• 5 Plays
  • Let's Start a BandAmy MacDonald

30 - Your favourite song at this time last year – Amy MacDonald, Let’s Start a Band

This is the perfect song to end this challenge on - a song about singing and music, that remains my most played on my last.fm.

And on that, over and out on this challenge.

Put a ribbon round my neck and call me a libertine,
I will sing you songs of dreams I used to dream.
I will sail away on seas of silver and gold
Until I reach my home.

Give me a guitar and I’ll be your troubadour,
Your strolling minstrel, 12th century door to door.
I don’t know anymore, if that feeling is past, will is last?
How can you be sure?

And how do I know if you’re feeling the same as me?
And how do I know if that’s the only place you want to be?

Give me a stage and I’ll be your rock n’ roll queen,
Your 20th century cover of a magazine,
Rolling Stone here I come, watch out everyone, I’m singing my song.

Give me a festival and I’ll be your Glastonbury star,
The lights are shining, everyone knows who you are,
Singing songs about dreams, about hopes, about schemes,
Ooh, they just came true.

And if you want it too then there’s nothing left to do
Let’s start a band.

  • 3 Plays
  • Ride ForeverPaul Gross

29 - A song from your childhood - Due South, Ride Forever

The sound of a thousand car journeys to Somerset and home again, all singing along together in harmony, or drifting in and out of sleep between this, Chris de Burgh, and ABBA.

This is the song that all the Mounties sing on the train in the tv show Due South, which I used to love, and which we own two soundtracks to.

  • 40 Plays
  • Warning SignColdplay

28 - A song that makes you feel guilty – Coldplay, Warning Sign

A warning sign,
I missed the good part then I realized,
I started looking and the bubble burst.
I started looking for excuses.

Come on in,
I’ve gotta tell you what a state I’m in,
I’ve gotta tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.

When the truth is,
I miss you.
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so.

A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized
You were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover.

And I’m tired,
I should not have let you go.

So I crawl back into your open arms.
Yes, I crawl back into your open arms.
And I crawl back into your open arms.
Yes, I crawl back into your open arms…

  • 4 Plays
  • Perfect LovesongThe Divine Comedy

27 - A song that you wish you could play - The Divine Comedy, Perfect Lovesong

I really, really want to be able to play this - it’s one of my favourite songs, and so summery and happy. But the chords are a bitch for someone who basically can’t actually play, and I’m too rusty at the harp these days, though I can tell that the middle bit would be perfect. One day too I want to be able to play it to someone. But yeah, I have to learn it first…

  • 3 Plays
  • Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)Green Day

26 - A song that you can play on an instrument – Green Day, Time of Your Life

The only song I could “play” on the guitar after the few days of me and my sister making a fool of ourselves and giving ourselves blisters this Easter vac. It has what, four chords? It would have been Snow Patrol’s Run, but I still can’t play F…

  • 4 Plays
  • Jiggery PokeryThe Duckworth Lewis Method

25 - A song that makes you laugh – The Duckworth Lewis Method, Jiggery Pokery

I don’t know much about cricket. I know a bit more about it now though almost purely because this album made me pay attention. But knowledge or no, the first time I heard this song I laughed soo hard! Neil Hannon’s a bit of a genius anyway, but Neil Hannon + Thomas Walsh + the world’s first concept album about cricket = pure and utter brilliance. Go check out the whole album if you’ve not heard it.

  • 1 Plays
  • Feeling GoodMuse

24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral – Muse, Feeling Good

This was easily the toughest entry. Seriously, I have never thought about that question before! Having spent the day trawling through the self-indulgent, the hilariously inappropriate, and the thoroughly depressing, I finally decided on this one. Mostly ‘cos I always thought it would make the best finale kinda thing in a musical film, with the person walking off down the street leaving everything behind them. Which is close enough.

The other option was The Corrs, Borrowed Heaven, ‘cos they had almost perfect lyrics but I used them earlier in this challenge. Ah well!

23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding – Guns n’ Roses, November Rain

Did you know that the wedding march is actually meant to be an ill-fated piece of music? Betcha didn’t. And anyway, it’s dull.

I’m not one of those girls who has every minute detail of their wedding planned out by the time they’re 13, firstly ‘cos I know my tastes and situation will have changed a million times before I get to the altar, and also because it’s rather unfair really - it’s equally the husband’s occasion after all, and it annoys me when people seem to forget that. The only thing I do know are who my bridesmaids are, that my dad is walking me down the aisle, and that I’m not having the wedding march. Oh and that I’m getting some decent cars for the occasion.

But anyway, the entry is my moment, and I like this. I was probably unduly swayed by the fact that the music video actually has a wedding in, but never mind… I think the intro is pretty much perfect for that trip down the aisle. Not sure either how well it would translate across to an organ, or how practical getting a drum kit into a church would be, but details, details(!)

  • 5 Plays
  • WonderwallRyan Adams

22 - A song that you listen to when you’re sad – Ryan Adams, Wonderwall

This is just a hauntingly stunning piece of music. It sounds like he heard the original and went, “Nope, it’s not meant to sound like that, here, let me show you how it should be.” And he was right. It’s stunning. I don’t even count it as a cover. He made it his own.

I haven’t known this song very long either - BlueSkyBlues introduced it to me earlier this year, and it went straight to the top of my sad songs playlist. It’s not something I only listen to when I’m sad either - it’s far too beautiful for just those moments.

If you haven’t heard this before, then turn off any distractions and listen to it properly. It’s worth it.

  • 9 Plays
  • Feeling Thisblink-182

21 - A song that you listen to when you’re happy – Blink 182, Feeling This

I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it - watching the video on someone else’s tv, on just another grey day that I remember precisely nothing else about. It’s freedom, it’s happiness, it’s summer. It’s not Clarion, in that if I’m not in the right mood I do skip it, but when I’m feeling on top of the world this is the first track I reach for. They better play it at Reading this summer!

Look to the past
And remember and smile,
And maybe tonight
I can breathe for awhile.
I’m not in the scene,
I think I’m fallin’ asleep,
But then all that it means is
I’ll always be dreaming of you…

  • 4 Plays
  • The Sharpest Of LivesMy Chemical Romance

20 - A song that you listen to when you’re angry – My Chemical Romance, The Sharpest of Lives

I finally found a use for having been an incredibly angsty, over-emotional teen (read, “person”…) - there wasn’t a shortage of songs for this prompt! On the downside, picking one was haaard. There are so many subdivisions, and different songs to fit each one. This prompt needed to be more specific!!

So, how to pick this? One that has particularly appropriate lyrics for general rage, or from particularly angry moments? One that just oozes self indulgent angst? Am I staring at the wall just waiting to explode, or have I already gone off on one of my more destructive rampages, when I’m snapping and screaming at everyone, slamming every door in range, and throwing anything smashable at walls. Am I angry at something, or everything? Is it for temper tantrums, or a bitter and furious moment, or even vindictive resentment? Oh the choices!

The one thing I’m not looking for though is something with entirely relevant, witty or intelligent lyrics. If it can get across just a clear sense of “AAARRRGGGHHH” then that’s enough for me.

It’s been a pretty angry angsty week for me though, so this prompt turned up at an incredibly convenient time - I spent a couple of very cathartic nights with my speakers at full volume… I don’t think my neighbour likes me very much at the moment…

So, having removed the ones with pointless lyrics, the overly specific ones, both for situation and mood, and a couple of others for no particular reason, it comes down to MCR’s Sharpest of Lives, and Sum 41’s Over My Head (which has some of the most ridiculously over the top lyrics ever).

And the winner is…

Well, you know already. It’s at the top of the page. This is the problem with writing the bumf before picking a song. You know before I do. Or at least before I seem to know anyway… I think I should stop talking now…

Anyway, MCR with The Sharpest of Lives. Tada! The lyrics don’t make much sense throughout most of it, but there are enough words to pick out that I can scream with suitable levels of vehemence. The intro is just perfect - there’s something about that really simple guitar entry that sounds just like how I tend to feel and is just what I need to hear when I’m being all dark and bubbling furious (rather than the throwing things type). It’s lonely and resentful and self indulgent and properly ragey. You have to admit MCR have a flair for the teen emo angst thing, and you gotta love them for it. So yeah - Just right!

  • 3 Plays
  • There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just ...Panic at the Disco

19 - A song from your favourite album – Panic! At The Disco, There’s a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought Of It Yet

Gotta love those P!ATD titles… I still miss the ! they dropped from the name though. Sad times.

Anyway!

This was another tough one for me, as I don’t tend to listen to albums per se. I much prefer listening to everything I have on an artist, picking and choosing the songs I like and putting them in random orders in playlists and on mix CDs. It’s incredibly rare for me to like a whole album - there’s always something on there that I don’t like that much, and the more I listen to an album or artist, the shorter the list of tracks I like gets, until I end up with just a select few. I’ve never really got the whole “album as a creative entity in its entirety” thing. So picking an album was never really going to be “an album I like the concept of”, “an album I like the overall tone / feel of” or anything like that, but just “an album that I like most of the songs off”.

Then I remembered these guys. To start with, they’re one of those bands where I only like one of their albums, and secondly, this is the only album I ever listen to as an album - beginning to end with no skipping tracks or hitting the shuffle button. Plus I like this band. I don’t care that their titles are stupid and their lyrics ridiculous to well past absurd, and no-one ever can be sure whether they’re talking in the first, second or third person, but I like their sound ‘cos it’s interesting and different, and I think really well put together, and I even like their lyrics.

So there.

‘Cos anything Girdag can do, I can do too…

Seeing as someone wouldn’t do the two radio-related questions on the 30daysongchallenge, and came up with his own alternatives, I thought I’d do them too. No point in wasting a good blog entry.

A cover that you love - Pendulum, Violet Hill (Radio 1 Live Lounge)

I have to admit that I was shocked when this didn’t win the Best of the Live Lounge competition they had a while back (it didn’t even get to the final), although I will admit that 30 Seconds to Mars’ cover of Stronger was pretty damn awesome, so I can’t begrudge them too much. But this one is just amazing. The first time I heard it I was stunned. Coldplay’s original wasn’t exactly bad to start with, but Pendulum really made something special out of it. All the random effects, the autotuning, the electrical buzzing, the more prominent guitars and drumming, and even just the way they sing it just shifted the mood and made such a difference - it’s darker and more bitter than the original track, almost post-apocalyptic I reckon, and in my head it’s snowing from a nuclear winter. Don’t know why, that was always just the image I got. Apparently Pendulum were really nervous when they covered this that they wouldn’t do it justice. They really needn’t have worried - this is one of the very few covers that I think is better than the original.

A cover that you hate - Amy Winehouse, Valerie

This wasn’t the world’s most amazing track to start with, but it was ok. It was The Zutons - happy and bouncy and inoffensive. And I’ve gotta have some appreciation for a song with the lines “And I’ve missed your ginger hair // And the way you like to dress”… xD And then she went and RUINED it. Seriously. Her voice is annoying and made it sound like shit, and I don’t know what else she did but it’s awful. She even removed the ginger hair line! And not only did she ruin it, but people think it’s her song! The poor Zutons have been practically forgotten. Bloody woman.