I am passionate about bringing as much movement as possible into our everyday lives especially as so many of us are stuck at desks/computers/laptops for so many hours a week. So here is a little sequence that will only take a few minutes that you can do at your desk, sitting in a chair, even in the car (as long as you are a passenger or the car is stationary of course!)
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Music saved my life.
It’s a wild and sweeping statement, it’s a statement I overuse. But to me it’s true. Discovering at a very early age how powerful music is on our emotions, our moods, our soul is life changing. The discovery of the music I love, for me, meant the discovery of a whole culture that stopped me feeling alone. It saved me from what could have been a very troubled adolescence.
So for your my lovely readers, five of the greatest tunes in my life – plus an extra three. Because you see at the end I’ve made you a mix tape, and the tape needed 8 tracks, not 5 – so bonus for you lot.
Songs that I’ve cried to, laughed with, been cheered by, loved and longed with. I hope you enjoy it!
1. Green and Grey – New Model Army (1989)
I discovered New Model Army at the tender age of 14 – a few months before “Thunder and Consolation“, the album from which this track comes, was released. This discovery led to a lifelong obsession – I’ve seen NMA live at least once a year since, I’ve met a whole heap of wonderful co-obsessives, I’ve grown old with them and the band – and this to me is their greatest moment (although it’s really really difficult to choose from so many great moments), the theme song to significant turning points in my own life.
2. 3 Imaginary Boys – The Cure (1979)
Long before The Cure became a sweet and kitschy little pop band (so y’know, before “Love Cats“), they were one of the best 3-piece, post-punk bands in Europe. I had the “3 Imaginary Boys” album on cassette and remember listening to it on repeat on my Walkman all the way to Wales on a Geography field trip when I was 15. Not the happiest album in the world, not the happiest period of my life to be honest, but this record went a long way to making a lost little freak who wore army boots too big for her and too much eyeliner, that she wasn’t as lost and alone as she figured. This is the best track on the album. By far.
3. Autumn – Antonio Vivaldi (1723)
I’ve probably listened to more classical music this last year than I have in the whole of the rest of my life. I play classical in the massage clinic, mostly because I cannot stand all that plinky-plonky whale noise shit! My affection for Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi is growing on an almost daily basis. Who’d ever have thought it! Vivaldi’s “Autumn“, from “The Four Seasons“, holds a very special place in my heart because it was the first concert piece I ever played with the school orchestra. I played flute. I was pretty good as I made it into the First Orchestra which, by the way our music teacher behaved, you’d think was second only to the Philharmonic. We used to rehearse late into the night, even though some of us were only 12. And if we dared to yawn, his wrath would come down upon us like Zeus. Seriously. Taught me some pretty amazing stuff about discipline though.
4. Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers (1992)
I think it’s true to say that this is the track that made the Chili’s, certainly in the UK. I think it is also true to say that a part of that success came from the video. Who after all could not be amazed at a topless, tattooed and stunningly beautiful lead singer walking through LA? Exactly, I know, who couldn’t look at those beautiful views of LA backstreets…. Hmmmm?
A semi-clad Anthony Kiedis aside, the first time I heard this song it took my breath away. Everything about it is amazing from the whispered first verse to the almost operatic overture at the end – from the uplifting feeling it leaves behind to the aftertaste of the very dark side of addiction. And despite some terribly awful cover versions (All Saints I’m looking at you) it is one of those rare songs that has stood the test of time.
5. Everlong – Foo Fighters (1997)
Really not a lot needs to be said about this does it? It’s Dave. It’s probably the greatest song Dave ever wrote – as those songs that are written in five minutes and tagged onto the end of a recording session are wont to be. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs to this song, but more importantly it’s the song Himself and I fell in love to.
Plus 3
(1) Lithium – Nirvana (1992)
The song where it all began – it was after seeing the video for this on MTV the summer after my A Levels that the lifetime love affair with Mr Grohl began. He’s topless in it. You’ll be noticing a theme.
(2) Peace is Free – Black Stone Cherry (2009)
Another thing you’ll notice is that apparently I don’t think much of post-1997 music and to an extent it’s true. I think it wasn’t just about the music but the old ethos that I loved started to disappear in the late 90s. Or maybe I just started to get old. Either way in 2009 a little God-fearing Kentucky band made a record called “Folklore + Superstition” which was the first album not by a band I already loved that made me sit up and take notice in a good few years. A great band, a great song and I’m finally going to see them live in November.
(3) Penny Lane – The Beatles
This is the first song I ever remember hearing, sitting in our old front room with my dad. I must have been about 3. I liked the bit about the fire engine. The song is immortalised forever by being tattoed across my back.
And finally…here’s the mixtape…
To tie in with Tuesday’s theme of Yoga + Creativity this week’s podcast is in interview with a local creative artist, yoga student and dear friend, Amanda Kelleher.
Amanda is a native of Cork, Ireland and has lived in Cambridge for 9 years after jaunts in Italy and East Timor working on various theatre and theatre for development projects. Her new projects see her establishing an Inter-cultural Women’s Theatre group and new digital performance practices. She loves mushrooms but hates avocado (slimey and chalky).
Amanda and I talk, a lot. It’s the Irish in us both – don’t let the truth stand in the way of a good story. We blether on for forty minutes and cover letting go of the seriousness of life, how yoga + meditation help make space for creativity, to queue or not to queue, and the likelihood of George Michael becoming President of the World…..
We also laugh so loudly in the middle that the sound clips for a moment.
Thank you for putting up with this nonsense.
Previous podcasts:
five things i’ve learned (1)
five tips to happy joyous self-employment
