Readers recommendMusicHas your suggestion made the playlist this week? Gather your nerves and find outThis week's playlist has been selected by Magicman.
My favourite song title this week was Jetplane Landing's There Is No Real Courage Unless There Is Fear. As commentators from Nelson Mandela to Mary Tyler-Moore have noted, being brave is actually acknowledging you are afraid, then acting anyway.
Many nominations involved fighting, and this week's opening theme Warrior Charge by UK reggae giants Aswad is an inspirational fanfare that creates courage in the listener by sheer force of riddim.
"His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on his shirt already, mom's spaghetti." Thus begins one of hip-hop's most thrilling five minutes: Lose Yourself from Eminem. The heartbeat-thumping verse suddenly lurches onto the backbeat as he moves from fear to focus.
The voice from above creates courage in Jeff Lynne's wonderfully over-produced superpop creation The Diary Of Horace Wimp from ELO. Don't be afraid - Just knock on the door… Horace has to summon courage from the depths of his extreme weediness to get the girl.
And what if it doesn't work out? Taking the courage to be single was Gloria Gaynor's mighty empowering disco anthem I Will Survive whose first verse expresses doubt but…did you think I'd crumble?… before the chorus has roomfuls of people dancing bravely, imagining that no one is watching.
The Minstrel Boy, written by Irishman Thomas Moore over 200 years ago, tells of a musician sent to war and has been recorded countless times. The final quatrain could have been written for Paul Robeson, one of the more courageous artists of the 20th century.
Robeson delivered an astounding version of the Chinese National Anthem at the height of his struggle, and the next song, Cui Jian's Nothing to My Name was adopted by the students of the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989 where the ensuing clampdown led to thousands dead and Jian being banned from performance for 10 years. On its surface a love song, in it's effect a call for freedom.
Follow the yellow brick road to Africa, and a lion who does have courage. The Lion/Gaiende is from Senegalese musical giant and presidential hopeful Youssou N'Dour who sings in Wolof: "We are famous for our courage, our bravery is legendary."
Something Inside So Strong was penned by British songwriter Labi Siffre after watching policemen shooting at black children in apartheid South Africa on TV. It is at once a lament and a massive statement of conviction.
The Sun's Comin' Over the Hill by Karine Polwart is a stunning piece of work that inspires calm and courage to just carry on, the simple bravery of getting up in the morning when all feels desperate never sounded so clear.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's advice from The King and I to Whistle a Happy Tune was nominated by daddypig for Grover & Cookie Monster but I hope the RR collective will forgive me for giving the nod to the late great Bing Crosby, the first modern pop star.
Wade in the Water is a legendary and much-covered baptism hymn that became a trigger to escape from slavery when sung on the plantation. The honours here go to Sam Cooke whose own career from gospel to popstar mirrors the song's history.
Finally and almost unbearably – Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (2nd movement) takes a desperate scrawl found on the walls of a Gestapo cell in WW2, written by an 18-year-old Polish prisoner: "Oh Mamma do not cry" and turns it into a paean to personal courage in the face of the worst nightmare.
Screw your courage to the sticking place mes braves and sign up for a weekend in the saddle.
3. The Diary of Horace Wimp – ELO
4. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
5. The Minstrel Boy – Paul Robeson
6. Nothing to My Name – Cui Jian
7. The Lion Gaiende – Youssou N'dour
8. Something Inside So Strong – Labi Siffre
9. The Suns Comin' Over the Hill – Karine Polwart
10. I Whistle a Happy Tune – Bing Crosby
11. Wade in the Water – Sam Cooke
12. 2nd Movement, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs – Gorecki
* Listen to these songs on a YouTube playlist.
* Read all the readers' recommendations on last week's blog, from which Magicman selected the songs above.
* Here's a Spotify playlist containing readers' recommendations on this theme.
* Interested in compiling a Readers Recommend playlist? Email adam.boult@guardian.co.uk – we'll only consider readers who've suggested songs for at least three Readers Recommend topics.
* We'll reveal the next Readers Recommend topic at guardian.co.uk/readersrecommend at 10pm on Thursday.
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