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Song Stories

“The Beast”

Laura Marling | 2011

Folk artist Laura Marling creates a sprawling, poetic tune that employs foreboding lyrics and the fuzz of a distorted guitar to allude to a nebulous beast character who lurks throughout her album, A Creature I Don't Know. "At some point it's me, at some points it's someone else, and at some points it's not even a thing--it's like a force," Marling said. "The Beast" is accentuated by guitar, which takes on a life of its own: "The electric guitar sound is like a character in the song, almost as important as the lyrics," Marling noted.

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“Born to Die”
Lana Del Rey | 2011
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“All My Friends”
LCD Soundsystem | 2007

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

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