Here is this week’s playlist – songs picked by a reader from hundreds of stories and suggestions on last week’s callout. Thanks for taking part. Read more about how our weekly series works at the end of the piece.
“There are many things in life that are not fair,” said the US president Jimmy Carter, who was replaced by sunny optimist Ronald Reagan just over three years later, in 1981. Perhaps people have always loved to believe in fairness and don’t like to hear that life is unfair? Unless, maybe, such a feeling is expressed in a really good song.
In Ry Cooder’s Nobody, which kicks off our playlist, the protagonist’s suffering seems to be uniquely unfair: “Nobody knows the trouble I see / Nobody knows but me.” How pitiful.
And how about Ray Charles? He claims to know a thing or two about unfairness. In It Should’ve Been Me, fairness eludes him at every corner. Good food, pretty women, sharp clothes and fast cars go to the other guys.
Patsy Cline doesn’t do too much better in She’s Got You. All the meaningful mementos of a loving relationship – except the relationship, which belongs to someone else. Where’s the fairness in that?
Nancy Sinatra takes a different tack in These Boots Are Made for Walkin’: making demands. Forget waiting for fairness – if you’ve been unfair to Sinatra, she will “walk all over you” and doesn’t want or need your pity.
In Ex-Factor, Lauryn Hill, too, is done waiting around. She insists on reciprocity, something that may go to the heart of fairness. This song suggests that when you let an unfair relationship fail, you find that reciprocity. Funkadelic agree in Can You Get to That. Without reciprocity, “Your loving days are done”. Fair is fair.
Don’t give into despair, however, suggests Etta James. If things aren’t fair now, in At Last, fairness will have been worth the wait. It’s only fair that dreams come true after so many nightmares, and dreams do.
In Get the Balance Right, Depeche Mode agree that fairness is something only found in the long view. “When you reach the top, get ready to drop” and vice versa. Expect as much, and things will turn out fine.
The La’s cheerfully believe in fairness on I.O.U., but you must “eat your porridge” first. Fairness is something you work towards, and perhaps you’ll suffer a bit, depending how thick the gruel. The Rolling Stones argue something similar on You Can’t Always Get What You Want – “But if you try sometime, well you might find / you get what you need”. That sounds fair.
New theme: how to join in
The next theme will be announced at 8pm (GMT) on Thursday 1 March. You will have until 11pm on Monday 5 March to submit nominations.
Here is a reminder of some of the guidelines for Readers recommend:
- If you have a good idea for a theme, or you would like to volunteer to compile a playlist from readers’ suggestions and write a blog about it, please email matthew.holmes@theguardian.com.
- There is a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are “zedded”, at the new look Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of “zedded”, “donds” and other strange words used by RR regulars.
- Many RR regulars also congregate at the ’Spill blog.
