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
I have a good memory when it comes to songs. I can remember where I first heard most of the songs in my music collection, whether it be riding on a particular bus, in a house I used to live in, or just an episode of a TV show. I don’t really link people to particular tracks, unless they were with me at the time the song was played.
The one exception to this is Fine by Lemon Demon.
One. Two. Three. Four
Today has a way of scarring your eyes
with negative light, but it’s a disguise.
I put on my shades and see through the lies.
The convenient truth is:Light is on the way.
We’ll be having a fun time.
It’s such a lovely day.
We should pocket the sunshine
and never give it back
even if there’s a heat wave
or terrorist attack.
It will just be a close shave, I know.I know… that every bomb has a silver lining, I know.
I know… it won’t be long untileverthing works out nice in the end.
The sun will marry the moon.
It’ll be fine.
Why don’t we sit back mellow again
and have a nice afternoon?
It’ll be fine.I go for a walk.
The sidewalk is cracked.
I’m not superstitious,
but I made a pact with old Mother Earth:
She’d get off my back if I get off hers.Light is on the way.
We’ll be having a fun time.
It’s such a lovely day.
We should pocket the sunshine
and never give it back
even if there’s a heat wave.
We’re stalling on the track.
It will just be a close shave, I know.I know… that in a snap, all the birds will sing, I know.
I know… I’m full of crap, but still,everthing works out nice in the end.
The sun will marry the moon.
It’ll be fine.
Why don’t we sit back mellow again
and have a nice afternoon?
It’ll be fine.Fine…
Fine…
Fine…
Everything is gonna be
Fine…
Fine…
Fine…
Everything is gonna beFine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.
Everything is gonna beFine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.Fine.
Everything is gonna be…..One. Two. Three. Four??
Everthing works out nice in the end.
The sun will marry the moon.
It’ll be fine.
Why don’t we sit back mellow again
and have a nice afternoon?
It’ll be fine.Everthing works out nice in the end.
(I know…)
(The sun will marry the moon.)
Works out nice in the end…(that every bomb has a silver lining, I know.)
Why don’t we sit back mellow again(I know…)
(and have a nice afternoon?)Sit back mellow again…
(it won’t be long until)Everthing works out nice in the end.
The sun will marry the moon.
It’ll be fine.
Why don’t we sit back mellow again
and have a nice afternoon?
It’ll be fine, fine, fine, fine.
I was first introduced to this song by Katharine (who also hosts this website for me). I first chatted to Katharine a couple of years ago through Plurk, a social networking site we both used to use quite a bit. I won’t ever forget the first chat we had on something like MSN or Skype. I wound up listening to her music stream, and when I left the computer to go and wash my hair, she started playing creepy music reminiscent of Psycho. Nothing gets you out of a shower quicker than hearing scary, dramatic music, and getting mental images of the Psycho shower scene. Evil. Just evil. Anyway, we became friends, and one day, she sent me this song. She’d quote the lyrics to me randomly, or whenever one of us felt down about something. So, er, to cut a long story short, and because I’ve got 5 minutes to go until I fail this challenge, whenever I listen to this song, I’m reminded of Katharine because it’s taught me that EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE.
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.
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