What's your favorite song to sing in the car?

I'm going to answer a slightly different question because I don't drive, and although I'm often a passenger, I think that's a bit different

Anyway I was walking home last night, through this medieval/gothic town. It was very dark, and a bit wintery, with little bits of Christmas beginning to creep in.

This came through my headphones and it was a huge struggle not to sing along.

Share a song that feels like it was written specifically for you.

I possibly didn't take an awful lot of notice of this song when it came out on one of the Pogues LPs, when I was actually living in London, but when I heard this cover, it hit my nostalgia button quite hard

What's a song you only listen to when you're completely alone?

Nobody else in the house much likes hip-hop, so this is one I only ever listen to when no one else is around

What's your favorite opening line from any song?

There were a lot of candidates when this post came around before, so I'm pleased to have another crack at it

My choice today is

"Dig if you will the picture, of you and I engaged in a kiss"

Surprisingly this is my first Prince track so far. It's not my favourite of his songs, but I love that first line

Share a song that makes you feel invincible.

When I was about 30 years old, we used to go to a pub on a Friday lunchtime, and play pinball. I used to put this on the jukebox. I was pretty good at pinball.

What song do you turn to when you need to cry?

I'm answering a different question here

This is a live version of the song, from just after it was released.

I only heard it this morning, and it starts with the crowd chanting "Kirsty, Kirsty"

I don't usually get very emotional about the deaths of people I never knew, but there was something really sad about the loss of Kirsty MacColl

What song feels like a personal anthem right now?

I am always feelin groovy.

This is a great reggae version by Sugar Minott

What's a song that feels larger than life to you?

Wikipedia tells me that this came out in 1997, but it feels as fresh as a daisy, and, I guess, as big as a sycamore.

Share a song that represents rebellion or freedom to you.

As a (very) late-middle-aged 'centrist dad', I'd have to say that freedom from crime is one of the most important freedoms....but this is gorgeous

You might know Benjamin Zephaniah from Peaky Blinders, but he was mainly a poet. We saw him in the 1980s at the Elephant Fayre, but more recently he was on BBC Radio 4 a lot. He came across as an all-round good guy

What's a song with lyrics you didn't fully understand until you were older?

There are probably a lot of candidates, as I often don't understand much!

Obvious ones would be American Pie, or My Name is Michael Caine ( I didn't know what that was about until a couple of weeks ago), or lots and lots of songs about Irish history.

The track I'm picking is a song that I didn't appreciate until I got older. This is because I think it's about aging, and looking back

I've posted Dusty's version before, so it's the Byrds this time. I really like the Pretenders version too but I don't think it's on Apple Music