- More
- Back
USA
USA
A book takes a chapter to find you. Music finds you in three notes. The piano refrain on Candle in the Wind. The crashing guitar that opens I Want to Hold Your Hand. The mournful strings of Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. I have written more than thirty novels, and I have not yet managed a single sentence that hits a reader the way the first eight bars of a great song hit a listener. Its immediatly emotive and mood changing – and perhaps still my favourite art form.
If I could have been anything, or anyone, it would be a piano man – in the style of Sinatra or Harry Chapin – truly great storytellers
As I am note long past eighty-five years old, the songs on this list are mostly Golden Oldies — and that is no apology. They mark the events and the people of a long life: Mary at Oxford, the Beatles before they were the Beatles, Diana’s memorial at Westminster Abbey, a small bar in Wexford where Chris de Burgh was singing for the woman he had just married.
Whittling this list to twelve was harder than choosing books. I left off Cole Porter, Cohen, Dylan, Don Black, Hamlisch, half the Rat Pack and most of the West End. These are the twelve I could not.
Does this list change? Frequently! A song you’ve been listening to for years might suddenly jump out and catch you by surprise – or maybe your mood changes – and you need a certain song.
That, in essence, is part of the magic of music. Having said that, the songs that matter to me often tell a story.
Words and music, working together, stirring the emotions.
And very occasionally my grand children getting me on the dancefloor, for some truly awful, but highly enjoyable Grandad dancing!
1. A BETTER PLACE TO BE by Harry Chapin (1972; written by Harry Chapin)
As a storyteller myself, I like songwriters who can tell stories, too. Chapin was a genius. Not a great singer, not a great guitarist, but his words carried immense power and beauty. I’ve got every one of his albums and play them all the time. Died far too young at 38 in a road accident. Such a shame he’s not still making records… even today, he’d be a force to be reckoned with.
“Cause you know I’m going nowhere, and anywhere’s a better place to be.” How can you argue with lyrics of that quality?
Please listen to the live version in the links below. Even in his intro, he throws away a line I wish I had written. So evocative, so incredible!
2. THE LADY IN RED by Chris de Burgh (1986; written by Chris de Burgh)
I know Chris and am proud to call him a friend. This was written for his wife Diane, who used to come and watch him play at his parents’ hotel, Bargy Castle in Wexford. It’s a gorgeous song and perfect for sentimental fools like me.
Some years back, I spent a fabulous couple of days with Chris, watched him play a show and the next day sat with him as Ireland beat England at rugby.
The music press wasn’t always kind about him, but I could never work out why – perhaps too populist. A lovely man who tells a great story in song, and has also sold a lot of records.
3. CANDLE IN THE WIND by Elton John (1974; written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin)
I know it seems like he’s finally retired, but how many artists have managed to notch-up more than 50 years at the very top of the music (or any) business?
When Elton headlined Glastonbury Festival (2023) and drew a crowd of over 100,000 – I wasn’t there, but watched him on TV, it was truly moving. He is a great British institution, and a talent for all the ages.
His output, esp when working with Bernie is well documented, and I also loved the film – basically any excuse to listen to him.
This is arguably his most popular song and one that took on a whole new meaning for many people after he played it at the Westminster Abbey memorial service for Princess Diana in 1997.
Mary and I were very kindly invited to attend by Diana’s family and sat at the very back of the family benches. One of the most extraordinary moments of our lives; it felt like the whole country was grieving together.
Tim Rice has been a friend for fifty years. The two of them — Bernie Taupin and Elton, Tim and Andrew — are the great songwriting partnerships of the British twentieth century. Two minds, one song. Lennon and McCartney were the only ones who beat them, and only by a hair.
I would also choose Your Song – another piece of genius, and also the favourite bedtime lullaby of my granddaughter Vivien now she has outgrown Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
“How wonderful life is, while you’re in the world” – breaks me every time!
Then there’s Crocodile Rock, Mona Lisa, Daniel, I’m Still Standing and so many others that I love.
Thank you Elton – you have been on my playlist as long as I can remember – and always will be.
4. ONE FOR MY BABY (AND ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD) by Frank Sinatra (1947; written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer)
I picked this one because it’s a bar room song and Frank was, first and foremost, a bar room singer. Yes, he played all the big stadium shows and Las Vegas and what have you, but there was an intimacy in his voice – especially on a song like this – that seemed naturally suited to a more modest setting. Just a small band and 50 or 60 people in the audience.
I saw Frank eight times. The eighth time was at Royal Albert Hall in 1986, and I will swear to my dying day that he caught my eye in the third row and held it for one full bar of My Way. I told that story at a dinner once and Sammy Davis Jr — who I had also seen, at Grosvenor House in ’65 — looked at me and said: ‘Jeffrey, Frank does that to everyone.’ But I knew. He knew. We both knew.
5. NOTHING by the cast of A Chorus Line (1975; written by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban)
A tragic song when you think about it: “What did you feel? And I said… nothing. I’m feeling nothing”. I saw the opening night of A Chorus Line in New York in 1975 just by pure chance because I happened to be there. Within minutes, I was in no doubt that it was going to be a huge hit. Easily one of the top musicals I’ve ever seen over 50 years of avid watching.
Although Marvin Hamlisch was perhaps more well known for his cinema work – The Sting, The Way We Were, The Spy Who Loved Me – he picked up both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for this score – please listen and go see a revival when it comes to town – it’s a wonderful show!
6. SIT DOWN, YOU’RE ROCKIN’ THE BOAT by the cast of Guys and Dolls (1950; written by Frank Loesser)
I’ve already said how much I love this musical, and this is actually Mary’s favourite song from the soundtrack. Some years ago, I remember reading the script and had to smile when I noticed that, next to the lyrics for this one, it said in brackets, “Prepare for an encore”. It happens every time; that huge finish and the audience goes wild.
We loved the revival in London, and took our grandchildren who loved it too (amazing setting and production by the team at The Bridge).
Try and get hold of the original cast recording, where this song is performed by that Broadway great, Stubby Kaye. He also appeared in the Hollywood version a few years later, alongside Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. Marlon Brando… singing!
7. IF I NEVER SING ANOTHER SONG by Joe Longthorne (1977; written by Don Black)
A song by the brilliant Don Black – who, along with John Barry, also gave us some of the most unforgettable Bond themes like Diamonds Are Forever, Thunderball and The Man with the Golden Gun.
This was originally written for Matt Monro and was performed by everybody from Shirley Bassey to Sammy Davis Jr., but I picked the Longthorne version because I think he’s one of the most underrated singers this country has ever produced. The problem was that he received some very poor career advice and made some terrible decisions.
He sadly died a few years ago aged 64 and is now remembered as little more than a light entertainment also-ran. Such a shame because this guy could have been a new Sinatra.
8. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU by Whitney Houston (1992; written by Dolly Parton)
Some might say this is an obvious choice. One of the best-selling songs of all time that happens to be on one of the the best-selling film soundtracks of all time.
But Whitney Houston’s voice turns it into something almost supernatural.
The delicate control that introduces the song, the power she unleashes in the chorus and then there’s the key change! We’re already in the musical stratosphere and she manages to take us even higher. When you understand the song, you are in tears. Just thinking about it is emotional.
Like Christie and Bronte in the literary world, Whitney Houston’s talent was God-given, and with Clive Davis and many other top pros around her, she left us with so many wonderful gifts to enjoy. May she rest in peace.
Speaking of Clive Davis, if you watch the Netflix documentary, he talks about how he leaked the hit version (no music, just acapella in opening bars) to the radio against everyone’s wishes. Goes to show, often takes a team of brilliant people to produce such a masterpiece.
9. I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND by The Beatles (1964; written by Lennon and McCartney)
When I was at Oxford in the early-60s, just before Mary and I got engaged, we actually met the Fab Four.
Somehow, I managed to book the biggest band in Britain for a charity concert just before they went stratospheric. It was a sensation, and their appearance generated a huge amount of money for Oxfam.
The staggering thing was that they were my age: John and Ringo slightly older, Paul and George slightly younger. We were all just kids. They just happened to be kids who were about to instigate a global musical revolution!
It cost the union forty pounds to book them. Four hundred kids in the room. They played for forty minutes and Lennon spent half of it complaining about the microphone. Six months later they were on Ed Sullivan Show and the fee for one night had gone up by a factor of a thousand. I have always told the boys at the Union: book them before they are famous. The cheque clears either way.
Again, I could have picked many songs, and even entire albums, but this is my earliest memory of them.
10. I (WHO HAVE NOTHING) by Shirley Bassey (1963; written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller)
“I, I who have nothing. I, I who have no one.” Wow, what an opening! Arguably as powerful as anything you’ll find in literature or poetry. Managing to convey so much in just a handful of words.
We were so lucky when Shirley Bassey became a friend; and now Mary and I have known her for years. And she is simply a singer whose voice is in a different league. I’ve heard people arguing about Shirley and Barbra Streisand, but I would vote for Shirley every time. Her voice feels real. Beautiful, of course, but with a raw, gritty edginess that sends shivers down your spine.
She’s a singer who could only have come from this side of the Atlantic, and the emotion she pours into the song to tell the story – well that’s truly a gift and a lot of hard work.
11. MOON RIVER by Bobby Darin (1963; written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer)
Other singers have had bigger hits with this song, but what I love about Bobby Darin’s version is that he steers it away from the standard big ballad territory of Andy Williams. This is closer in spirit to the original version that Audrey Hepburn sang in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Bobby Darin is one of those singers who started out in the novelty pop world – his first big hit was Splish Splash – but obviously had a desire to make music of a more serious and thoughtful nature. His restrained version of Tim Hardin’s If I Were a Carpenter was a hit in 1966 and introduced him to a whole new audience.
12. DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA by Julie Covington (1976; written by Sir Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber)
This was another situation where I struggled to pick just one song. There have been so many classics by this duo including Another Suitcase in Another Hall, also from Evita; and I know Him So Well from Chess.
But I agree with Tim Rice – who we have also been luck to now “Sir Tim” – that Don’t Cry for Me Argentina comes out on top.
Evita actually started life as a concept album in 1976 and was then turned into a musical a couple of years later. Julie Covington’s version on the original album is still my favourite, but Elaine Paige came very close when she took over in the West End.
Sir Tim was on my Unputdownable podcast a few years ago. He chose Wisden Cricket Almanac 1954 as his book and the Eagle Comic as his cultural item. I asked him, off-tape, which of his own lyrics he was proudest of. He thought about it for a long time. Then he said: ‘High Flying, Adored.’ Not the famous one. The one that almost nobody sings. That tells you everything about why he is one of the great lyricists alive.
A song with huge power and emotion, but all delivered so effortlessly.
A great song and a great novel do the same thing — they make you forget the world outside.
If the songs on this list left their mark on you, I hope my novels can do the same. Here are some I might suggest:
Adam & Eve — my new novel, out this October. A WW2 epic about the choices that shape a life.
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less — my first novel, fifty years old this June, in a special anniversary edition.
The Clifton Chronicles — seven books, three generations, one family.
More from the Unputdownable Series
Top 10 Agatha Christie Books
Top 12 Best Classic Novels of All Time
Join my community
I send occasional personal letters to readers about the books I’m reading, what I’m writing, and what’s coming next. No spam, just notes from me. Please sign up below if interested to hear more.