Soul Music

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

"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

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.

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind / It's gonna be a bright / Bright sunshiny day"I Can See Clearly Now was written by the Houston-born singer-songwriter Johnny Nash. First released in 1972, it became a huge hit and the song has been covered by hundreds of artists, from the Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff to the Irish rock group Hothouse Flowers. For recording engineer and producer Luke DeLalio the original of the song is 'a masterpiece', with a sublime vocal performance and an arrangement that is surprisingly experimental for such an apparently simple song. Professor Kathy M. Newman of Carnegie Mellon University tells us about Johnny Nash's life and career, from his early years as a clean-cut crooner and teen idol, to his time recording in Jamaica and his later years, living on a ranch in Texas. For author and psychologist Peggy DeLong it's a song of hope, resilience and love. It was once meant to be her wedding song but took on new significance after she lost her fiancé as a young woman in the 1990s. The song appeared in Brenda Drumm's life when she needed it most. In a moment of darkness and worry, it came on the radio as she was driving home from a day of tests at the hospital near her home in County Kildare. It allowed her to dare to plan for the future. Poet Jack Mapanje was detained in Malawi’s notorious Mikuyu Prison without charge from 1987 until 1991, under Hastings Banda's regime. He remembers singing the song when other political prisoners were released - "it's a song of hope". And the author Joanne Harris talks about the song's "sense of perpetual sky" and how the lyrics provide grounding and comfort in troubled times. Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

Sweet Thing by Van Morrison has an atmosphere full of tenderness, wonder and joy. But underneath this, there a feeling of transience, a melancholy sense of things coming to an end, and of inevitable change. It was written for his 1968 album Astral Weeks, at a time when the Northern Irish born Van had left his home country and was down-and-out in Boston, USA. Hear how the track has come to mean so much to so many. Caroline Mellor from Brighton remembers an intense moment of hearing Sweet Thing whilst staying in the mountains of Andalucía, Spain. Sammy Douglas, Councillor and current High Sheriff of Belfast, reflects on memories of the Troubles and how the song intertwines with the tale of his first love. Ryan H. Walsh, Bostonian and author of Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968, explains how the seminal album Astral Weeks came about, and John Payne, flautist on Sweet Thing, shares memories of those extraordinary recording sessions with Van Morrison. And singer-songwriter Alanna Joy from South Africa considers why she opens her live sets with her own rendition of Sweet Thing, and recalls hearing it for the first time through Jeff Buckley's cover.Technical Producer: Ilse Lademann Editor: Emma HardingProduced in Bristol by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2024.

James Taylor's song of suicide, loneliness and addiction somehow remains hopeful and uplifting, even as people experience their own dark times.Holly Sinclair was driving through a Missouri winter to see her brother, in hospital after a suicide attempt, when the song came on the radio.Michael Granberry, arts writer for the Dallas Morning News, is also a huge James Taylor fan. He's the same age as Taylor, and reflects on the context of assassinations and war raging in America when he wrote Fire and Rain.Peter Asher was James Taylor's manager and producer, and remembers their first meeting, and the first time he heard Fire and Rain.Marcia Hines released a successful cover version of the song after moving from America to Australia as a teenager, and hearing the song blasting out of radios on both sides of the world.Mark Deeks and Jeff Alexander from Sing United community choir talk about the emotions generated when people sing a song they feel a connection to.And Peter Bardaglio, climate change activist, talks about a summer of fire and rain.Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven

Wicked the musical is 20 years old in 2023. The story of the Wizard of Oz told from the witches' perspective examines themes of difference, power and alienation. The so called Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba born with green skin experiences the pain of growing up different and of longing for acceptance. No surprise then that anybody who has ever felt marginalised or that they don't fit in is drawn to her story. Defying Gravity is Elphaba's war-cry at the end of Act One as she bravely decides to forge her own path in life - to "close her eyes and leap". The song has become a powerful anthem for people from all different walks of life and this episode tells some of their stories. Edward Pierce the Broadway set designer of Wicked knows the song through and through as he worked on the sequence where Elphaba takes flight and begins Defying Gravity. It wasn't until he became severely ill with Covid that the song took on a different meaning. While he was in an induced coma on a ventilator a nurse sang and hummed Defying Gravity to him. He believes that song played more than a minor role in his recovery. That nurse was singer Felicia Temple who had featured on The Voice America singing talent show performing Defying Gravity. When her musical career was cut short by lockdown in March 2020 she returned to nursing and when she found herself at the bedside of a Broadway set designer there was only one song that came to mind. But it has a personal resonance for her too as she went onto that TV show to sing the song one year on from her own illness with cancer and was resolute that as the song goes 'nothing was ever going to bring me down'. The first British singer to play the role of Elphaba in the West End and Broadway is Kerry Ellis. She recounts how that song has given her so much in life and how grateful she is to its strong message of courage. Kath Pierce formerly of the Manchester Proud Choir outlines why Defying Gravity is such an important song to the LGTBQ community and why the choir and members of the public took to the trams and streets of Manchester one November evening in defiance of a violent attack against two young gay men. They'd been on their way home on the tram singing songs from Wicked after a night out. Hundreds of people assembled in the city centre and sang Defying Gravity as a protest against the hate crime. Musicologist Mel Spencer talks us through the genius of composer Stephen Schwartz's song and how it harks back to Somewhere Over The Rainbow as well as to Wagner!Producer: Maggie Ayre

'Fast Car' is one of Tracy Chapman's biggest hits, with listeners from around the world finding striking connections with their own lives in the song's story. It was released in April 1988, and that summer, the American singer-songwriter performed it to a global audience of 600 million at Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute. This broadcast catapulted Tracy and the song to super-stardom, as it became a top ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic and received three Grammy nominations. Ever since, 'Fast Car' has resonated with people around the world. The lyrics describe a working woman trying to escape a cycle of poverty, dreaming of a plan to leave in a "fast car". She speaks of wanting to get out of the life she finds herself in, living in a shelter, and driving towards the city to find something better. This episode features the personal stories of Fitzroy Samuels in Kingston, Jamaica; Priscilla Munson in Indiana, U.S; Gemma Brown in Gateshead, UK and Dev Cuny in California, U.S. We also hear from Alister Wright in Sydney, Australia whose band, Vlossom, covered Fast Car; and Nigel Williamson, music journalist who has met and interviewed Tracy Chapman many times. Produced by Eliza Lomas, BBC Audio Bristol