Now, the instant I saw I had to find a song I knew all the words to, only one came to mind, Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. Back in 2008, there was the US presidential election, Obama Girl, and… RICKROLLING. Admittedly, I had never been introduced to the wonders of this song before the Rickrolling meme, but, OMG, I loved it. At the height of Rickrolling, I even attended a Rickmob in one of London’s main stations.
We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guyI just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understandNever gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt youWe’ve know each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching
But you’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know what’s been going on
We know the game and we’re gonna play itAnd if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to seeNever gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt yougive you up. give you up
give you up, give you up
never gonna give
never gonna give, give you up
never gonna give
never gonna give, five you upI just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understandNever gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt youNever gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt youNever gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
I promise you this: Whenever I’m singing this song, I will never tell a lie and hurt you.
A couple of years ago, Emma took me to a random event involving people performing circus tricks, ladies dressed up as mermaids (who I later became friends with and introduced me to even more crazy people, but that’s a story for another day) and interesting indie music. Now, Emma is a total Patrick Wolf fangirl, and she wanted to go purely because he was the headline act at this particular event. I had listened to Patrick Wolf because she had pressured me to before, but really wasn’t bothered either way. I just wanted to go because of the possible potential of finding sparkly objects there.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Patrick Wolf was debuting a few songs from his then unreleased album, The Bachelor. Emma became a rabid fangirl, and ignored the rest of us until he stopped playing. I was a bit bored because I didn’t really know all his old songs, and felt tired and wanted to go home. Then, I heard him sing Damaris. From that moment on, I totally became a fan. Every time I hear this song now, I think about this event where I first heard it, and the fun (fun fun fun) I had there.
Black rain
Floods the downs
Ferrets burrow
Moles make mound
Round your bones
Deep underground
But nobody knows
Nobody knows
How I wait for you
Summer, Spring
Autumn, Winter
Here perishingGypsy, stray
Bleak orphan
No one could say
The land you came from
But deep in my arms
You belonged
But nobody knows
No body knows
How I wait for you
Summer, Spring
Autumn, Winter
Here perishingMy god damned
Damaris
Killed with last kiss
God damned
Damaris
I loved youGoddam these tears
And this religion
Thought I was more
Than just my father?s son
Who says in limbo
Be where you’ve gone
But nobody knows
No body knows
How I wait for you
Summer, Spring
Autumn, Winter
Here perishingMy god damned
Damaris
Killed with last kiss
God damned
Damaris
I loved youAnd now I kiss
I kiss the earthOh rise up
Rise up
Rise up
Now
From the earthAnd I smash my fist
Into the earthOh rise up
Rise up
Rise up
Now
From the earthI loved you
Black rain
Floods the downs
The black rain
Black rain
I grew up in the 90s, surrounded by bouncy music with cheesy lyrics and manufactured pop bands. I loved it all, but what cemented this love for me was one of my music teachers. It’s been so long now that I’ve forgotten her name, but I truly believe she embraced the 90s as much as a person possibly can. You see, whilst other schools got bored, being forced to sing along to hymns in assembly, we got music for the top 10 hits of the time. So, it’s only fitting that I provide a song that I remember us singing, and perfecting all the words and harmonies to – I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly. This song, and many other hits during that time period, will always remind me of school.
I used to think
that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
I’m leaning on the everlasting armsIf I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can flySee I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes the silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of meIf I can see it, then I can be it
If I can believe it, there’s nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can flyCause I believe in you
If I can see it, then I can do it
If I can believe it, there’s nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
When I was in Thailand last month, I bought a Thai dubbed version of a Korean drama called Princess Hours (sometimes known as Goong ??). The main issue with these Asian dramas is that they drag on for hours and hours – this one had 24 episodes, and each one was an hour long. So, after 24 hours of watching a storyline develop, you sort of develop a bond with the characters you’ve been watching. After all, you at least have to like them enough to keep watching for so long. As one of my favourite scenes from 30 Rock illustrates, it’s far too easy to be manipulated by a piece of good background music.
The song that makes me feel saddest is one of those evil pieces of music that are placed in scenes to make the audience feel something. This specific track is from the Princess Hours soundtrack, and is called Parrot by HowL. I have no idea what the lyrics mean, and it probably wouldn’t have affected me so much had I never seen this scene.
It was the final episode, man. I’d spent 23 and a half hours watching just to see the main characters separated, possibly for forever?
I bawled like a baby.
I have had many disagreements with people over the music I choose to listen to. I will often defend so called ‘bad’ songs to the death. Rebecca Black’s Friday? I totally loved it, and not in an ironic sense. Did I practice the dance moves to Pure and Simple by Hear’Say? Oh, hell yes. But when it comes to so-called ‘classic’ songs that millions and even billions of people love, I tend to hit a bit of a firewall. I am going to blaspheme now and say the following sentence:
I extremely dislike God Only Knows by the Beach Boys. Sure, it’s a piece of melodic genius, the lyrics are perfect and it ticks the boxes on every level… But I just can’t seem to like the song.
I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I’ll make you so sure about itGod only knows what I’d be without you
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do meGod only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
If you should ever leave me
Well life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do meGod only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows what I’d be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I’d be without you
I guess part of my dislike of God Only Knows comes from the fact that it’s constantly played on those radio stations that like the ‘oldies,’ has been the soundtrack to many a film, and is just so overused it makes me want to scream. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I’m one of those “youngsters who wouldn’t know good music if it hit them in the face” (quoted directly from my godfather), and I do consider myself a fan of the Beach Boys’ other classics such as Wouldn’t It Be Nice?, but I, for some reason or another, will never like this song. Whenever you buy an album from a musician, there’s always a couple of songs that you like less than the others. Personally, I love the rest of the album, Pet Sounds, and this just doesn’t live up to the hype for me.
Due to the many people who love God Only Knows feeling very passionately about the matter, I probably won’t bring up this topic ever again.
Example YouTube comment: The people who disliked this should be publicly flogged.
Lovely.
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