A pair of songs from The Killers' latest album (and a k.d. lang guest vocal) get us on some of our favorite subjects: death as pop-music fodder, poetic strategies in lyrical storytelling, and the definition of "Marknip." Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Cat Power. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As we talk about George Benson's cover of "On Broadway," Mark makes visceral sounds about the singing, Sarah makes a case about the lyrical storytelling, and we both make references to chair-dancing.  Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by The Candy Skins. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Lenny Kravitz undervalued? As we discuss "Are You Gonna Go My Way," we talk about his hot licks, his knack for controlling what consumes other artists, and his ability to make the phrase "rub-a-dub" sound sexy. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Jimi Hendrix. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Yes, Rihanna's "We Found Love" is joyous, but it's also aching, sophisticated, and Calvin Harris-y. We're talking about all that...and Hostess Cakes.  Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Soup Dragons. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're ranking every song on The Postal Service's album "Give Up," which means we're bleeping and blooping about grad school fan networks, lyrics with the right amount of self-consciousness, and intros that go on forever.  Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by The Knife. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're going back to the '50s with "Thirteen Women," Bill Haley's ditty about the ladies who will pleasure him during nuclear winter. Naturally, this makes us think about Greek tragedy, documentary films, and the subtle sexuality of jelly rolls.  Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by the Stills. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A listener request has us discussing the (very long) (frequently inaccurate) history lesson in Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." We've also got a birthday chart reading about a massively popular novelty song. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Bob Dylan. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tease up those bangs, because we're talking about Trisha Yearwood's 1991 country hit "She's in Love With the Boy." Why is Mark crying? Why is Sarah talking about subversive feminine narratives? Why are we using these accents? Listen and find out!  Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Steve Wariner. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" gets us chair-dancing like unleashed beasts, and then it gets us talking about narrators we can relate to, hooks we can savor, and vocals we can love and hate at the same time. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Howard Jones. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The esteemed John Ramos returns to help us rank Prince covers, which means we're discussing everyone from Cyndi Lauper to Chaka Khan to [checks notes] Tevin Campbell. We're also confronting strong feelings about Martika and parsing the fashions of Vanity 6. Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Prince. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.