Songs from China

 Hello! Ni hao!

 As you may know I spent three weeks in Beijing over Christmas and the New Year as part of a project called Study China, which is managed by my university. I have a blog about all my adventures there, which I hope you will enjoy.

 However, I also wanted to write a post on this music blog about songs I encountered in China - songs from China and also from other parts of the world - which I now cannot listen to without amazing memories flooding back of those three weeks in Beijing.

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 Firstly, I had a long journey to get there - three flights, which took me nearly a whole day. I travelled from Manchester to Amsterdam, which was a relatively short flight, then Amsterdam to Moscow. I then had a huge, eight-hour flight from Moscow to Beijing.

 I have trouble sleeping on planes - or on any kind of transport for that matter. I kept falling asleep then waking up and not knowing where I was and that wasn't very pleasant. One time I fell asleep and in waking up managed to spill my drink on myself.

 The bottom line is that it wasn't the most comfortable journey I've ever undertaken, but it was certainly an interesting experience, and it has made me feel more prepared for if I ever want to go to Australia or Canada or somewhere else that involves a really long flight.

 I tried to pass time by listening to some music, and there is one song that I listened to almost by proxy, as it came on my mp3 player after a song I liked and I couldn't be bothered to move past it, and I realised I liked this song more than I remembered. It is Desert Moon by Dennis DeYoung.

 My main criticism of this song in the past has been that it is cheesy - however, there are some occasions when cheesy music can actually make you feel better, and on this tiring flight, this song brought me some comfort. 

 My mp3 player was being odd and kept restarting it in the middle, so I became very well-accustomed to the first few bars of this song! (By the way, am I the only one who thinks the beginning of this song sounds very like that of "You're in Love" by Wilson Phillips?)

 It is inevitable that I will never be able to hear this song without remembering my voyage to China; sometimes you can preserve memories in a song better than just about anywhere else.

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 When I finally got to China, I got a taxi to our apartments within Beijing Normal University, found my room, slept a lot, and gradually got used to my immediate surroundings - a few shops and a student canteen which has the best yoghurt drinks I've ever had.

 I arrived on Saturday, and on Monday we had our Opening Ceremony. This song was playing, which I really liked - Liekkas by Sofia Jannok.

 If you are wondering, as I was at first, what language this is, it appears to be Sami. I liked this song when I first heard it and it has grown on me even more as I have listened to it since getting home - maybe because of all the memories it brings back. Thank you to Sally for letting me know the name of this song ♥

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 We settled into the routine of Mandarin language lessons in the morning, economics lectures some afternoons and activities such as calligraphy and tai chi in others. One afternoon when we were free we decided to go to the Silk Market, a big shopping centre/mall.

 A song that played on their sound system was Sitting Down Here by Lene Marlin.

 Another song I'd liked but not been passionate about, but hearing something familiar in such an unfamiliar place was somewhat reassuring, and I like this song a lot more now. I have also learnt through writing this that Lene Marlin is Norwegian; I had thought she was American.

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 At the end of our first full week in Beijing, a group of us went to a karaoke bar, and we had a great night. Hai, one of the BNU student volunteers, looked after us well, so Hai, if you're reading this, xiexie ♥ (to the non-Mandarin speakers, that means thank you).

 There were memorable renditions of many songs, but one song was especially interesting for me as I had never heard it before and really liked it, and that was 1973 by James Blunt.

 I don't know who chose this for karaoke (everyone kind of sung along to everything rather than someone picking a song then singing it by themself), but whoever you are I am very grateful as you introduced me to a song that I now really love and which enters my head at odd times and reminds me of Beijing and that night at karaoke ♥

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 Another song that featured at karaoke is L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. by Noah and the Whale.

 I had known and liked this song before Study China, but now I love it, and it has so many memories attached to it of good times in Beijing. It got properly stuck in my head for the rest of the trip and I kept absent-mindedly singing it... It's a brilliant song.

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 We then had Christmas, which was wonderful, if a bit surreal. We went to a restaurant and then played pool, and it was a lovely night.

 Boxing night I went with some friends to a bar on campus called Laker's. The lads danced to Gangnam Style - about which I will talk more later on! - and another song that played was a Korean version of Maria by Blondie. 

 I was not keen on the Korean version - the key was changed which I felt affected the whole feel and dynamic of the song. However, it reminded me of how much I love the original, which I will share here.

 I talk more about this song in my blog post, "Four songs and a dragon" - feel free to check it out.

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 I was ill for a few days, and listened to a lot of songs on my mp3 player while I lay in bed wishing I was well and could join in the cool excursions the others had planned to the Temple of Heaven and Tianjin.

 New Year's Eve came, and found us in Laker's, which was by now a favourite haunt of many of the group. 

 I spent some time there and then headed back to our apartments, where some of the others were watching a film - Miss Congeniality - so I joined them and enjoyed a really lovely night.

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 In the next few days we climbed the Great Wall, went to a Korean restaurant, visited Olympic Park and the Bird's Nest and saw a Kung Fu show. 

 We finished our presentations for economics class, had one last meal out together, sat our mock HSK exam - I got 195 out of 200! - and then, suddenly, it was the Closing Ceremony. Time had flown so fast.

 Again, Liekkas was playing, which made for a nice full circle from the Opening Ceremony and the start of our adventure. We could reflect on all we'd achieved. Then each of the three Mandarin classes performed a song we had been practising. Here is each of our performances with the original song:

Beijing Huanying Ni

This is my group!

Dan Yuan Ren Chang Jiu

 There are various versions of this song, but the one above is by Chinese singer Faye Wong. The name she was born with, however, is Wang Fei, which is also the name of one of our brilliant Mandarin teachers!

Dui Mian De Nu Hai Kan Guo Lai

 After the formal ceremony, there was a lot of taking photos together, and then we set off for - where else? - Laker's! 

 We had a lovely last night, with lots of music and dancing, and two songs stuck out for me. 

 One was Lonely by Akon, which was played in the bar and which suited how I felt at the time - not that I was lonely; I was surrounded by friends. But it was the last night and I felt really sad that it was ending. I felt like my mixed feelings were reflected in the bittersweet song.

 The other song was, of course, Gangnam Style. Here is the original:

 Here is our, far superior, version.

 I have about four different Gangnam Styles recorded from our time in Beijing, and I think I will make a mash-up of them; should be fun!

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 The journey home was a lot more comfortable than the journey out, I am pleased to say. I watched American Beauty on the aeroplane's entertainment system, except the end was cut off because the plane landed before I could finish. So I will have to finish that film sometime.

 Then I was home, sweet home and I slept for a long time. I have so many wonderful memories of my three weeks in Beijing, and would encourage anyone who is thinking of applying for Study China to go for it as it really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience ♥

 Thanks for reading!

 Liz x

Songs: Desert Moon - Dennis DeYoung - 1984

Liekkas - Sofia Jannok - ????

Sitting Down Here - Lene Marlin - 1999

1973 - James Blunt - 2007

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale - 2011

Maria - Blondie - 1998/9

Beijing Huanying Ni - various artists - 2008

Dan Yuan Ren Chang Jiu - Faye Wong - ????

Dui Mian De Nu Hai Kan Guo Lai - Richie Ren - ????

Lonely - Akon - 2005

Gangnam Style - PSY - 2012

Remembering Frank Christian

 Hello dear readers,

 It has been brought to my attention just today that Frank Christian died on Christmas Eve.

 He was a singer-songwriter and amazing guitarist about whom I'm sad to say I don't actually know that much, except that he wrote a song that is very special to me: Three Flights Up.

 The version with which I am familiar is the suberb live one below with Frank doing some terrific work on the guitar and Nanci Griffith's beautiful vocals.

 It is such a pretty song; simple yet so effective. I love the music and the story in the lyrics. I often wonder if it's a true story from Frank's life, that he once lived or stayed somewhere so special to him that he was inspired to write a song about it.

 It is an important song for me personally because I first discovered it just after returning from a brilliant college trip to Montpellier in the south of France in 2011. I had stayed in an apartment that may well have been three flights up, or it may have been two, I can't remember. But there were certainly a lot of stairs. 

 And far from being a chore, it was a pleasure to walk up those stairs every day because I knew I was going to the apartment which I came very quickly to love and see as a real home-from-home.

 In fact walking up those stone steps; the sounds echoing in the stairwell; the promise of my destination: that is one of the clearest and dearest memories I have from that trip, and in fact from Montpellier (which I have since been back to) generally. 

 When I replay this scene in my head I often get a little twinge inside and wish I could be back there. I feel that a part of me lives on in Montpellier; that this city will always be a part of my life. I love it so much.

 Three Flights Up never fails to make me think of Montpellier now; a city I love and the adventure of a lifetime that first time I visited. It is a beautiful song, one I can empathise with so much. Thank you, Frank Christian. May you rest in peace.

 Thank you for reading,

 Liz x

Song: Three Flights Up - Nanci Griffith - 1993

Starring on Steve Wright!

 Dear readers,

 On Tuesday I was made extremely happy by the fact that my Oldies were featured on Steve Wright's Non-Stop Oldies on BBC Radio 2 in the afternoon!

 Here is a link to the show - my Oldies start at about 1 hour 3 minutes into the broadcast.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pt4sg

 I thought I would talk you through my Oldies, why I chose them and what they mean to me.

 Firstly, First Time (very apt for the first song) by Robin Beck.

 I first heard this song on one of the music channels on TV, and I really liked it - it is very much the archetypical 80s love song: big-haired, big-voiced singer; moody video; strong beat and a really catchy tune. I love the lyrics and find them a lot deeper and more sensitive than many 80s love songs; I particularly like:

"Like a break in the clouds, in the first ray of sun, 

I can feel it inside; something new has begun."

 And, 

"It's an uncharted sea, it's an non-opened door, 

But you gotta reach out, and you gotta explore."

 I love this song; I had forgotten about it for a bit and then something recently reminded me of it and I fell in love with it a second time. Brilliant song. And I'm glad they put it on first out of the Oldies; whether it was an intentional pun or not, it amused me.

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 Secondly, we have the Rah Band and Clouds Across the Moon. 

I first heard this at the gym, on some mix-tape they had of old songs. I'd hear snippets and really liked the chorus, but with machines whirring it was hard to hear the rest of it properly, so I went home and looked it up. 

 I really liked the song when I heard it through; however this was on Spotify, so I remained blissfully unaware of the bizarre video until I finally thought of looking for it on YouTube.

 Though I do think the end of the video is really touching; you can see her despair at having to wait a whole year to hear her loved one's voice again.

 Some people may see this as some sort of novelty song - a woman calling her husband who is fighting a space war is certainly an interesting concept - but I think it stands on its own as a really good song, novelty or otherwise. Certainly, as Steve says, there "doesn't seem to be a hint of irony." 

 I like to think this song is a serious exploration of what a space war could mean for the people left on Earth. To be honest this song could be used as an exploration of war generally and its effect on civilians; before I heard this properly I did think it was about a woman talking to her soldier husband in a more conventional war.

 I also found out that the singer is called Liz! ♥

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 Next we have Maria Vidal with Body Rock.

 I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard this - doesn't that tend to be the way with songs that are special to us? I first heard Body Rock while on the way to badminton practice one night; we were driving past the DW Stadium except it was probably the JJB at the time; I remember the song reminded me of Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge at the time, though now I can't hear that much of a similarity.

 It was me and my Mam in the car and I think I remarked to her that I liked this song; it has since been played on many car journeys. It just makes me want to dance! Not easy in a car, I know, but when I listen to it at home I do confess that I usually end up dancing about to it.

 This seems to have been Maria Vidal's only big hit; I think it's a shame as she had a lot of potential. She was pretty in a way that seems far more natural than some other female pop singers of the era and she had a really nice and quite unusual voice. 

 I think she wrote this song, though I don't know for definite; if so she is a talented songwriter. I'm surprised she didn't achieve greater success in the 80s, as this is another song that epitomises the 80s for me!

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 The next of my Oldies is Crazy For You by Madonna.

 I included this in my choices partly for my Mam, as it is one of her favourite songs, and also for myself as I love it too, and as I like a lot of Madonna's music I was keen that she be represented in my Oldies. 

 I love her voice so much in this song, and she looks so beautiful in the video. The production of this record is also gorgeous; from the beginning it it just a real pleasure on the ears. 

 In fact, the beginning of this song is one of my favourite song-beginnings, and it is pretty unmistakeable, especially in the video where it starts with an alarm clock ringing!

 Whenever I see the video I ponder watching Vision Quest, the film featured, but never actually get around to it. If anybody has seen it and could let me know whether it is any good, that would be much appreciated.

 Regardless of the merits of the film, Crazy For you is a really beautiful song and one of my favourite Madonna songs, as well as one of my favourite love songs of the 80s.

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 My next Oldie is Ella Elle L'a (Ella, she has it) by the French chanteuse France Gall.

 As you may have guessed from the fact that she features in the video, this song is a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. It was written by France Gall's husband Michel Berger. I love how happy and carefree France looks in this video, dancing around and looking like she is having a really good time - in her early career she came across as rather shy and demure, but here she seems to be coming out of her shell.

 I love this song; I discovered it when looking for French music to listen to sometime when I was at sixth-form college and a combination of my really inspiring French teacher and a wonderful college trip to Montpellier in the south of France made me really love French culture, music included. As well as France Gall I love Jean-Jacques Goldman, Lio, Niagara and many other French or Quebecois musicians and bands.

 Steve Wright commented on how high he finds France Gall's voice to be; I don't find it particularly high but maybe that is just because I am used to it as I have listened to this song so many times. Anyway, high or low I really love her voice and this remains one of my favourite songs in any language.

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 Next is R.E.M. with Bad Day.

 I have already done a blog post discussing this among other R.E.M. songs, which can be found by clicking above; however to re-iterate, I really like this song; it was one I heard and loved years ago, then lost, then rediscovered and now love as much as ever. And the video is really original and quirky; clearly a lot of effort went into the making of it. I love this song and always end up singing along to it!

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 My penultimate Oldie is Don Henley with The Boys of Summer, which was my favourite song for a while when I was in early high school, maybe 12 or 13 years old.

 We were doing some sort of project in our Music lessons about DJs, and I did DJ Sammy, and through doing so found his version of this song, which brought me right back to finishing primary school, when people were singing it on karaoke - either that or we were just listening to the song, I can't remember - but it was certainly popular at the time and I really liked it. 

 I then heard it in a bowling alley on one of our high school bowling trips, and wondered who sung it. I found out through doing my DJ project, and I re-listened to it and enjoyed it. Seeing that it was a remix of an older song by Don Henley, I listened to the original, convinced I couldn't like it more than the remix. I was wrong. It became my favourite song and I listened to it endlessly.

 The fact that the original is sung by a man makes the sentiment a lot nicer, I feel - the DJ Sammy one seems to be a woman declaring without much shame that she is cheating on her lover but still expects him to be there for her "when the boys of summer have gone," whereas the Don Henley version seems to be a man bitterly acknowledging that his lover is cheating on him but saying he'll always love her and will still be there for her at the end of it all.

 I still love this song and it was lovely to hear it on the radio and to share it with the listeners of Radio 2.

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 My final Oldie is Is This Love? by Alison Moyet, which, again, was my favourite song for a bit - it may still be my favourite song. I have trouble deciding on a favourite at the minute, but this is certainly in contention.

 I have a blog post all about my love for Alison Moyet in which I discuss this song and video, so feel free to check that out. For now I'll just say that I absolutely adore this woman and her music, and this song is so happy and upbeat, and the video just puts a smile on your face; they are all having so much fun on the beach. 

 And the dance they do at the beginning and end is contagious - I find myself doing the actions whenever I hear the song!

 I love Alison Moyet ♥ And I love that my selection of Oldies ends on such a happy note with this jolly little song.

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 I am really chuffed at my Oldies being chosen, and cannot stop listening to that half-hour of all my favourite music ♥ And I have a badge saying, "I chose the Non-Stop Oldies on Steve Wright in the Afternoon." I am very happy.

 I hope you have enjoyed listening to my Oldies as well - please feel free to add any comments below. 

 Thank you so much for reading my blog and letting me share with you the music I love.

 Liz x

Songs: First Time - Robin Beck - 1988

Clouds Across the Moon - Rah Band - 1985

Body Rock - Maria Vidal - 1984

Crazy For You - Madonna - 1985

Ella Elle L'a - France Gall - 1987

Bad Day - R.E.M. - 2003

The Boys of Summer - Don Henley - 1984

Is This Love? - Alison Moyet - 1986

 Lots of 80s songs - I clearly love 80s music! ♥

 Thanks for reading x