"You're so full of yourself!" said the Russian doll to the mirror, as more Russian dolls appeared, reflecting on how the thing we're most interested in is perhaps ourselves. That may be the case, but self-absorbed behaviour can be variously fascinating, amusing or aggravating. It can come in many forms, from the autism of the narrator in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, to the self-absorbed worries of Woody Allen in his films or many stand-up comedians. Selfishness and narcissism however can also have negative connotations to the point of extremity and personality breakdown. It's a serious matter, but let us not get too bogged down in this. Instead perhaps we might briefly marvel at Andy Serkis's rendition of such neuroses as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings.
Is humanity driven by selfishness? That's a question too big to answer here, but some may argue that we're driven, in our very DNA, by what Richard Dawkins called The Selfish Gene. Another more political perspective on self-absorption and self-interest is also brilliantly examined in the documentary series The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis, which examines how the work of psychologists, including Freud, influenced corporations and governments on how to analyse and control society. Meanwhile as German social psychologist Erich Fromm put it: "Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either."
But what of song? Whether serious, comic or ironic in tone, songs about "me, me, me", or others who are self-absorbed are what we're looking for this week. Neurosis can be a source of creativity, and while self-obsession is often a driving force for songwriters, they must also be collaborators and that is where conflict can arise. Music is a team game, in which the players must listen to each other. The team ethic also applies to any sphere of life, including of course football. I now it is time for me to shamelessly and selfishly shoehorn mention of the World Cup – can't think why. By now it's at least halfway through the first Brazil game, so feel free to nominate songs later. On this very topic, some might say that for all his brilliance, the current Ballon d'Or Cristiano Ronaldo is a selfish player who too much goes for individual glory. But would he, like many a performer or songwriter, be as good without his obvious vanity and narcissism ? By contrast, one of the greatest egos of the game, as well as player, for all the goals, described his greatest ever moment on the pitch: a pass. I'm talking of course about the immortal Eric Cantona.
And with that we pass back to Readers Recommend, where the same team theme applies, and in which it is perfectly natural to have primary interest in one's own contributions, but the whole point of the game is to enjoy and absorb those by others. So with that it mind, I leave you once again with the words of that prima donna of panache, Vivian Stanshall: "I don't know what I want, but I want it NOW!"
This week's selfless volunteer is the excellent attwilightlarks, another first-time guru following a very fine opening by vikingbones, so please put in your song nominations by last orders (11pm BST) on Monday 16 June for his results blog on Thursday 19 June.
To increase the likelihood of your nomination being considered, please:
• Tell us why it's a worthy contender.
• Quote lyrics if helpful, but for copyright reasons no more than a third of a song's words.
• Provide a link to the song. We prefer Muzu or YouTube, but Spotify, SoundCloud or Grooveshark are fine.
• Listen to others people's suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist.
• If you have a good theme for Readers recommend, or if you'd like to volunteer to compile a playlist, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com or adam.boult@theguardian.com
• There's a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are "zedded", at the Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of "zedded", "donds" and other strange words used by RR regulars.
• Many RR regulars also congregate at the 'Spill blog.
