...the cinemascopic "The Dark Is Rising" by Mercury Rev? Or, of a more classic pop vintage, "My Heart's Symphony" by Gary Lewis & the Playboys?

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy

...the ubiquitous "Bitter Sweet Symphony".

As recommended by the lovely Rosbif of this parish.

The Mummers - Call Me A Rainbow.

is a brilliant string arranger

The Lady. Can't find it on YouTube so here's another great Denny with strings song. I think this was arranged by the brilliant Harry Robinson :

of course.

"Lexicon Of Love"

But, at their finest, they grace some of the greatest pop songs ever. Their use can be gradual. Listen to Witchita Lineman and enjoy. In other cases, they are even more subtle.

Step forward you Gigolo Aunts. Strings in Power Pop? Oh yes. Listen carefully, for they are there. And used so, so well. I know this song better than almost any other and it took me a long time to spot the strings in support. Masterful production.

...the first is Bread's 'The Guitar Man', arranged by its singer David Gates. He was a clever fellow at the arranging game - the strings are introduced as a background texture at 0:55 and are in/out of the arrangement from then on until, near the end, at 3:05 they come in with a simple but killer motif, repeated only a few times behind the guitar solo (played, curiously, by the band's keyboard player) and accentuated in their emotional punch by faded-in crowd noise.

It's pop brilliance - as surely *even* "Eighties" Dave Amitri must concede - and gives the impression, thanks to its clever arrangement, of being an epic song while only, in fact, 3 1/2 mins long.

The second example is Austria's Radio String Quartet performing the Mahavishnu Orchestra's 'Dawn' (with a curious man from Norway on trombone). It's a slow burner, but the pop/string crossover world doesn't get more sublime than this:

PS A kind soul at youtube tells us the guitar chords for this are: Am11 , D9sus4 , FMaj7#11 , F7sus4 , A/G , D

Now none of us have any excuses... (yikes!)

Soaring strings a go-go in Stuart Murdoch's God help the girl project. A great example is Funny Little Frog which I think dances rings round the Belle and Sebastian original, simply because of the strings:

start at 2:40 and build orgasmically. Thank you messrs Rodgers and Edwards..

(I can't view the video where I am, so I hope this is ok)

no mention of soaring strings is complete without Jeff...

Probably my utter favourite ELO song.

Oh there must be hundreds of songs enhanced by a good string arrangement. I love Craig Armstrong's pieces- he brings some lovely hooks into play.

The first tune that sprung to mind though was Joni's orchestral version of "A Case of You". An old master revisiting a great song and improving it through her experience.

Great Sixties Pop...They rarely sound like this anymore.

This is the instrumental of the Power of Goodbye - you have to wait until the middle eight (about three minutes in) and be a fan of Orbit-esque textures (like what I am) - but I think this answers the "soaring" brief admirably.

does it for me

I'll take Toto any day of the week. Not popular round these parts but, hey, who gives a feck?

And then I can't believe we've all missed this classic;

And then, I'll have Her Madge;

Her Other Madge

And I'll have this for purely selfish reasons. My little brother wrote it and plays all the keyboards. First Boyzone song on the blog ?

Kate Bush, Cloudbursting. A true story, surprisingly.

I've been on a Kate Bush high, having spent the last day or so reading Graeme Thompson's biography to the soundtrack of her albums. Love this video.

Can I have sadly soaring? If so, may I nominate this, with those gorgeous, dark, downwards woody cello swirls. Always reminds me of wet Tuesday afternoons in Cornwall in the early 1990s...

round about 4.30 onwards where the orchestral song The Poet starts it's climb to segue into After The Day. Lived with this for 40 years and it still makes my neck hairs stand to attention (as does the whole song).

by Neil, arranged by Jack Nitszche. Supremely affecting and moving with Neil's tremulous vocals and Jack's magnificent arrangement.

but I would offer these.

So I don't know if Elvis Costello has been rightly heaped with praise for 'Town Cryer'

XTC - River of Orchids