I love that song as well, John. If I had to name a favorite TH song, though, I think I'd pick "Heaven."

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Thank you to all who have contributed music to this thread. It’s like a garden to me.

John, I like the Talking Heads, too, for their proclivity for delving into the philosophical. Dylan has a smorgasbord of songs that send me. John Lennon’s solo work (“Mother” “Isolation”, “Instant Karma” to name a few) are favorites for their intensity.
Ned, all great choices. “Raymond and the Wires” is fantastic. (it has a bit of your sound in it, I think). Elliott Smith and Tracy Chapman, too, have that gift I’m looking for.

I’m looking to discover those songs that stand above the noise that is most music. Those songs that combine words with music to be transcendent. Music (as well as all other forms of art) acts as a conduit to entering the non-material existence that undulates beneath us, perhaps above us. Like the ocean or the sky. We are terrestrial beings aching for cosmic (aquatic?!) salvation. Music jettisons me toward the heavenly. I am there, in the clouds, light as air; or conversely, submerged, floating, sinking into the strangeness that is like an ocean.

Here’s Lennon’s “Isolation” performed by Spoon: https://youtu.be/b2w0JLAf5rY?si=XNmM_MSjnyBNvy8Q


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I forgot to mention your offering, Rogerbob (and I didn't mention a few others that also touched me.)

Yes, Stardust is a true homage to the music of love. Watching Willie Nelson find the pulse of this song is a remarkable thing to witness.
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Leonard Cohen's version of Cavafy's "The God Abandons Anthony" always does it for me. Here is a live version with Sharon Robinson singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-V9UvJZKIY

Jim, glad you liked the ones I shared. Yes, John Lennon's early solo work is amazing when he's at his best--"Mother" & "Isolation" especially. (Also "Remember.")

Spoon is a favorite of mine. Do you know "Fitted Shirt," which pays tribute to Britt Daniel's dad & bygone days? The subject matter is unusual for a song that's basically a rocker.
https://youtu.be/NU3qhr-NBk0?si=HyyYxHY49j_Lekdd

This third one, I've read, is about James Murphy's psychiatrist & friend. The song recounts receiving news of the death, the aftermath, & subsequent mourning.
"Someone Great," LCD Soundsystem.
https://youtu.be/sZDKP5pnhhM?si=SZIM3DYXc8qbo95q

In a totally different vein is my late father's favorite love song, "You're My Everything" (not R.E.M.'s excellent song!). I'd never heard the original intro till I ran across this version. https://youtu.be/V1IweGJJu_c?si=reM8TZ42UtQMPeMI

These days I mostly listen to heavy (and very heavy) music that doesn't really channel this thread's purpose, but there are definitely some songs that hit that deep part inside.

One is "Phosphorescence" by Peter Hammill. Something about how the strings work with the lyrics, the plaintive, naked tone of the lead, and the choral background singing (by the singer's daughter) come together to evoke the wistful feeling of what the moments after special moments feel like.

Another, by a more well-known band, is "Apart" by The Cure. Yes, they're best known for their goth-pop and proto-emo work, but this one captures the feeling of a relationship that was amazing, but just inexplicably starts to break down. I'd liked the song when I first heard it in the late '90s / early 2000s, and always found its emotional impact genuine and sincere... But it took on special meaning when things started going downhill with my ex-wife and I a decade ago.

The winner of this year's Tiny Desk Contest makes me feel like a proud, moon-swallowing, fearless mama dragon. Which some might not recognize as a flavor of comfort, but it definitely is.

Ruby Ibarra's entry, "Bukunawa," from Oakland, California.

Give this one by Bill Evans a try:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDJWpkm7QYA

Evans has been my go to for the past ten years. Who needs more words on a poetry forum?

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It's eye-opening to see what others consider to be "music that speaks to that which shall remain unnamed".

Nick, The song by Bill Evans you posted is indeed contemplative. As I listened, this song by Simon & Garfunkel popped into my head — with words entwined : )

Julie, you've broken through cultural barriers with the piece you posted. Yes, it aims straight at that place...

Shawn, you have complex aural tastes! I am intrigued by the strangeness of it, at least to my heathen ear : ). Thanks for opening up that door...

Joe, Cohen is a disciple of music that speaks to that which shall remain unnamed.

Long, long, long by George Harrison and covered here by Astrid & Stanley Samuelsen is a song that emanates the musical quality that puts me in a state of closeness to something that shall remain unnamed : )

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Hi Jim

I doubt I'll hear a song more strange and lovely than Judee Sill's The Kiss.

https://youtu.be/kyPhvHEtRuw?si=9TZrAv4Qb8L4FjuA

I've been listening a lot to a German band called Bohren & Der Club of Gore who play a sort of cinematic doom jazz. It's so slow it's almost comical. The anticipation and release at the 2 and a bit minute mark is beyond wonderful. They have many albums of this stuff.

https://youtu.be/Wd_HVpX5yME?si=OA4nm7BVVue-H3am

Here's another...

https://youtu.be/6dVArDoPiv8?si=K1IJRPfmkxCeqAf0


Talking of slow, what Bohren do for Jazz, Lankum do for Irish folk. I seem to want minimal words and a slow pulse lately, though this one does get unnerving enough to make you want to rip the headphones off and check there isn't some bloke wearing antlers standing behind you.

https://youtu.be/4BxC8OLnkso?si=tg-37F_tohQqXw6F

And I'll forever love this bunch, too. The slow build in this one...

https://youtu.be/_McIfdbCT04?si=DIIXgOdstCcTaETH

And an old favourite. Sandy.

https://youtu.be/c8tuFnr_INk?si=jzRwvHAzlZfbRa-n