Sia
A song that sounds like a celebration anthem but is structured as a confession of addiction and self-erasure. The narrator…
addiction and denial performed happiness self-destruction as escape
The Sisters of Mercy
This medley fuses two separate Sisters of Mercy songs into one long, incantatory piece: a chant about power and faith called…
apocalyptic religiosity power and dominion Cold War paranoia
Randy Newman
A plainspoken ballad about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, sung from inside the disaster rather than about it from a…
natural disaster regional neglect class and condescension
Emmylou Harris
A folk-ballad narrative about a young Louisiana woman named Mary who runs off with a drifter, told through a shifting cast of…
escape and restlessness cautionary romance generational warning
