I'm a big music fan I have been to gigs all over the UK including Reading festival twice, V festival and Isle of Wight festival. I'd definitely recommend experiencing one of these festivals. The atmosphere is brilliant and despite the usually terrible weather I have never failed to have a good time. That being said I'm getting off point. I'll start with my first song and follow it with my luxury item as the two are linked.
Song 1. Song 1
I would choose, Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not because it's my favourite song but I do love it. Having listened to this song and being a big fan of most (not all) of the band's stuff, I decided to pick up a guitar and teach myself how to play. I'll talk about this more in future posts but the beautiful guitar line in this song is still one of my favourite pieces of music.
Luxury Item. The astute readers among you may have guessed from the previous paragraph my luxury item would be a guitar. I own several but the one I'd take with me is a black Epiphone Sheraton II. This is a semi acoustic electric guitar. It has fantastic sustain and I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing it and learning new songs. I have been playing for around 6 years now so am fairly proficient. Most of all playing guitar is a great creative release and I find it calms me down when I'm playing. Almost like my own form of meditation. Overall the best way to get lost in music, forget about the troubles of the day and therefore the perfect item to have on a desert island when things are looking grim.
Song 2. Song 2
No I’m not going to choose the Blur song of the same name although it is one I like. I’ll have to go for Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones. I think this song is epic. That is not a word I band around on a regular basis but there is no other way to describe it.
Song 3. Song 3
Next I’d go for a melancholy, eerie and tragic song which I believe would suit the mood of hopelessness that may be difficult to overcome at times alone on some island. My choice is, Is There Anybody Out There by Pink Floyd. Syd Barrett was clearly depressed as hell when he wrote this and while as Pink Floyd goes I love the Waters and especially Gilmour years, to this day it remains my favourite song of theirs.
Song 4. Song 4
One of my favourite current bands is Biffy Clyro. They’re not for everyone but I love the way they blend what I’d call the light and dark in music. Their songs always mix beautiful melodies and moshpit inspiring heavy rock section. This is no more obvious than in a song called As Dust Dances 2/15th from their album Puzzle. They have become more and more mainstream as is the unfortunate occurrence with any band that gain critical acclaim, but with these guys you really feel like they’re getting better and better with it. The albums Puzzle, Only Revolutions and Opposites are very worth a listen and there are stand out earlier tracks from the three albums they released before that to find and love also.
Song 5. Song 5
A cover song done well is something that doesn’t happen very often. Even with Radio 1’s live lounge where popular bands perform a cover, which has admittedly produced a few gems. Usually the original is better, sometimes purer, sometimes you love it and hate a band or artist you dislike for taking it and ruining it (cough Matt Cardle cough cough), in fact I can’t stand x factor or pop idol or any of the reality TV shows which pollute the radios and charts with shit music. I won’t get into all of the reasons why I dislike those shows but instead I’ll tell you about one of the best covers of all time. Just before Kurt Cobain committed suicide/was killed (whatever you believe happened) in 1994 Nirvana did an unplugged gig for MTV. The whole gig is brilliant, Nirvana were a great band but the cover they did of David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World was awesome.
Song 6. Song 6
Mumford and Sons are a current band I am also a big fan of. Their music is lighthearted but powerful in some ways. The folk rock thing done well and being popular in the charts is a concept that despite seeming weird is completely understandable considering forms of folk music are played all over the world with one instrument or another. They have two great albums and although I struggle to pick one song from them I’ll go for Little Lion Man. Folk pop fun with swearing, a mix of controversy and a bouncy tune. Who’d have thunk it!
Song 7. Song 7
I realize the details I have been listing with each song makes this post abit long winded but I hope some of the reasons I like songs will resonate (music term) with why some of you reading this like them. So Kings of Leon are great. I personally like all of their music. To risk sounding cliché I prefer the original stuff (Youth and Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times). I have seen this band 6 times now and they are great live. The problem I have is I have been to see them twice in Hyde Park in London and both times people attending the concerts pushing to the front displacing true (cringe) fans have been to see them in order to hear two songs. If you know little or nothing of the Kings you will have heard Sex on Fire and Use Somebody. I think it is great they can now sell out huge venues and have become really successfully I just wish people would listen to their full discography and really appreciate them and not stand in front of me when they play songs like Taper Jean Girl, Molly’s Chambers, Red Morning Light, Charmer, The Bucket, Pistols of Fire etc etc and ask if this is one of their new songs. GRRRR. So I will pick On Call as my track to listen to from the King’s and hope that if you are reading you are inspired to go listen to this or any of the songs I have mentioned in this post.
Song 8. Song 8
Whilst on a southern US theme a band who KOL introduced me two in the form of one of their support acts are The Black Keys. Wow these guys are great. Blues rock at its best. Awesome riffs, interesting drum beats (far from the standard), some of the fuzziest fuzz tones you will hear. What is not the like about this band? Not a lot is the answer. They had been establishing themselves for years before I discovered their music and I’m glad I did. Listen to Brother and El Camino in full but I’ll pick Little Black Submarines for my desert island collection.
Song 9. Song 9
To stick with blues rock Jack White (along with Jimmy Page, Dan Auerbach and John Frusciante) is an idol for me when it comes to music. I love learning white stripes songs on the guitar, partly because they’re usually simple and partly because of how raw they are. My favourite Jack White song however is one he wrote as part of The Raconteurs. The track is called Carolina Drama. The story the song tells is extremely clever. It fits the music perfectly which both builds the tension in the story of the song as well as adding space between what is going on.
Song 10. Song 10
Ok last one. I will just say it is one of the hardest things to try and limit yourself to pick a few of your favourite songs, hence why I picked 10 instead of 8 or 5. So I’ll go for The Foo Fighters track Everlong. There are also a lot of tracks from this band which I love. I have been lucky enough to witness them play live at Wembley stadium. Dave Grohl is a very good front man and knows exactly how to get the crowd going as well as writing some classic and brilliant songs.
So just to recap.
1) Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
2) Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
3) Is there anybody out there - Pink Floyd
4) As dust dances 2/15ths - Biffy Clyro
5) Man who sold the world - Nirvana
6) Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons
7) On Call - Kings of Leon
8) Little black submarines - The Black Keys
9) Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs
10) Everlong - Foo Fighters
So that concludes my list of songs I’d have if stranded on a desert island. I have included YouTube links to the songs which are some of my favourite of all time. I hope if you haven’t heard them you have a listen and if you already know them you enjoy listening to them as much as I do. Feel free to respond with a list of a few of yours favourites. I challenge you to list as few as possible. Trust me it’s a dilemma, even if a light hearted one.
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