If music be the food of love play on! said some bloke in tights and a wig. Music makes us feel and sometimes when we are least expecting it. I challenge any of you to listen to the score from the film Schindler's list and not feel something. Most likely you'll feel a deep sadness and not because you've seen the film or understand it's meaning but because the music is designed that way.
I love thrash metal, rock, heavy metal, hip hop, rap and 70's disco music. Go figure. I also enjoy a bit of Scottish folk namely The Proclaimers and Gerry Cinnamon but if i'm asked who my favourite band or singer is i can't answer it. My music collection is so erratic i don't even have a favourite genre. One day i can be listening to Slaves and the next The Inspiral carpets. I like what i like and what i like moves me-that's why i listen to it. I was brought up on the Beatles and Mowtown which i still love but when i used to blast out Slayer or the Beastie Boys from my bedroom my dad used to shout upstairs 'what is this absolute shit!' What does he know? He only lived through the rock n' roll revolution, the 1960's and 70's disco.
I'm a sucker for a song with a story which is why i love the Eagles and Johnny Cash, but i also like a song with a catchy melody which is why i love Clean Bandit. In our teens we are hard wired to like one band and one band only. When i was a teenager most girls liked Wham! or Bros. I loved Frankie Goes To Hollywood. They were naughty and pushed the boundaries of common decency. In fact they took common decency, pulled it's pants down and gave it a good spanking. The DJ Mike Reid famously refused to play the song 'Relax' on BBC radio 1 which ultimately led to it being banned. The lyrics 'Relax don't do it when you wanna suck to it...Relax don't do it when you wanna cum' made our parent's toes curl. I loved it! I didn't have a clue what it meant, i just loved the song. My most treasured possession as a 12 year old was the vinyl gate fold sleeve of 'Welcome To The Pleasure dome'. FGTH's album. The artwork was hand drawn and so sexually explicit that i think i went temporarily blind examining the writhing interlocked naked bodies. I still love it now. I remember finding a vinyl copy of Electric Lady Land by the late great Jimi Hendrix hidden among Queen and Mike Oldfield. A teenage boys wet dream.
Wham! and Bros were always too beige for me and so were the kids that liked them. My best mate loved Madonna and i didn't really get it back then but now i'm a fan. Madonna was a trail blazer and showed young girls and boys that they didn't have to settle. Like a virgin is basically a song about a woman being fucked by a guy properly so she feels 'like a virgin' again. I've always found that one of the best genres of music to listen to make you feel heightened emotion is opera. Even if you don't understand the words being sung it's the way it can make you feel because of the sheer power and the pipes of an opera singer. May i recommend Madame Butterfly. It's both beautiful and tragic. If you don't like it or it's not for you that's ok too. One by Metallica makes me feel the same way so i won't judge you.
Music affects different people in different ways and a song can bring wonderful or painful memories back. It triggers something deep in your subconscious. I got married recently and the music we chose for our wedding meant something to us and always will. We didn't want hymns so we had songs we love instead. It was perfect for us and every time we hear thos songs now and forever it will remind us of our special day.
When my beloved Nan died she had Frank Sinatra's My way played at her funeral and i still can't listen.to it without missing her and tearing up. In stark contrast one of my best friends was killed while we were both serving in Bosnia and he had 'Going Underground' by the Jam played at his funeral and every time i hear that it makes me think of him and smile. It's all relative i guess.
For very different reasons i cant't listen to anything by Dr Hook because that used to be my mum and dad's 'sexy time' music and hearing it makes me shudder and do a little sick in my mouth.
My youngest daughter recently introduced me to the music of a young man by the name of Harry Styles of One Direction fame. Now i have to say, and i'm putting it out there, he is absolutely brilliant. His songs show a maturity way beyond his years. They are compassionate, melodic and show a depth so often forgotten in modern music. Even my husband reluctantly quite likes him. Judge if you like dear reader. We are all different and all kinds of music evoke feelings regardless of our backgrounds, upbringing or sexuality. Open your musical minds and don't let yourselves be hemmed in.
Our wedding playlist
Before bit
Marry You-Bruno Mars
Sunshine on Leith-The Proclaimers
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