My Favourite Thing: Music That Moves My World (Top 10 Singles)

Member Name: hellyphant

Product:	Top 10 Singles
Date:	20/07/02 (1171 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brings back memories, fills my world, gives me comfort

Disadvantages: Over playing can kill some songs : (

I'm not one for noise. I hate the sound of cars hooting, motorbikes screeching, babies screaming, families arguing. I hate the TV being turned up too loud and I hate crowds of people all talking at once. I even hate loud, smoky pubs and clubs where the boom boom booming makes your head throb and your eyes swim, and the people have to shout and shriek to be heard.

If I could I would love to shut out all those irritating, soul-destroying noises, and live each day only hearing what I wanted to hear.

One of things I would allow my ears the pleasure of hearing, is music, my favourite music. The kind that reaches deep inside of me and stirs up feelings and memories long forgotten, some vivid, some hazy. Music that lifts me up; music that lets me wallow. Music that simply adds colour and substance to days when I just feel like an empty meaningless shell.

Choosing my ten favourite 'singles' was a very difficult task. And by no means is my final selection an ultimate top ten. I could quite easily have added another 20 to the list, and I'd have been more than happy to carry on writing and writing. (But that would be mean inflicting an endless opinion on you lot - and you've done well getting this far!)




Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
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Just writing the title has made my feet start tapping.

"Standing in the sunlight laughing
Hiding behind a rainbow's wall
Slippin' and a slidin'
All along the waterfall, with you
My brown-eyed girl"

This is such an uplifting song that never fails to bring a smile to my face. The lyrics are upbeat, and nostalgic, and for me, paint romantic images of endless summer days. And of the innocent idealism of childhood, when everything seemed to be so fresh and new and exciting.

'Brown Eyed Girl' also makes me think of my first year at uni, as it was the
n when I first discovered it. During my 3 years in the sleepy little town of Lancaster, despite much twiddling and fiddling, the only radio station I could find, besides Radio 1, was The Bay (taking its name from the oh so hip and trendy 'Morecambe' Bay). 24 hours a day, the Bay belted out "...your favourite songs from the 60's, 70's 80's and 90's..." (Supposedly, although most of the music seemed to be from the 70's).

So there I would sit, pencil in hand, in my little student room pretending to study, when suddenly Brown Eyed Girl would burst out of the radio in its old fashioned crackly way. And I would leap out of my chair, skip round the furniture, jump on the bed, and sing (very badly) into a hairbrush. Very unlike me, but there's just something in this song that brings the skip out in me and I just can't help myself. (Only in private, mind!)

'Brown Eyed Girl' is a simple tune. And simple for me, is often the best, the purest. It jingles merrily along; both its lyrics and its melody completely infectious. And of course, Van Morrison has a wonderful voice, tinged with a slightly gruff edge that totally complements the song.

(Van Morrison, 'Brown Eyed Girl' - from the album 'The Best Of Van Morrison')




The Cure - Love Cats
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Ok, a complete change of direction here.

I was never a Goth. I always thought it looked like too much effort. But when I was growing up, you know, in those anguished teenage years, I did love The Cure.

The Cure are renowned for being exceptionally depressive. The majority of their songs are desperately poignant; and tear at your very soul. I remember the first time I heard 'Lullaby', and it literally sent a shiver down my spine, and made me tremble. I had to turn the radio off because the song actually scared me that much. I was only 10 at
the time, but that particular song still has an incredibly intense effect on me.

'Love Cats' is one of The Cure's more upbeat songs. And believe me when I tell you there are very few of these. Most people will know 'Friday, I'm in Love'. But I personally think 'Love Cats' is far superior.

It's a very addictive tune, and after just one listen, you'll find yourself humming, if not singing along. And yes, it's another song that has me, not skipping, but skulking around the room. (The things that go on behind closed doors...!)

Robert Smith, the lead singer of The Cure, has a distinctive and infectious voice. It slides effortlessly through his songs, slides into every corner of your room, and slides, almost instantaneously, into your very soul. . When he sings about the 'love cats', he is a love cat, and you can totally believe that he is: "We slip through the streets while everyone sleeps, getting bigger and sleeker and wider and brighter". And you, the listener, you also become a 'love cat', out there on the streets with him, skulking through the darkness, in an almost eerie, evil way. Ohhh, shudder.


(The Cure, 'Love Cats' - from the 'Greatest Hits' album)




Simon and Garfunkul - Kathy's Song
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Simon & Garfunkel - the epitome of sugary sweet perfection.

When I was 10 and managed to blag my way into the junior school choir, I sang 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' at the Town Hall in Birmingham in front of thousands of people. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. (Even though I probably spoilt the whole thing by being the one person who sang out of tune!)

'Bridge Over Troubled Water' is probably one of Simon & Garfunkel's best known songs, but I've always preferred the lesser known 'Kathy's Song&
#39;. I have a version of it where it is sung live, and it's just wonderful.

As the song opens, the crowd bursts into cheer and rapture, and that extra bit of atmosphere, that extra bit of passion that goes into it because it's sung live, makes it all the more special.

The song itself is very beautiful. The lyrics especially. And after I heard the song for the first time, I just had to write them down.

"And as I watch the drops of rain, weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain, there but for the grace of you go I?".

I think everyone has at some point in their lives, sat inside on a miserable rainy day, just watching the drops of rain as they trickle down the window. When I was little, I used to pick two drops and have them play racing games against each other. Then when I was older, the weaving, monotonous drops were like an extension of my own boredom and loneliness.

This song brings back those memories, both good and bad, and makes me think about the past, and about life and how people change.


(Simon & Garfunkel, 'Kathy's Song' - from the album 'Sounds of Silence')




REM - In the Air
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REM have always been one of my favourite groups. I own most of their albums, have seen them play live at Wembley, and have a (quite unnerving and unexplainable) obsession with Michael Stipe and his lovely head. Hmmmm, anyway...

REM. Now, the obvious choice here would be either 'Loosing My Religion', or 'Everybody Hurts' - truly excellent songs, but due to total radio-overplay, I have to admit to being a little weary of both of them. Which is a great shame. Damn the radio!

My current favourite REM track (sorry, not single - naughty me!) is called In The Air. If you're not an REM fan or you don?t own the album 'Up', then you won't
have heard of it. You're missing out, believe me because this is an incredible song, one that at one point in my life, I was playing constantly, every time I came home from a day (well, hour) of lectures.

At its core, In The Air is a song about love, and desire. Raw - "I want you naked, I want you wild" and desperate -"just give me that smile, just give it me, just turn it on...I'm lost again". Lost, like the listener, by this point, completely submerged within the outpouring of the rousing, dreamy chorus - "You're in the air that I'm breathing".

(REM, 'In the Air' - from the album 'UP')




Bryan Adams & Melanie C - 'When You're Gone'
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Um...hello? What on earth is this doing sneaking its way in here, you may be wondering.
Well, I'm not ashamed to admit I like the odd cheesy song (I'm even prone to a bit of 5ive, shock horror!)

No, the main reason I like this song, apart from the fact that once again, it's got a great tune, and is perfect for hairbrush singing, is the story behind it and the lovely warm memories it evokes.

Feel free to skip this bit if you begin to feel nauseated in any way...

Cue a February evening in 1999. Me, in a cold student house up in chilly Lancaster studying for my finals. The phone rings. It's my kind of almost boyfriend. He lives in London and we've only spent a total of...um... 3 days together. It's all very intense and very bizarre, and very very nice. "You know", he says to me down the phone, "I feel like that song by Bryan Adams and Mel C". I didn't have a clue what he was on about at the time, so still being eager to impress him with my extensive knowledge, I just muttered, "oh yeah, me too".

The following day, I listened to the song:

"Baby, when yo
u're gone
I realise I'm in love"

And cried.

Oh how he would hate being reminded of those soppy days!

(Bryan Adams & Mel C, 'When You're Gone' - from the album 'On A Day Like Today' - by Bryan Adams)

.............

And now for something completely different...(and sorry, I'm cheating again)

.............



Schindler's List Soundtrack - Theme from Schindler's List
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An odd choice maybe, and a piece of classical music rather than a single (sorry), but nonetheless, something that it so powerful, and so moving, that I just had to include it in my top ten.

I own the complete soundtrack but it is this, the theme from Schindler's List, that I always come back to, that I always have to play at least twice in one sitting even if it is painful to do so.

The Theme from Schindler's List is a violin solo played by a man called Itzhak Pearlman. Not being particularly educated in the world of classical music and the like, I have no idea if he is famous or not. I've certainly never heard of him before myself. But wow, does he give this piece his all.

When it's played well, I think that the violin is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments in the world. Its painful yearning pierces right through you, touching nerves you thought you never had. Chilling, mysterious, and almost eerie.

Of course, this piece of music is all the more powerful because of its relation to the film, Schindler's List and it is perfect in depicting the isolation of the nazi camps and the desperation of the Jews.

But also I think, standing on its own, without the film, it is still a wonderful heart-wrenching piece of music.

I remember long, lonely nights when I first started uni, when I would play this piece of music over and over an
d it just totally reflected my own state of being at that time, and in a way, made me feel as though I wasn't alone, that I was part of something bigger.


(Itzhak Pearlman, 'Theme to Schindler's List' - from album 'Schindler's List Soundtrack')




James - Laid
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Most people will know James for their famous student anthem of the 90's, 'Sit Down'. I wasn't at uni at that time, so the song doesn't mean as much to me as it might to others. But I still loved it, and it was because of 'Sit Down' that I first got into James and had a listen to some of their other stuff.

'Laid' isn't perhaps one of their ultimate best, but it's a song that is just so rousing and so uplifting, and so, I don't know...daring, I guess, when you're listening to it as a 14 year old girl.

"This bed is on FIRE with passionate love
The neighbour's complained about the noises above
But she only COMES when she?s on top..."

'Laid' is just bounding with frantic energy, with lust and fire. It makes you want to jump up and down, it makes you want to totally lose yourself and have wild rampant sex on a squeaky old bed, shrieking like a hyena. (um...or something)


(James, 'Laid' - from the album 'Laid')



The Stone Roses - um....the whole of the album 'The Stone Roses'
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When I was 13, I decided it was about time I ditched my unhealthy obsession with Jason Donovan. An aupair who was living with us at the time encouraged me to give indie music a try. At first I was a little reluctant, but after being introduced to the music of The Stone Roses, I never gave that drippy Jason a second thought.

Pre-Oasis, pre-Blur (bleurgh!) - The Stone Roses are a band who are now hel
d in great esteem by many a music critic. (So I've heard)

Like Oasis, many of The Stone Rose's songs are huge, long, anthem-type epics. And to be honest, I've been having huge problems actually pick one as my ultimate favourite as they are all just so good. So please forgive me for cheating once again as I give you an entire album of favourite songs - the originally titled, but completely wonderful, 'The Stone Roses'.

Each song on this album captures a moment in time and never, ever, grows old or boring. A wealth of melody flows effortlessly from beginning to end, chiming guitars ringing with harmonics and charging beats.

To give a couple of examples:

'I am the Resurrection' - a huge, powerful epic that ends in a gloriously long instrumental climax - guitars, bass and drums all coming together in powerful, rousing perfection.

'She Bangs The Drums' - a shorter, sweeter and more poppy song, which opens with a steady, catchy, atmospheric beat that draws the listener in. With the voice of Ian Brown breaking effortlessly into the beat, slow and drawling (Liam Gallagher style).

"I can feel the earth begin to move
I hear my needle hit the groove
And spiral through another day"

The verse then builds up and up, as we wait for 'her' to 'bang her drums', and then when she finally does, in the chorus, it's just such a great crescendo, such a great release of tension and sense of rousing relief that you find yourself, almost unconsciously, singing along, nodding your head and tapping your feet.




Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication
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I find some of the RHCP's music quite difficult to listen to. I just can't get on with the shouting and rapping - or whatever it is they sometimes seem to do. And I know someone's going to kill me for saying thi
s, but I never saw the apparent 'greatness' of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Maybe it's just because I didn't give it a chance, or because I'm musically narrow minded, I don't know.

Having said that, I do really love their slower, more mellow songs, songs like 'Under The Bridge', 'The Other Side', and my current favourite,'Californication',

The lead singer, Anthony Keidis has such an original, soulful voice. The kind you could just listen to all day. And I often do when I?m at work - his voice just soothes away all my worries and makes the dull typing I've been set for the day just that little bit more bearable.

'Californication' is a very clever song, with intelligent lyrics that describe the fakeness of Hollywood, a place where dreams are of "silver screen quotations" and where movie stars pay their surgeons "to break the spell of ageing".

(Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 'Californication' - from the album 'Californication')



Enigma, Sadness
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Oh, whatever happened to Enigma. And does anyone apart from me actually even remember this song? A number one hit single in the early 90's, that seems to have completely disappeared from existence.

'Sadness' has to be one of the most evocative, atmospheric songs I have ever heard. It is completely unique, both in its structure and in its varied use of vocals.

It opens quite dramatically, and beautifully, with a soaring chorus of monks, singing or meditating (it's hard to tell). It's also hard to tell what exactly they are singing about. But it really doesn't matter, as it gives you the freedom to make your own meaning, your own words, and sometimes only the best songs can do that.

As the monks softly fade into the background, we hear the soaring of a flute, and a sweet, simple melody
that floats like a dream.

And a woman starts speaking; luscious French words that roll off her tongue and drift perfectly over and into the floating flute. Some of these words I was proud, at the time, to be able to understand. Like "ça - donne moi" (give me this), and "Qu'est que ce le cherche" (what is he looking for) Bear in mind these are rough translations, and my French spelling is probably quite poor, but you get the picture.

And then the song carries on, with a mixture of monkish hymns, floating flutes and French whispering.

'Sadness' is a song that takes you out of the solidness of this world. It makes you feel as though you are drifting through the air, completely weightless, your mind clear and your body completely and utterly relaxed.

Blissful.

(Engima, 'Sadness' - from the album 'Age of Innocence')



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Congratulations if you've made it this far because that's it! That's my ten done. Tomorrow it'll probably be a completely different ten, but that's just the way things go.

And thank you Jill, I really enjoyed writing this one. I just hope it wasn't too long and boring to read.

Jill Murphy asked me to write about one of my favourite things to help her celebrate her fourth anniversary of cancer-free living and to remind ourselves of all the nice things in the world. It takes more muscles to make a frown than a smile you know. If you'd like to join in, whether you've only just joined dooyoo, or you've been here ages, you're more than welcome. Just write about one of YOUR favourite things, make your title "A Favourite Thing: [your choice]" and include this paragraph at the foot of your opinion. And post before Friday, 9th August

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