Skip to main content

Lyrics & Lyricists

Filter by

Select Air Date

to

Select Segment Types

Segment Types

73 Segments

Sort:

Newest

Exclusively on
Due to the contractual nature of the Fresh Air Archive, segments must be at least 6 months old to be considered part of the archive. To listen to segments that aired within the last 6 months, please click the blue off-site button to visit the Fresh Air page on NPR.org.
12:38

Joni Mitchell receives Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

Since the 1960s, Mitchell has been one of the most influential singer songwriters in popular music. We'll listen back to her 2004 Fresh Air interview.

Interview
Exclusively on
Due to the contractual nature of the Fresh Air Archive, segments must be at least 6 months old to be considered part of the archive. To listen to segments that aired within the last 6 months, please click the blue off-site button to visit the Fresh Air page on NPR.org.
12:38

Joni Mitchell receives Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

Since the 1960s, Mitchell has been one of the most influential singer songwriters in popular music. We'll listen back to her 2004 Fresh Air interview.

Interview
Exclusively on
Due to the contractual nature of the Fresh Air Archive, segments must be at least 6 months old to be considered part of the archive. To listen to segments that aired within the last 6 months, please click the blue off-site button to visit the Fresh Air page on NPR.org.
14:53

Fresh Air pays tribute to legendary composer Burt Bacharach

Bacharach, who died Feb. 8, wrote hits in the '60s and early '70s with longtime collaborator Hal David. We listen to a 2010 interview with them.

Exclusively on
Due to the contractual nature of the Fresh Air Archive, segments must be at least 6 months old to be considered part of the archive. To listen to segments that aired within the last 6 months, please click the blue off-site button to visit the Fresh Air page on NPR.org.
29:00

Fresh Air pays tribute to legendary composer Burt Bacharach

Bacharach, who died Feb. 8, wrote hits in the '60s and early '70s. We listen to a 1998 interview with Bacharach and Elvis Costello.

Exclusively on
Due to the contractual nature of the Fresh Air Archive, segments must be at least 6 months old to be considered part of the archive. To listen to segments that aired within the last 6 months, please click the blue off-site button to visit the Fresh Air page on NPR.org.
15:34

A documentary shows never-before-seen footage 50 years after Neil Young's 'Harvest'

The scenes in the new documentary Harvest Time show footage taken when Young was making the album Harvest. We listen back to two Fresh Air interviews with Young, from 1992 and 2004.

Interview
42:36

Fresh Air Remembers Lyricist Hal David

Hal David, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 91. David is best known for his many collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach between the late '50s and the mid-'70s.

Obituary
10:25

Fresh Air Remembers Broadway's Richard Adler.

Richard Adler, who co-wrote the musicals The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees with his partner, Jerry Ross, died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90. Fresh Air remembers the composer and lyricist with excerpts from a 1990 interview.

This interview was originally broadcast on Aug. 9, 1990.

Obituary
33:33

PJ Harvey: On War And The New 'England'

British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey watched hours of war footage before writing the songs for her eighth album, Let England Shake. Here, she describes how she translated what she saw into a mournful elegy about the bitter brutality of combat.

Interview
38:16

Loretta Lynn's Full Life

Country singer Loretta Lynn married at 13, had six children and created controversy by singing songs about divorce and the pill. Here, she talks about her decades in the music business, her relationship with her husband and a new tribute album, Coal Miner's Daughter.

Interview
51:42

Fresh Air Celebrates Frank Loesser's 100th Birthday.

Frank Loesser wrote the musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying -- in addition to over 700 other songs. On today's Fresh Air, musical anthropologist Michael Feinstein discusses Loesser's musical legacy and plays some of his favorite Loesser tunes -- including several rare archival recordings.

Interview
32:30

Music And Lyrics: Burt Bacharach And Hal David

The legendary composer and lyricist -- who collaborated on tunes like "Raindrops Keep Falin' on My Headd," "I Say a Little Prayer" and "What's New Pussycat?" -- discuss their 50-year relationship and some favorite tunes from the Broadway revival of their musical, Promises, Promises.

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Advertisement

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue