adverts yet remains a much loved melancholic downbeat electronic ballad. Reportedly written about the fragility of love after a break up it's a track that has a place in many people's hearts. The people featured are: Felicia Narhi aka DJ Damselfly Steve O'Brien Gyu Ola Mazzuca John E Roy Michael Weinhardt Producer: Maggie Ayre

This hour long special celebrates a quarter of a century of the programme and charts the course of a human life through pieces of music. Cerys Matthews introduces a compilation of some of the diverse pieces of music we've featured throughout the years - together with stories of the people whose lives have been changed by it. Everything from Satie's Gymnopedies and Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending to Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell and Computer Love by Kraftwerk. Stories of birth, childhood, adolescence, as well as the griefs and joys of adulthood are expressed through the music that shapes and sustains us through the emotional ups and downs of our lives' journeys. Producer: Maggie Ayre

The Mexican pianist and composer Consuelo Velázquez was only 16 years old when she wrote Bésame Mucho, and she was yet to have her first kiss. Composer and conductor Odaline de la Martinez remembers hearing the song on the radio as a child in Cuba. She translates the Spanish lyrics - "Kiss me, kiss me passionately, as if tonight was the last time... Kiss me, because I'm afraid to lose you, afterwards". It's an achingly romantic bolero that has been translated into more than 20 languages and recorded by hundreds of artists, including João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Cesaria Evora, Diana Krall, Josephine Baker, Trio Los Panchos and The Beatles. Music writer Richard Williams talks about the eternal appeal of the melody and how it creates its emotional impact. German singer and composer Roland Kunz tells the tragic story behind the melody which inspired Consuelo to write the song: a piece by the Catalan composer Enrique Granados, who died the year Velázquez was born. At the height of WWI, Granados and his wife were on their way home to Spain from New York, when their passenger ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. The story goes that Enrique was picked up by a lifeboat but saw his wife struggling in the water and dived in to save her. They perished, along with 50 other passengers. We hear stories of three very different couples who loved to dance to the song. Peter and Dorothy Tozer met at a dance school in Acton in 1962 when they were 17 and 16 years old. When the song played during the lesson on the night they met, the dance instructor suggested that - as it was Valentine's Day - everyone should give a kiss to whoever they were dancing with at that moment. The two complete strangers shared a kiss, and have been together ever since. When Stephen Miller met his Mexican wife Maria, love wasn't on either of their minds. Stephen was in his fifties and had lost his first wife to cancer. Maria had been a single mum for many years. He didn't speak much Spanish, and she didn't speak much English, but they fell in love and had many wonderful adventures together. One day Stephen was backing the car out of the driveway when he hit the wall. He had begun to lose his sight. As the couple were still adjusting to their new reality, Stephen realised that Maria's memory was beginning to slip. He talks about navigating blindness and dementia, and how they would drop everything to dance together to Bésame Mucho, the lyrics of which grew ever more poignant over time. And Denis Ledoux remembers his wife Martha, who died at 56. They loved to dance to the Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora's version of the song, practicing their dance steps in the living room. After Martha's death, he would listen to the song all the time, sometimes every day. The song became a way to hold onto her and the life they has shared. Denis reflects on how the song's lyric "kiss me, as if tonight was the last time" made him think of all the last times with Martha that he didn't know were last times. Produced by Mair Bosworth Mixed by Ilse Lademann Soul Music is a BBC Audio Bristol production for BBC Radio 4

"May you never lay your head down without a hand to hold / May you never make your bed out in the cold." A perfect folk song of brotherly affection, with simply voice and guitar, John's Martyn's May You Never has captured listeners' hearts since 1971. John Martyn was born in Surrey in 1948 and grew up in Glasgow. Part of the potent London folk scene in the late 60s early 70s, John's style evolved from these folk roots. Written in his early 20s, the enduring version of May You Never was recorded in one take in the early hours of recording his beloved 1973 album, Solid Air. The lyrics encapsulate something of the essence of John Martyn: sweet, joyful and affectionate, yet with a hint of danger ("And may you never lose your temper / If you get in a bar room fight"). John's life was beset by substance abuse and addiction and he died in 2009, age 60. May You Never, perhaps his most famous song, is remembered by those whose lives became entwined with the song, and by others who knew John or have covered it. Featuring: Michael Volpe, Executive Director of If Opera; Lauren Bensted, a writer based in London; Graeme Thomson, author of Small Hours: The Long Night of John Martyn; Spencer Cozens, keyboard player and Musical Director in John Martyn's band from 1990-2009; Blythe Pepino, Kit Hawes, Pete Josef and Sam Brookes from The John Martyn Project. With thanks to Kit Hawes and Spencer Cozens for the instrumental recordings.

Robert Burns began a correspondence with Agnes McElhose, also known as Clarinda and Nancy, a married woman he was besotted with. When she left Scotland to reunite with her husband he wrote Ae Fond Kiss as a heartfelt farewell. It was later set to music and is one of his most famous 'songs' along with Auld Lang Syne and My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose. Karen Matheson, the singer with Capercaillie, talks about its meaning to her and how performing it at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 was a very special moment. Joan Donaldson from Michigan grew up with Scottish music and has called her latest historical novel Ae Fond Kiss. She says she channelled her grief into the characters as a way of dealing with a devastating loss. Sir Geoff Palmer discovered the song when he arrived in Edinburgh in the 1960s. He has traced Burns' and the song's connection to his home country of Jamaica and feels proud of the links he discovered. For film maker Karen Guthrie from Ayrshire - Burns' birthplace - coping with and caring for her estranged parents meant long drives home through the countryside he inhabited. It was a journey of rediscovering Scotland's national poet and relating her family's story to Ae Fond Kiss. Musician Seonaid Aitken plays both versions of the song on the violin and explains how the music conveys the feelings of longing after an unresolved love affair. Producer: Maggie Ayre First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2025.

Stories of love, loss and legacy surrounding Donna Summer's iconic 1977 hit. Producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte wanted to make something which sounded like the future, and sure enough 'I Feel Love' went on to revolutionise disco and pave the way for electronic dance music. Almost 40 years on, it still sounds fresh to this day: the pumping arpeggiated bassline, the synthesized drones, and Donna's soaring multi-tracked vocals. Writer and AIDS activist Mark S. King reflects on what the song meant to him back when it was first released, and then later through the HIV/AIDS crisis. Retail consultant and author Mary Portas shares how the song got her through a difficult time of loss, taking her to a place beyond grief. A place of freedom and dance. Singer-songwriter Bruce Sudano, Donna Summer's husband of 32 years until her death in 2012, remembers the heady days when they first met. It was 1977, the same year that I Feel Love was written and released. And music journalist Danyel Smith, author of 'Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop', celebrates the incredible legacy of Donna and the power of this pioneering track. A track that still, decades later, gets people on the dance floor. Producer: Becky Ripley

Written in 1963, 'Sailing By' by Ronald Binge was chosen by the BBC as the musical interlude to be played every night before the Shipping Forecast. These are the stories of some of the people for whom this piece has a powerful emotional connection. After Cyrilene Tollafield's parents left Barbados for the UK, Cyrilene heard 'Sailing By' whilst cuddling up to her grandmother and her cousins during hurricane warnings. Writer Henrietta McKervey spent a night in Fastnet lighthouse and listened to 'Sailing By' as she drifted off to sleep. Having spent years of his life out at sea, Captain Harry McClenahan marvels at how the piece mirrors the rises and falls of the sea. Chris Binge would interrupt his dad whilst he was composing at the piano in his music room, the air thick with cigarette smoke, and says whenever people find out who his father was it's 'Sailing By' that they know. Helen Harrison conducted the piece at a concert in Blackpool and at the piano she unpacks the musicality and orchestration of the piece. The best part of Jane Heiserman's day is the hour in the evening when she and her adult son, who has autism and lives at home, study together. 'Sailing By' became a firm favourite of theirs when they were looking for music as part of a module on the Intertropical Convergence Zone. She says it brings a sense of calm to their day and serves as confirmation that everything is going to be alright. With recordings of 'Sailing By' by The Perry/Gardner Orchestra, Helen Harrison, Dave Spooner (Ronald Binge's Grandson) and Baked A La Ska. Producers: Maggie Ayre and Toby Field Technical Producer: Ilse Lademann Editor: Emma Harding Soul Music is a BBC Audio Bristol production for BBC Radio 4.

Sir Karl Jenkins' Benedictus is the penultimate movement from his anti-war mass, The Armed Man. Written twenty-five years ago this year and performed over three thousand times, Sir Karl dedicated it to the victims of the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. It was originally commissioned by The Royal Armouries Museum and premiered for the millennium. The Armed Man as a whole reflects the descent into war, but the movement of Benedictus' emerges as a message of hope and peace in the aftermath. Benedictus is recognised for its haunting cello theme, in a register unusually high for this resonant instrument. The cello solo gradually expands into a full choir and orchestra. Benedictus has given solace to listeners through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. We hear some of their stories. Featuring: British Armed Forces Veteran Michael Young, who served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan; Reverand Charles Thody, Priest in Lincolnshire and chaplain for the NHS; Dane Coetzee, cellist in Cape Town, South Africa; And the composer of Benedictus himself, Sir Karl Jenkins and his wife, Lady Carol Jenkins. Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol Sound Engineer: Ilse Lademann Editor: Emma Harding

"Lovely Day" was released in 1977. Its simple blissful melody masks profound lyrics which on closer examination offer hope and solace to many fans of the song. Some of them share their stories here of what it means to them, including two people who had the privilege of meeting and working with Bill Withers. Taro Alexander was a shy insecure young man with a stutter who founded an organisation for children like him who struggled with speaking in public. As a boy he would listen to Lovely Day in his bedroom. Often it was the only way he could get himself out of that bedroom and off to school. To his surprise he learned that Bill Withers had also had a difficult time throughout his childhood because of his stutter and invited him to meet the young people of SAY (The Stuttering Association for The Young). Taro was deeply moved by Bill Withers' reaction to the young people and says the song speaks to so many of us in our daily struggles. Bass player John Inghram met and worked with Bill twice at the Music Hall of Fame in West Virginia where both men are from. He organised a tribute concert to him on his 80th birthday and played Bill Withers songs exclusively to honour the man he describes as generous and 'utterly hilarious'. Sunita Harley had Lovely Day on her playlist when she went into hospital for the birth of a much longed for IVF baby. On a snowy April day after a long arduous labour she held her daughter in her arms for the first time and the sun shone through the window as Lovely Day came on the playlist. Philippa King and her daughter Milly have a special place in their hearts for the song. It came on the car radio on a beautiful sunny drive along the coast near Brighton. It was Milly's first trip outside of the hospital where she'd been for many months dangerously ill with Crohns Disease. The song gave mother and daughter hope that things would get better and it became their victory anthem when Milly was finally able to leave hospital. Karen Gibson MBE founded the Kingdom Choir and has conducted and mentored many young singers. Their gospel version of Lovely Day is a thrillingly uplifting reminder that we can all choose to make it a lovely day no matter what else is going on in our lives while we either listen to or sing that song. Producer: Maggie Ayre

"Tender is the night lying by your side / Tender is the touch of someone that you love too much..." - Chris Lightfoot will always associate Blur's song 'Tender' with his first big love. A relationship he moved across the world for, with someone he loved deeply and who changed the course of his life. A relationship he ultimately couldn't make work. The song came on, and they held each other - knowing they had to let each other go. "Tender is the day the demons go away / Lord, I need to find someone who can heal my mind..." - Music writer Jason Draper explains how the song was born out of a period of huge change and turmoil for Blur. Lead singer Damon Albarn's relationship with Justine Frischmann of Elastica had come to "a spectacularly sad end"; while guitarist Graham Coxon was tackling his own demons and taking steps towards sobriety. Living alone in a one-bedroom flat in West London and listening to a lot of Otis Redding, Damon had begun writing lyrics for a new song. Not a bitter break-up song, but one "that paid tribute to how important something was in my life... a celebration of love found and lost but not forgotten". Across town, Graham woke up one morning - still half dreaming - with a refrain circling in his head - "oh my baby, oh why, oh my" and captured a fragile guitar line on his dictaphone. These elements came together in studio, with the help of Producer William Orbit and 40 singers from the London Community Gospel Choir, to create a cathartic anthem that feels like a secular hymn. "Come on, come on, come on / Get through it..." - Catherine Anne Davies, who makes music as The Anchoress, has loved Blur since she was a teenager. Tender has been there for her through break ups and times of difficulty. She talks about her experience of covering the song and explains how the structure creates its emotional impact. "Oh my baby, Oh my baby..." - For Sarah, the song will always be associated with the arrival of her first child, after it came on in the taxi on the way to hospital on the way to give birth. The song carried her through the overwhelming contractions and has gone on to become a cherished family lullaby. "'Tender is the night, lying by your side....' That's it isn't it? The love that you feel for the people closest to you, is almost too much... because of the risk involved, but it's a risk we're willing to take". "Come on, come on, come on / Love's the greatest thing, that we have..." - For Naomi Chiffi, the song provided a powerful outlet for grief and an opportunity for communion, after losing both her father and cousin to suicide. For her, it's a reminder to give out love every chance we get - "love is the only thing that really matters". Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

“Well, I'll be damned, Here comes your ghost again…” Joan Baez, also known as the "Queen of Folk", is halfway through writing a song one day when she gets a call from Bob Dylan. It’s 1974; almost 10 years after their relationship ended. The song went on to become the iconic ‘Diamonds and Rust’, an outpouring of memories from their time together in the early sixties. Music writer Kevin EG Perry tells the story behind Baez and Dylan’s relationship, how they shaped each other’s worlds, and how this song came into being a decade later. Folk legend Judy Collins, also a good friend of Joan Baez, shares old memories of Newport Folk Festival alongside more recent memories of performing ‘Diamonds and Rust’ with Baez at her 80th birthday. And we hear from people whose lives have been touched by the song. Classicist Edith Hall listened to ‘Diamonds and Rust’ on repeat when she ended her first marriage, on the night that the Berlin Wall fell. And writer John Stewart looks back on a heady relationship from his early twenties, which was always bound up with the lyrics of this song. Decades later, this formative time in his life continues to resonate with diamonds, rust, and gratitude. Producer: Becky Ripley

Elton John's slow burner is now one of his most beloved tracks. Released in 1971 during a prolific period for Elton and Bernie Taupin, many people see themselves in the lyrics. Eliza Hewitt grew up in a strict household in Pennsylvania. During the tumultuous early 70s, her brother introduced her to the music of Elton John, and she's still a tiny dancer in her late 60s. Lee Hall wrote the screenplay for Rocketman, the Elton John biopic. He sees the song as a conversation between Elton and Bernie. Podcaster Kirk Hamilton takes us through the song's slow build to a chorus which feels as though it's never going to come. Judith Sibley's daughter Lily-Mae received a terrible diagnosis when she was just 4 years old. Along with her brother Paul and friend Steven, she channelled her efforts into recording a charity single for her ballet loving daughter, and Tiny Dancer was the obvious song. When Ava Forte Vitali and Drew Wood met and exchanged playlists they realised how much they had in common. So much so, that Tiny Dancer had to play a part in their wedding. Produced by Sally Heaven for BBC Audio in Bristol Technical Producer: Ilse Lademann Editor: Emma Harding.