One day at a time - Lena Martell

A very popular Country and Western-style Gospel song, recorded by over 200 artists, it has reached No.1 many times. Chief writer, Marijohn Wilkin, had a conventional Baptist upbringing in the States and became a schoolteacher. Three years into her marriage her husband, a pilot, died in South Africa, in the war. She remarried and when she was 37 and moved to Nashville where she became a successful writer of country songs. Amid the acclaim, money and success she stopped attending church and eventually became addicted to alcohol. More than once she attempted suicide. When she was 53 she wrote this her most famous song. It came at a time when she was totally frustrated by what seemed to her an inability to write Gospel songs. She stopped by a small church and asked a young minister for counsel. She was the first person he had counselled, she discovered later. When he asked her what was wrong she confessed she did not know. “At that point in our conversation" she has said "he said a funny thing, but it was okay, because it worked. He asked, ‘Did you ever think about thanking God for your problems?’" She returned home, sat at the piano and wrote the song's chorus. Her ‘Nashville mind’ told her it was a hit. She wrote some verses but did not complete the song until she had help from Kris Kristofferson the next day. It was first a hit for American country singer Marilyn Sellars in 1974. I particularly remember the version by Scots singer Lena Martell recorded for the UK market in 1979. A big success, it stayed at No. 1 for three weeks. I remember it because as an evangelical Christian and knowing Lena Martell was a favourite of my unconverted dad's, I hoped it would have a good influence on him. It did not appear to. How come? Apart from the fact people often do not take in song lyrics, the song, despite an apparent dependence on Jesus, is pretty man-centred and more an exercise in positive thinking. Yes, there is Just give me the strength To do every day what I have to do  but then there is also Help me believe in what I could be And all that I am Show me the stairway I have to climb Lord for my sake, help me ... The If you're lookin' below betrays a very tentative sort of faith. So when Joe Walsh recovered from heavy alcohol and cocaine addictions in the early 90s this is the song he went to. "I wanted to put that song on the album for anybody that comes across my music and might be in trouble too. It feels like the 'phone weighs 80 pounds when you pick it up, but you gotta pick it up and ask for help." The message then is not trust in Jesus for forgiveness but admit your weakness and ask for help, an important message but not the gospel.

Sylvia - Focus

Sylvia, which was recorded and released in 1972 on the album Focus III, has the distinction of being one of those relatively few hits that are instrumental. The single came out at the beginning of 1973 and reached No 4 in the UK (it only reached the bottom half of the Top One Hundred in the USA). It was originally written as a vocal track near the end of the sixties in honour of a Dutch actress and singer called Sylvia Alberts. The lyrics have apparently long been lost. The track begins with Jan Akkerman's distinctive jazz guitar riffs (evidently written by Thijs van Leer's older brother, Frank). Ambience is enhanced by heavy reverb from the other speaker acting as a sort of drone against the chopped chords. The organ and bass join in next, then the drums too for the opening section. Next the guitar leads the band on the lead theme until the chopped chords return to be followed once again by the guitar-led theme. Just over a minute in there is a brief bridge that features again under a minute later when it is repeated three times accompanied by van Leer's vibrato voice. We visit the main theme once again at the two minute mark (note the distinctive variation 20 seconds in). This leads to a false ritartando ending when the chopped chords break in for the last time as we approach the three minute mark, before fading to a close. When I first heard it I thought it rather old fashioned but have grown to love it. It is unlike any other song I know.

Luka - Suzanne Vega

This self-penned song by Suzanne Vega was on her second album and came out as a single in 1987. An accompanying video helped promote the song. Luca with a C is likely to be a Latin name, with a K it is more East European. The song, written in the first person of the child is intimate and haunting. The song was a widely acknowledged popular and critical success. Vega has said that it was inspired by a real life Luka who she would see with other children playing in front of the building where she once lived in New York. She felt he seemed set apart from the other children. She has no reason to believe he was being abused, as the child in the song clearly is. By only hinting at the problems and having the child denying what is going on, the listener is drawn in and the song bears many listenings. It may be that the widespread incidence of child abuse in the twentieh century (something we grow ever more familiar with) has subtly helped make the song popular. There are very few songs that even attempt to go here. What is basically a folk tune is enhanced by some excellent pop guitar playing. The tune is quite jolly even though the subject matter is dark. I wonder if the way you find yourself enjoying the song but then thinking "but it's about child abuse" replicates the disturbing nature of this fearful subject. Prince is said to have written a fan letter to Vega declaring the song to be "the most compelling piece of music I've heard in a long time" which is about right.