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When words alone fail to illuminate the confounding mysteries of the heart, music lends a hand. Whether it's unrequited love, a fleeting affair or love that lasts a lifetime, there's a song for it. NPR listeners share "their" songs — along with the stories of bliss, bitterness and bygone times that make the music meaningful.

For some musicians good song writing is elementary. For others it's elementary school. A CD called Kid Pan Alley collects tunes created in classrooms around the country and recorded by top Nashville artists, including Amy Grant.

The Puppini Sisters have a new CD out called Betcha Bottom Dollar. Marcella Puppini talks about some of the music on the British trio's new album.

Singer-songwriter James McMurtry visits NPR's studios to play from his 12-string guitar and discuss politics, family and his latest album Childish Things.

Author Dinaw Mengestu is among a generation of Ethiopian Americans whose families fled the East African nation in the 1970s and '80s. Now their writing, music and art are adding a new chapter to the epic of American immigration.

Andy Palacio's album Watina is an effort to document his people's culture and prevent its extinction. Palacio is of the Garifuna people — descendants of shipwrecked slaves who settled on the east coast of Central America.

Andy Trudeau offers his annual take on Oscar-nominated scores. A diverse, international lineup this year has him pleasantly surprised.

Spring Awakening is winning critical praise as a fresh interpretation of the Broadway musical. Based on a 19th-century play, the angst-ridden teen musical defies convention by dealing with tough topics and raw adolescent feelings.

In Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook chef Fuchsia Dunlop spotlights recipes from the Chinese province of Hunan, the home of Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Revolution.

France has produced remarkable music over the years, from the emotive chanson of Edith Piaf to Serge Gainsbourg's iconoclastic work to the electronic melodies of the band Air. But these days there are so many young artists stirring the charts that it seems like French music is in the process of reinventing itself.