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Music can be a wonderous experience, not just on the ears but also the mind. There will always be songs we listen to that immediately catapult us in to another space in time, happy or not. Join me as we explore songs from my past and where they take me back to.
All these great songs have been grabbed from YouTube – just in case the embeds stop working!
Fugees – Ready or Not
Every morning, my friends and I would risk our lives stepping on to the Thomson Travel school bus. There were two drivers on our school route, one would have smoked copious amounts of weed, the other was drunk. The number of times we ended up getting the 321 as the driver had been pulled over again. Oh, that’s also not telling you about the time the driver drove up the wrong way of a dual carriageway.
Up until this point in my life, I hardly ever listened to the radio. Mum and Dad would have rock ‘n roll tapes in the car, I just didn’t get a chance. The Thomson Travel driver always had the radio going and during one particular Summer, this song was played non-stop. Released in 1996, I remember it from the Summer of 1999 and hearing it played transports me immediately.
School sports day wasn’t exactly my favourite thing to do but it did mean we got to lounge in the sunshine. The site was quite big and each clique could disperse to their own area, ignoring the sport around them. This was the year I got to see Metal Slug on the Neo Geo Pocket colour and also smuggled in a flask of Whiskey.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Californication
When I was 18 I moved out of my parents house for approximately 6 months. Why? Because I was a little tired of my Dad telling me off when I came back from nightclubs. Yes, nightclubs, something I wouldn’t ever consider now but back then, it was the thing to do. Moving out was a stupid thing to do.
I didn’t really have much money and all I could afford was a bedsit on Whippendell Road in Watford. This wasn’t the most salubrious of places and the house wasn’t much better.
Over that Summer I spent as much time as I could out of the property, walking in to town and shopping. I’d plug my headphones in to the my trusty CD player, load up my bag with CDs and head off to the likes of Virgin Megastores. During this time I picked up Californication as an album in their Summer Sale of 2002.
Californication was my favourite song off the album, pretty reasonable seeing they titled the album after it. Hearing it now takes me back to walking the streets of Watford, hot sun beating down as I walked and explored the area.
Elvis – You were always on my mind
This is a strange one as it really doesn’t make sense in my head. A long time ago, our family shop had a cat called Rupert. He was a lovely ginger cat who you could fuss to no end. After a couple of years we discovered lump which was removed but, you guessed it, came back. I had experienced death of animals at this point, previous shop cats or smaller pets at home. What I’d never done is take one of the animals to the vets for the deed to be done.
There is no doubt in my mind that it was meant to make me a stronger person and allow me closure. Dad helped us put Rupert in his cat carrier and we travelled to Harpenden to see the vet. Vivid memories haunt me of Rupert whimpering in the cat carrier and trying to get any contact he could through the bars. I, of course, was in floods of tears (as any 7 or 8 year old would be).
Later that night mum was listening to music and in particular, this song played. Now and most likely forever more, this song reminds me of that horrible time.
Dido – White Flag
If you followed the 30 day song challenge Rob and I completed, you’ll know why this song is here. For those that didn’t read this: I had an ex who played this song when she wanted sex. Can you imagine that? Dido singing away in her melancholy / miserable way and having to muster up the want for sex? There isn’t any Dido song I would want to have sex to.
Weirdly, King of the Hill had an episode where Boomhauer always scores when Dido is played much to Bills upset.
So what songs take you somewhere happy or sad, comment below or send it over on Social Media. You can find more Music posts here.
