Hello! As you may have guessed from the name of this blog, my name is Liz and I am fascinated by song lyrics. I hope you enjoy my waxing lyrical about lyrics and about music generally. I also review albums and gigs and have interviewed several wonderful musicians. Enjoy!
This blog post will be part music, part update of my life.
What's happened in my life recently?
I've nearly finished my first year of university. That went quick! I remember when I was blogging after hearing I had got a place at the University of Manchester - I was so happy.
And Uni didn't disappoint: I've had an amazing year including a trip to China, meeting some wonderful people, completing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award, organising an exhibition and learning German, among many other brilliant experiences.
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Now all my lectures and lessons have finished for the year; all I have left are exams. In fact, today I did my level one HSK exam, the internationally recognised Mandarin Chinese examination. I felt like it went well, touch wood, and I hope to progress through the different levels of HSK over the next couple of years.
We also had our Hall photos taken today, and it reminded me how proud I am to be a member of my wonderful Hall of Residence, where I have made some friends for life.
On Friday I went out for a German meal with my German class and it was lovely, and on the radio I heard I am what I am; I believe it was the Gloria Gaynor version, which I've been listening to a lot since.
I find it a really empowering song which reminds me that I can be whoever I want to be without worrying about what anybody thinks.
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In June I am going to see The Kennedys in concert, which should be a really nice treat - by then I'll have done the majority of my exams so it's something to look forward to at the end of all the hard work and revising!
Here is their song, "Listen."
I love this song, which I only discovered quite recently. They've produced some truly amazing music over the years. If you want to know more about The Kennedys you can check out my recent interview with them - another thing that I've done this year about which I'm really happy and proud.
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I mentioned in my last post on this blog that for me the next big excitement is the Eurovision Song Contest, which this year will be on 18th May in Malmö. As always I will be celebrating with my family; we will watch it together and have a Eurovision party. I'm really looking forward to it ♥
I think that's all I have to report for now so I'll leave you with a really lovely Eurovision song from Niamh Kavanagh: It's For You.
Beautiful song ♥
Thanks for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed this post.
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 - ????
It is Friday night and I have come home from Uni for the weekend. I have had a busy week - my first week of lectures and classes.
There have been some problems, mainly getting lost around the huge university, but on the whole I have enjoyed this week. I have had the chance to meet people doing the same subjects as me, and I have made some new friends.
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You never realise just how many people you will meet at university. People in your halls of residence, people in your classes, people in societies you have joined. It is amazing how many people you meet.
And although I feel like I must have met all the students in Manchester, I know in reality I can only have met a tiny percentage. It's amazing to think how many more friends there are out there for me to make, if I only meet them somehow. Ah well, fate often brings people together who were meant to end up in each others' lives.
"I do believe, love came our way, and fate did arrange for us to meet."
A line from Almost Unreal, one of my favourite songs by Roxette, who are one of my favourite bands. Actually, this song has been stuck in my head, not because I have been thinking of fate, but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on... it just floated into my head! Anyway, it is a brilliant song so I will share it with you.
"Yeah, come on and do the hocus pocus to me;
The way that you touch, you've got the power to heal."
I love Marie Fredriksson's voice! She is so beautiful and has an air of wisdom about her. The song is so incredible; I think it is one of the mist underrated songs I have ever come across. It is up there with the best ballads of the 90s.
And the video is so ahead of its time; it is technically stunning and you could think that it had been made today, rather than back in 1993.
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People are like songs; you can think you know all the ones worth knowing and then you discover one that is incredible and you wonder how you lived without it/them. That is my deep and meaningful observation for the day!
An example of a song I discovered just yesterday, and which I love very much already, is The Sun, Moon and Stars. The version I know is sung by Nanci Griffith, but the song was written by Vince Bell.
I love how she does a typical Nanci introduction to it - one of the things I love about Nanci Griffith is the way she introduces most of her live performances with a bit of information about the song, or an anecdote related to it.
They are so endearing, and teach you things about the song you never knew or realised, which make the song so much more special and dear to you.
And I may not have understood the exact meaning behind this song had she not said what she said at the beginning. A few words made everything so clear. It is a song about the importance of friendship, something I am very aware of at the moment. I will probably always associate this song with my starting university now!
Not that you would have found me, "drunken in a bar, with the fan turning," as I don't drink alcohol... But the message still stands that friends are one of the most amazing things we can have in our lives! Don't take your friends for granted. Never forget how amazing they are. Yes, I know I use the word amazing too much. It is my word. And here it is the right word; the only word that will do.
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Watching this video and listening to the song, I realised what people mean when they say Nanci has an angel's voice. I had always thought her voice was beautiful and powerful, but it was her songwriting rather than her voice that endeared her to me.
Seeing the way she interprets this song, the way she uses her voice so cleverly, so carefully, so sincerely to tell a story, to convey every ounce of emotion in her, to make every word beautiful and significant...
I realised listening to this just what an amazing gift she has vocally, that she can sing other peoples' songs as if they were her own story - and with this song you get the idea that she understands and empathises with every word. She is amazing. Nobody deserves higher praise than Nanci Griffith. She really is an angel.
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This song has also taught me not to be prejudiced and judge a song based on the first line - another life lesson that can be applied to people as well. I heard the beginning of the album version of The Sun, Moon and Stars once and I didn't think a lot of it, so I stopped listening.
The live version changed my mind, and so I listened to the album version again (from Late Night Grande Hotel) and I really like it - maybe not as much as the live one posted above, but it is a very beautiful and special song in its own way.
Nanci is one of those gifted few who can do an equally good job on a recorded and a live version of a song; making both incredible in their own right. I've said it before and I'll say it again: she is a genius.
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In other news, I have started the new term of my Mandarin Chinese course, and it was lovely seeing my friends from the course again. We meet once a week to learn Chinese, and I love it - the group is so friendly and we all get on really well.
Also, for those who have been keeping track of my Cornerhouse antics, tomorrow is the day we compile our shortlist of artists for the exhibition we are planning. I am really looking forward to getting back to Cornerhouse, and seeing my fellow curators Alex and Neetu again.
Our family friend Tommi is visiting, which is lovely. He lives in Germany and hopefully one day I will be able to converse with him in German - it is a language I have always wanted to learn and maybe now I am at Uni I will have the chance to.
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The moon is very bright tonight in Wigan; we were all looking at it through binoculars. Kind of fitting that I have written about a song called The Sun, Moon and Stars!
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
Songs: Almost Unreal - Roxette - 1993
The Sun, Moon and Stars - Nanci Griffith - album version 1991; live version here 1990
