10 Songs For Life Volume One

The purpose of this Blog is twofold. Firstly it is intended to be informative to my family about things that matter to me, things that have happened to me and hopefully it will give them something to chuckle about and ponder over when I’m pushing up daisies. Secondly it is filling a need that comes over me occasionally to write. I was going to say it doesn’t matter if it is never read but obviously it does, or it would be in a private diary, padlocked and hidden under my bed. A couple of weeks ago I got my first ‘fan mail’ not for my blog but for a piece I had written for my old schools 50th Anniversary book, which is actually now one of the early blog posts. My old teacher wrote to say:

‘I wanted to tell you of the number of people who have said how much they enjoyed the piece you wrote for the anniversary book. The Head of English actually commented that you should consider writing regular magazine articles about school life in the 70s! Congratulations and thank you.’

I can’t say how much those words meant to me. Ridiculous really, but I spent the rest of the day on cloud nine. Real writers must be the happiest people in the world. They get to do something they love and they get to know that readers value or react to what they have to say. Whether their writing is intended to take someone on a magical journey, or report on something that has happened, their ability to craft words in a meaningful authentic way is a gift I covet. Some writers even have the power to change lives.

I worry that a lot of the stuff I write about will hold no interest to my family. That I wander off track a bit too much. This is something I also tend to do with real life conversation. Maybe this blog really is my voice.

So…’Desert Island Discs’. I have never listened to this programme although I do enjoy reading what some people have chosen as the 10 songs they couldn't live without and I tend to make judgements about them depending on the tracks they have chosen. In the days of the MP3 player it seems an impossible task to limit yourself to only 10 songs when we have thousands available to us at any time, and for me at least, my top 10 is constantly changing. There are of course some songs that will always be included, songs I never tire of listening too. I am going to try, for the benefit of my kids and future generations (I do have hopes that they will read this one day!) to put together a list of songs that wouldn’t make my top 10 but I feel should be listened to at certain life stages. Not exactly ‘songs to listen to before you die’ more songs that ‘fit the situation’ lyrically. It isn't a divinitive list and is liable to change.

Coming of Age Song:

Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I come home in the morning light,
My mother says "When you gonna live your life right?"
Oh,mother,dear,
We're not the fortunate ones,
And girls,
They wanna have fu-un.
Oh,girls,
Just wanna have fun.


This came out as I hit my teens and I was the girl coming home in the morning light after a night of dancing and flirting with boys. Great lyrics, great tune and Cyndi was a great ‘alternative’ Madonna. In a blink of an eye I stopped being that girl and became the parent asking my child ‘When you gonna live your life right?’ and it can be so easy to forget that that the teenage years are a time of freedom, experimentation and pushing boundaries. The time to just have fun.

Love Songs: The are a ‘Million Love Songs’ but Take That haven’t made this top ten.

White Flag – Dido



I know I left too much mess and
destruction to come back again
And I caused nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of "it's over"
then I'm sure that that makes sense

Toyed with putting this in the break-up section because it is about a lost love but this it is a pure love song. Undemanding, accepting and the singer is prepared to draw a line under the relationship but recognises the fact the love will go on. Fuck me - strayed into the yucky territory of Celine Dion then!

Anastasia and Eros Ramozzotti duet ‘You Belong to Me’ an incredibly loving and passionate song:



Ahora no, yo no me quiero defender, dentro de mi
cualquier error superare, y mis momentos mas
dificiles, por ti. There is no reason, there's
no rhyme, it's crystal clear. I hear your voice
and all the darkness disappears. Every time I
look into your eyes you make me love you Este
invierno acabara I do truly love you Libre yo
sere How you make me love you Volveremos a
empezar I do truly love you

Eros has also dueted with such diverse talents as Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Pavarotti and Patsy Kensit.


Another love song which is about breaking-up is the wonderful Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’. A love song, and at the same time, an anti love song. Yet I have decided it is, at it's soul, a love song because it too has an underlying acceptance that elevates it above the 'you done me wrong, whoa is me but and I'm gonna be ok, sniff, sniff' genre.



World was on fire
No one could save me but you
Strange what desire will make foolish people do .
I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you
I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

No I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart
No I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
With you
With you

Nobody loves no one

Break-up Songs:

No - not the ultimate song that gets woman dancing round their handbags but the great Chris Rea 'Fool':



A dying flame, you're free again
Who could love and do that to you
All dressed in black, he won't be coming back
Save your tears, you've got years and years
The pains of seventeen's
Unreal they're only dreams
Save your crying for the day

When you are seventeen and you first love ends it can feel like the end of the world. This song has the message that it’s actually the beginning.

And this Beautiful South duet 'A Little Time’:



You had a little time
And you had a little fun
Didn't you, didn't you
While you had yours
Do you think I had none
Do you, do you
The Freedom that you wanted bad
Is yours for good
I hope you're glad
Sad into unsad

This is ‘I Will Survive’ with humour. And I love the ‘Sad into unsad’ line. Excellent video too. Beautiful South also have a great song called ‘Perfect 10’ which is the best song to listen to when you are having a ‘fat day’ and included the following lyrics:

If he's extra large,
Well, I'm in charge,
I can work this thing on top,
And if he's XXL,
Well what the hell
Ev'ry penny don't fit the slot.

Gary Moore- Still Got The Blues For You



So many years, since I've seen your face
But here in my heart, there's an empty space
Where you used to be

So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you

And finally the best unsentimental break-up song is the Rolling Stones brilliant ‘Anybody Seen My Baby’



She confessed her love to me
Then she vanished on the breeze
Trying to hold on to that was just impossible

She was more than beautiful
Closer to etherial
With a kind of down to earth flavor

Close my eyes
It's three in the afternoon
Then I realize
That she's really gone for good

Anybody seen my baby
Anybody seen her around
Love has gone and made me blind
I've looked but I just can't find
She has gotten lost in the crowd


New Baby Song:

Forever Young – Bob Dylan

Here's Joan Baez with her version of this simple, but beautiful song.



May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

What more could a parent want their child to be?

And for no other reason than I have to include a Bowie number in all my lists and this is a current favourite. The piano tinkling sends shivers down my spine.

Lady Grinning Soul:



And when the clothes are strewn don't be afraid of the room
Touch the fullness of her breast. Feel the love of her caress
She will be your living end

OK so that’s 11 songs but ‘Perfect Ten’ isn’t really on the list so doesn’t count. I am concerned that all the songs are golden bloody oldies and I love some of the new stuff that is coming out at the moment particularly the talented Ben Drew, the man behind Plan Bs ‘She Said’.



She said I love you boy
I love your soul
she said I love you baby oh oh oh ohh

she said I love you more than words can say
she said I love you bayayayayaybayyyy

so I said, what you saying girl it cant be right
how can you be in love with me
we only just met tonight
so she said.. boy I loved you from the start
when I first heard love goes down
something started burning in my heart
I said stop this crazy talk
and leave right now and close the door
she said but I love you boy I love you so
she said I love you baby oh
she said I love you more than words can say
she said I love you bayayayayby (yes you did)


so now up in the courts
pleading my case from the witness box
telling the judge and jury-
the same thing that I said to the cops
on the day that I got arrested
im innocent I contested
she just feels rejected
had her heart broken by someone she’s obsessed with
cos she likes the sound of my music
which makes her a fan of my music
that’s why love goes down makes her lose it
cos she cant separate the man from the music
and im saying all this in the stand
as my girl cries tears from the galleries
got bigger than I ever could have planned
like that song by the Zutons Valerie
so the jury don’t look like their buying it
and its making me nervous
arms crossed screw faced like im trying it
their eyes fixed on me like a murder's
they wanna lock me up
and throw away the key
they wanna send me down

even though I told them she...

she said I love you boy
I love your soul
she said I love you baby oh oh oh oh (yes you did)

she said I love you more than words can sing
she said I love you bayayayayby

so I said why the hell you gotta treat me this way
you don’t know what love is
you wouldn’t do this if you did
oh no no no noo
mmmmmmm

Here’s what Wikipedia says about the very talented young man:

Ben Drew (born 22 October 1983), primarily known as Plan B, is a British singer and actor from Forest Gate, London. Plan B released his critically acclaimed debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006. His first top-ten single - as the featured artist - was on “End Credits” by Chase & Status.
Drew has also been successful as an actor, with supporting roles in Adulthood (2008), Harry Brown (2009) and 4.3.2.1 (2010). His second studio album The Defamation of Strickland Banks (2010) went straight into the UK album chart at #1.
Born and brought up in Forest Gate, East London, Ben Drew's mother worked for a local authority and his father (Paul Ballance) played in a local punk rock band. When Ben was six, his father walked out on the family leaving behind two children. Growing up, Plan B felt outcast from the rest of the school pupils.

"We weren't working class but we weren't middle class, we were in the void in-between. I've always felt like a social outcast."

—Plan B, The Telegraph (June 15, 2006)

Just don't judge me!