Songs for every occasion.

That, is one of my grandmas favourite and frequented sayings. (The Moon to my Duffy, FYI.) 

After what has been a tough few days for some of my closest people, (Grey's reference, IKR) I got to thinking about songs, and how they remind you of a certain person or situation. These are important to me in some ways. 

Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline will always remind me of my grandad. My dad's name is mentioned, and I hear a library of music play, from Bob Marley, to Madness to Kaiser Cheifs (the really, really old stuff.) My best friend, Betty, will always be seen as The Killers' Somebody Told Me, after all, who else can I air-guitar down the front street with on a Saturday night. My sister is seen in various colours; she's Pretender by Foo Fighters, Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight and Gabrielle Aplin's version of The Power of Love. She's also the likes of SHM and Armen Van Buuren, LMFAO and 1D's Little White Lies, Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, Katy Perry's Dark Horse and more recently, What Do You Want From Me? By Monaco. My mam will always be met with the classic and soundtrack to her favourite film; Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, while the song that always makes me think of my grandma is Don McLean's American Pie (a really rather tipsy karaoke singalong one Christmas.) Robbie Williams' Come Undone is the song that makes me think of my boyfriend, Lukas, as we just so happened to tweet the entire song lyrics to one another pre-us getting together. It's a long story, and I'm keeping it close to my chest. Steph's song is, and always will be David Guetta and Sia's Titanium, or perhaps Spectrum (Say My Name) by the one and only Florence and The Machine. Night's out will always be greeted with Katy Perry's TGIF or something like that. Nights spent in Brit are fuelled by The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys and of course, Club Tropicana. My auntie will always be I Gotta Feelin' courtesy of BEP. Now for the others. Flo Rida's Right around reminds me of an old friend, Sexy Bitch ironically reminds me of a distant friend, and Orson's Bright Idea will be a distant memory of someone I've grown apart from. Gives You Hell by All American Rejects signals heartbreak and tears, along with Taylor Swift's Fifteen. A massive shout out to Abi, someone I was friends with, and grew up with, throughout some pretty tough teenage years; the soundtrack of our youth looked a bit like this; Love Bites- You Broke My Heart, Alice Cooper- Poison (except I'm sure ours was the weird techno remake from Groove Coverage or someone), the total spoof of The Jam's Going Underground- London Underground, Special D- Come With Me, and of course, Scooter's Jumping All Over The World. (WHAT CAN I SAY, we were Chester kids!) While Jenny (Reece, yes that's you) will always make me think of Taylor Swift's old stuff. There are probably many, many more I'll think of by the time I publish this, but a little shout out to you lot in particular. I love you all, oh, and thanks for sticking by me until my music taste developed into something a lot more acceptable!!!!

Mood music, please.

Lying in bed, sprawled out on my stomach,- starfished. My iPod's drumming along to Florence and The Machine's Heavy In Your Arms, and I'm all weary and teary eyed. A song that seems to have been haunting me for days. I just can't seem to get the lyrics out of my head, or stop them flowing out of my mouth at any given opportunity. My head is pounding as the beat sounds over and over. Florence Welch has an amazing ability; she manages to capture how I'm feeling right now with such precision and exactness that there are no more words necessary. As I lie here, alone in the darkness, with only the light of my phone's screen (on which I'm drafting this, so beware, this is a "late" post) for company, I feel like I'm about to break in two. Text messages: zero. Tweets: all irrelevant tonight. Phone Calls: of course not.

It's the early hours of Saturday morning, and usually (okay, this time for about two months) I'd be found at the pub, knocking back tequila like there's no tomorrow, with anyone who'd join me. However, tonight is different. Tonight's refuge seems depressing, but it's all for a good cause. I've forced myself to stay in. Partly, to know that I'm not drinking myself into a vodka and lime flavoured oblivion, partly because it's necessary. I've barricaded the doors and bolted the windows and all that jazz. This isn't just some severe form of self-gratifying punishment, it's an attempt to save my pennies before I jet off to Ibiza with my two fave girls. 8th July, I'm counting down the days.

Despite my excitement, I've had a pretty shit day. A rude awakening on my part, I started the day with my dad hollering up the stairs, telling me to "get out of bed." Little did I know, my Friday would only go downhill from there. A little shopping was done, but it was full of effort, my mind being woefully preoccupied with a lack of coffee, sleep and genuine smiles all used up many weeks ago. To say I feel worthless today would be the biggest understatement ever. I'm an emotional wreck and it's sort of unexplainable. I sat watching EastEnders and was in tears. I'm an emotional person anyway, but today's been different. I feel like I've had to bite my lip to stop myself from tearing up at every little thing. The rain. The lack of sleep. The no energy. Trailing my feet around the shops, when shopping may be one of the things I was born to do. A smile nowhere to be seen, especially not donned on my face. I don't even know why. I think it's what they call "one of those days."A day that just seems to be drenched in negativity, even if you maybe secretly know why and try your utmost to hide it from yourself.

Anyway, I'm still lying here. Exhaustion is catching up with me, as the yawns take over and my iPod continues. Coldplay's Warning Sign may be my favourite song at the moment. Chris Martin's voice makes me melt. The strumming of guitars and the beautiful melody behind his rich tones makes me want to sing along and sway in unison. Everyone has favourite lyrics, right? That bit of a song you sing extra loud, has a special meaning, or a catchy beat. The personal few words you always wait and long for, and when they arrive, they're wonderful and brilliant and you sing at the top of your lungs.

And, here's mine;

"Well the truth is, I miss you. And the truth is, that I miss you so."

Sometimes a piece of music can explain exactly how your feel, even if you can't put your own emotions into words. Between Florence and Coldplay, I feel like I understand how my head is working tonight, and how, evidently, the tears are rolling so effortlessly down my cold cheeks. Even if the lyrics don't echo my own words, or my own situation exactly translated, it's everything combined that enables me to really get what I need. The meaning of any words, or lyrics, is entirely up to you. They're what you want them to be. You can ignore the lyrics altogether if you want and listen to the artist's voice, and only then, will you really, truly understand what they're singing about.

Well. In my eyes, anyway. A song isn't about the semantics of the lyrics or the beat or the instruments present or the setting it was written in, it's about every single little one of those things combined, as well as you. The listener. The audience. A song is, after all, only as powerful as the impact it has on it's listeners. So, whether you're feeling down or happy and grinny, reach for the radio dial, the television remote or the nearest music player you can get your hands on. Shuffle through, find your mood music, and let it take over. Sometimes, it's all you'll ever need.

and the truth is, that I miss you so.

x

If life had a soundtrack...

Sometimes, there's nothing better than putting on your headphones and just disappearing .

I really do think your music tastes are influenced by the date you were born. That much is kind of obvious. However, I've always thought I was born too late, when in fact, I was three months premature. I'd have loved to experience life before the 90's, the crazy lifestyle, not having a care in the world, and experiencing some of the best artists of the century. The old ones, as they say, truly are the best. I got to wondering, in my nocturnal hours the other night, the day I was born, what was OUT and what was IN. What was I born into, in terms of music?

Nowadays, luckily for this post, I had the help of Google to find out what I really wanted to know. In the eighteen years of my life, how has the music changed? What were the hits? Which do you remember, and which do you hate?

October 1st 1993, was a Friday. The day I was born. So, while I was coming into the world, what were the rest of you singing to? Here's 18 years of number one's, on the day I was born.

1993: Boom! Shake the Room- Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

1994: Saturday Night- Whigfield

1995: Fairground- Simply Red

1996: Breakfast At Tiffany's- Deep Blue Something

1997: Candle In The Wind- Elton John

1998: Rollercoaster- B*witched

1999: Blue (Da Ba Dee) -Eiffel 65

2000: Against All Odds- Mariah Carey and Westlife

2001: Can't Get You Out Of My Head- Kylie Minogue

2002: The Long and Winding Road/Suspicious Minds- Gareth Gates and Will Young

2003: Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas

2004: Call On Me- Eric Prydz

2005: Don't Cha- Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes

2006: I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters
2007: About You Now- Sugababes

2008: Sex On Fire- Kings Of Leon

2009: Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz

2010: Just The Way You Are- Bruno Mars

2011: No Regrets- Dappy
2012: Gangnam Style- Psy

Eighteen years of music, that has evidently changed an awful lot. Fresh Prince, everybody's guilty pleasure. Most of the songs, I loved at one time or another. Simply Red never gets old, Eric Prydz 'Call On Me' was the soundtrack to my younger years, especially a very specific flashback to school discos and all of the lads thinking they were dancing to the most obscene song ever. Breakfast At Tiffany's is still one of my favourite songs, while I always kind of hated the Kylie and Mariah Carey phases. A lot of dancing tunes, but I guess that's what the 90's were all about. Some of these, obviously were re-releases or lucky to ever reach number one, while others, everyone knows the words to (and in some cases, the dance moves.)

In an age where music seems to be churned out at record-breaking speeds, is it deteriorating  or will Gangnam Style have some special significance in twenty years, just like Whigfield's Saturday Night? I guess only time will tell, so until then, I guess all we can do is, raise our glasses and revel in whatever's playing, because eventually, the music stops.