The title of this one is a little misleading, as these songs don’t necessarily represent the EVENTS of my life but rather the ones that have affected me the most. The ones I keep coming back to after years and years. It’s only a shortlist, and there are probably another dozen that could easily make the cut, but today I’m just going with the ones that I’ve been listening to (again) this week – and don’t worry, I have refrained from featuring any Coldplay 🙂
1. See You When You’re 40 – Dido
“You’re just a boy… not a man… and I’m not coming back.”
It’s a song which is simple, heartbreaking (and then satisfying) and relatable to almost every girl. We have all dated that guy – the one you can’t seem to break away from even though everybody else knows you’re so much better; the guy you think you will never get over even though he will probably have the same level of emotional maturity and tired excuses 10 years from now (“not sad because you lost me, but sad because you thought it was cool to be sad”). She sums it up so perfectly, it makes me laugh at the familiarity. Paired with Dido’s effortlessly pure vocals and 3 chords throughout the whole song, it’s a song I could have liked even if the lyrics were different, but really, the narrative is what makes it resonate so strongly within me. I think it’s perfection and I’ll probably listen to it forever.
2. Cigarettes Will Kill You – Ben Lee
Ahhhh the 90’s. I discovered this song a few years ago while exploring tracks from previous ‘Triple J’s Hottest 100’ countdowns and this song reached the #2 spot back in 1998. It’s actually a song about disappointment, about someone who has been used and manipulated and is admitting that everyone else had it right. Initially I just enjoyed the hook of the song, I thought it was a great piano-driven pop tune, and it impressed me that it was written by a 19-year-old Ben Lee in an era where grunge seemed to be everything (which I will never understand). I think the build up towards the end of the song ,”I WISH EVERYONE WAS WRONG!” was what really got me feeling whatever he was feeling 20 years ago. But here’s a tip: do not watch either of the two music videos that were made – because they’re so painfully confusing and irrelevant to the actual song that it’s hard NOT to picture it when you listen to the song.
3. Englishman in New York – Sting
My husband is going to laugh when he sees this, because we tried to record a cover of this song the other night and it failed so miserably. I think we did about 12 takes while all our devices lagged, ran out of battery, and eventually we gave up. But that’s besides the point! I am obsessed with this song. Released in 1987, I heard it for the first time on one of the music channels on Foxtel, where they were counting down famous songs by male vocalists, and I couldn’t believe I had never heard it before. So classy, so smooth, so well executed. Sting has produced some stellar tracks over his many decades in the industry but this one is truly a stand out. The lyrics are clever and straight to the point: “It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile – be yourself, no matter what they say”. Some may even say controversial in today’s society, with the definition of what does and doesn’t make a man. And accompanied by the most genius instrumentals and the blending of two genres (reggae and jazz) I literally cannot fault this song on its originality. And if you happen to see me driving while singing at the top of my lungs, I’m most likely listening to this song. BRILLIANT.
4. Accidentally Kelly Street – Frente!
In year 10 my friend and I won a statewide music performance competition. Part of our prize was that we got to record a couple of our tracks in a proper recording studio at the local TAFE college. There was an old beardy man there who had worked for the school’s music department for years and years and as he walked by our studio, he stopped and had a quick listen. Upon hearing one of the takes he said to me “You sound like the Accidentally Kelly Street girl” and he genuinely meant it in a good way. I had kind of heard of the song (who hasn’t) but never really sat down and listened to it properly, and I was intrigued. I loved it – kind of like a guilty pleasure song. At the time I didn’t realise that it was iconic for all the wrong reasons, a song that had copped SO MUCH abuse that the band eventually disintegrated and the lead singer suffered for years to follow. It’s littered with arguably the cheesiest lyrics of all time but I think it was the over-the-top cringe worthy music video that really caused the uproar – think dancing men in green suits and giant toothbrushes. Help. Why do I even like it so much? BECAUSE IT’S SO DARN HAPPY AND CATCHY AND I CAN’T HELP IT. I will probably force my children to like this song.
Also… my little brother played it for me at my wedding at that really just makes it even better. ❤
5. First Train Home – Imogen Heap
I will not lie to you. I don’t really understand the lyrics of this song. Maybe the meaning is right there in front of me, but, Imogen Heap is an amazingly unique artist who I don’t attempt to make sense of – I appreciate and admire her without needing to interpret her songs in any particular detail. This song is mellow, it drives, it makes you both happy and sad without really knowing why. It’s a classic t-shape progression which builds and then backs off again. Her ethereal vocals mixed with the dull electronic beat seem to repeat in your head for days and days. It definitely follows on from her previous hits such as Hide and Seek and Just for Now with lashings of reverb and harmonies. It causes you to feel something unexplainable inside and, for me, encompasses so many vivid memories of both the sweet and sour kind.
Thanks for reading everybody. I know it might be a little yawn-worthy for those who don’t love the same kind of music that I do, but I’ve wanted to write a blog post like this for a long time, and maybe some day I’ll write another similar one again, because it’s really really really hard to stick to just 5 songs! Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for future Friday Fives.
faithfulandblue 