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!
It was a trip arranged by the French department at my college and by Ecole Klesse, a French language school in Montpellier. During the week we stayed with French families in Montpellier and attended the Ecole, and during the weekend we explored Carcassonne, Arles and Saintes Maries de la Mer.
For me it was a formative experience which I feel improved my French, made me fall in love with the south of France and - cliché coming - helped me grow as a person.
I was a volunteer for my college's TV station and I really wanted to make a film of the trip. So I did, and it can be found below.
I want to tell you about the five songs I used in this video, and why I used them.
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Firstly, Vélomoteur by Les Calamités, which is the first song playing and covers the Carcassonne part of the trip.
Like many of my favourite French songs, I first heard Vélomoteur on the brilliant Platine 45 compilation album that my brother and I have. It was one of the last songs I discovered on it, having simply never got around to listening to it before. When I did hear it, it was shortly before the trip, and I just knew I had to use it.
I decided to use it as my opening song as it is so upbeat and I feel it puts the viewer in a positive mood from the start.
I chose this song whilst on the trip, as I could see ways in which I could tie the footage I already had to the song. For example, the mention of "going downtown" while my friends descended an elevator, "following the stars" for a night-time shot, and "book of wisdom" as my friends read the Montpellier newspaper.
If you can speak French then it's fairly self-explanatory: it's a song about going to the seaside and having a good time.
It was one of the songs featured at our college's French Music Club not long before the trip, and if I remember correctly we also sang it on one of the coach journeys during the trip itself - so it was reasonably well known to the group, which is another reason why I used it.
Finally, it's from 2010 - the film was made in 2011 - and I thought at least one song should be fairly current. So Toi et Moi it was.
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Fourthly, we have Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon, which I used for the aquarium section.
Around the time of the trip the song had featured on a TV ad, and as a result was fresh in people's minds; I seem to remember at least one member of the trip singing it to themself in France.
Another reason why I thought of this song for my soundtrack is the mention of the ship and the way I could tie that in nicely with the footage of the group in a ship simulator.
The music went with the footage even better than I had imagined, and those few seconds make up one of my favourite moments in the whole film.
I had heard this song a few times and quite liked it, but I only really sat down and listened to it just before making the film - maybe it was serendipity.
I was looking idly through songs I had on my computer, shortlisting ones for the film, and saw this one and thought it might be suitable. I listened to it through and knew then it was perfect for the film - and that it was more beautiful a song than I had ever realised.
Looking back at that final montage always makes me so happy that I had the opportunity to go on that amazing trip - and makes me want to go back to Montpellier!
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Go back I did, the next year - and of course, I made another film, which you can watch here:
I'm working on a blog post about the songs in this second film, so watch this space!
I hope you enjoyed this post,
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
Songs: Vélomoteur - Les Calamités - 1987
Joyride - Roxette - 1991
Toi et Moi - Guillaume Grand - 2010
Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon - 1984/5
These Are the Days of Our Lives - Queen - 1991
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
I am back at college after the long summer, and I am enjoying it.
Recently I have been listening to a lot of music by Deacon Blue, as well as by Céline Dion.
I also like some of the music that is in the charts at the moment, my favourite songs in the current Top 40 being Set Fire To the Rain by Adele, and The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga.
I have started to appreciate the sad but quite beautiful The A Team by Ed Sheeran; I didn't think a lot of it at first, but the I went to a party where I heard it a lot. I'm not complaining; I have really come to like this song.
And, of course, there is always Roxette. They are probably my favourite band, and I will never grow weary of hearing their amazing songs such as Almost Unreal, Dangerous, It Must Have Been Love, How Do You Do, Neverending Love and Soul Deep.
There are also the forgotten album tracks that I think are amazing and often better than their big hits.
These include: Turn To Me, From One Heart To Another and Secrets That She Keeps from their first album Pearls of Passion and Dance Away and Half a Woman, Half a Shadow from their second album (and arguably their breakthrough album) Look Sharp!.
There is also Small Talk and Perfect Day from Joyride and Bringing Me Down To My Knees from their 2001 album Room Service.
Here is Turn To Me; probably my favourite Roxette song of all time. It is so chirpy and hopeful, and Marie Fredriksson's voice is stunning, as always.
It's strange to think that this song was left off the original album of 1986, and was only included as a bonus track when Pearls of Passion was re-released in 1997.
I personally believe that Turn To Me is the best song on the album - a strong accolade from me, as I believe this whole album is a true gem, forgotten for too long.
It mixes the classic synth sounds and strong beats of the 80s with the unique Roxette sound, and in my opinion it may well be Roxette's finest album.
That's not to say I don't love the others! Roxette went from strength to strength, and are still doing so to this day. Here is one of their recent songs, wheich I love, especially the official video.
As you can see, I love Roxette, and I will probably tell their whole story on this blog sometime. For the time being, though, I'll sign off.
