These I have loved
songs from The Sound of Music
in glorious surround-sound kitsch,
High on a Rocky Ledge, which is
a more quirky song about Edelweiss
from Moondog, the Viking of Sixth Avenue
The gravelly voice of late period
Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit
gut-wrenchingly poignant
but you are commanded to listen
much as broken Robert Wyatt
for whom Shipbuilding was written
and when you realise the real subject
was the Falklands War, you can
never unhear its meaning
On a more cheerful note
if you’ll pardon the pun
almost anything by
The Electric Light Orchestra
but for its lugubrious intro
as smooth as melted chocolate
let’s slip Need Her Love
onto the turntable
And whilst we’re listening to love
another song whose slight delays
stretch the heartstrings achingly
it has to be UB40
Please Don’t Make Me Cry
whilst at the opposite end of the scale
(another musical pun)
Deep Purple’s Hush
hurries the beat and
raises your heartbeat
with an excitement that
threatens to burst all bounds
on the cusp between pop
and heavy rock
Yet another driven classic
unmistakable from the first notes
of it’s Electric Bass accompaniment
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
The Night will also set your pulse racing…
I could go on, for music comes
in endless forms and variations –
but these are the cream of the crop
– today…
All these have been my loves…
© Andrew Wilson, 2026
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, kim881 in Poetics, invites us to write a list poem in the shadow of ‘The Great Lover’ by Rupert Brooke, and to begin and end our poem with lines taken from the second stanza…
I could write a list poem of songs I have loved, Andrew, but you’ve beaten me to it! Yes, I have loved songs from The Sound of Music, still love Billie Holiday and Strange Fruit, and Deep Purple’s Hush. Nicely done.
Thank you so much, Kim. And do you know Moondog?
Andrew what a beautiful tribute to the songs that become part of us. Extra shoutout for listing Hush by Thee Deep Purp…💜🙏
Thanks, Cara – Hush perfectly exemplifies how rock music is designed to raise your pulse – it’s just so damn exciting. Also, the na-nana na bits are quite pop song but overall it is like a breakthrough into something heavier. I defy anybody to keep still to it…
Ahh, music, absolutely one of my biggest personal loves and there is so many different artists in all the variations one could ever imagine… Loved it! And you surely have great taste.
Why, thank you, Reelika, I haven’t heard of any of the bands you have mentioned on TTOT but I’m sure if you made a list poem about music there might be some overlap…
I did not expect to see Moondog here!
I can’t remember how I first discovered Moondog but this song came up in a drama and I reconised the voice. I think he spent his last years in Switzerland whence he was inspired to write about Edelweiss – anyway, the song became a right earworm for me, Shaun…
Edelweiss is one of the most beautiful songs ever (imo)… love your musical list!
Did you have a listen to Moondog’s Edelweiss song, Paula – be careful – I had it on repeat when I first discovered it – a proper earworm lol…
Good pick – Billie Holiday!
I discovered Billie Holiday in my student days bur now, she is added to a long list of singers and artists for whom my knowledge of their pain in life, has mitigated my appreciation so that listening, even to less affecting songs than Strange Fruit, is a bitter sweet experience – not to be foregone though…
Ahhh … Jersey Boys! Frankie knew how to make my heart race, so glad you included him in this really ‘cool’ list of favorites. The Broadway show was simply amazing, I could watch it multiple times and never tire. The Bee Gees as well. There is not a genre of music I don’t enjoy … well maybe heavy metal and most rap. When our boys were 5, 6 and 7 their father was in Vietnam. I was six months pregnant with our daughter. Every night the 78 went onto the turntable, lulling them to sweet sleep.
Thanks, Helen, I think the show is returning to the theatre here in Bradford soon…