A few more JSC songs

 Hello!

 You may remember that in July last year I started a song challenge. I used the prompts from a photo challenge but chose songs for them instead.

 I never finished this challenge due to travelling and generally being busy, but I had an unfinished post with three days worth which I just stumbled upon and thought I should post so it wouldn't be wasted. Here it is.

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 Prompt 2: Shoes

 I've picked Diamonds on the Souls of her Shoes by Paul Simon.

 I used to like this song but it always came second to You Can Call Me Al - recently, however, they seem to have switched places in my affections. It's just so upbeat and a song you want to run down the street dancing to. Well I do, anyway.

 It's also a song I imagine being played at the end of a film; an everything's-turned-out-okay kind of song. If I ever write a film I might include it.

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 Prompt 3: Cold

 I've picked Sun Burns Gold by Maura Kennedy.

 I've mentioned the Kennedys often on this blog and have even have the honour of interviewing them - I simply love their music. Sun Burns Gold is a solo effort by Maura and I found it on Retrospective, their best-of album on which I just keep finding new and wonderful songs.

 In the song, Maura describes very vividly and beautifully the wintery scene around her and wishes summer would come. It's an ode to the summer - yet it's an ode to the winter at the same time. It's very cleverly done.

 In the instrumental in the above live clip she does amazing things with her voice. I don't think this is as prominent in the album version where the instrumental is mainly the guitar, but it is still a lovely instrumental, simple but very powerful. All in all, I really like this song and am glad I found it.

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 Prompt 4: Red, white or blue

 I have chosen Red, and The Right Thing by Simply Red for my song.

 I first encountered this song on the way to college in the car - the fact that I was going by car rather than bus suggests I had an exam that day, and I have a strange feeling it may have been biology, though I can't say for sure.

 I have since been a big fan of this song. One of the top comments on YouTube says the best bit of the song is the key change at the end, but I actually much prefer the sound of it before the key change. The key change sounds like Stars a bit too much! Before that it sounds so sophisticated and jazzy and is a unique song, I feel.

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 So there you have it; days 2-4 of the challenge. I had picked songs for other prompts but hadn't written about them; maybe I will sometime. For now, I hope you enjoyed my song selection.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes - Paul Simon - 1986

Sun Burns Gold - Maura Kennedy - 2010

Simply Red - The Right Thing - 1987

Still following...

 Hello, my dear readers!

 I'm sorry that I haven't been able to post much recently, but I've had a very busy summer with various projects to complete and two wonderful holidays in Wales and Germany.

 I'm looking forward to the start of the new academic year - my second year at Uni! I remember my first post on this blog after I started Uni last year. How time flies! It really doesn't feel like a year ago.

 I wanted to share with you a song that has sort of defined this summer for me - I discovered it in May or June and have been listening to it since.

 It is... Follow You Follow Me by Genesis.

 It stirs up such emotion in me... It's so beautiful. The words, the singing, the music and the production are all brilliant.

 Listening to it now, I've realised just how many memories are now attached to it for me. I think it will always make me happy and remind me of the summer of 2013.

 I hope you enjoyed this post; you can look forward to me posting much more often in the weeks to come.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Song: Follow You Follow Me - Genesis - 1978

D of E, birthdays and Lio and Jacky

 Hello, my dear blog readers!

 I have just completed my final Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition! It was an amazing experience. I was in a lovely group of four, and we became very close over the four days of walking and camping.

 We were in the Lake District and we saw some beautiful scenery, stunning views, quaint little towns and all sorts of wildlife and livestock, including llamas!

 It was such a challenge, and I felt such a sense of achievement when we had got through the four days - never had I been so pleased to see the Keswick Pencil Museum (our finishing point)!

 It was very hard work, but so enjoyable, especially in the evenings on the campsites when we would sit around as a group eating, chatting and getting to know one another.

 It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I almost wish I could do it all over again! Hopefully I can do more camping expeditions in the future.

 This week has been a week of birthdays for me - about seven people I know have had birthdays in the last three days. If you're reading this and it's been your birthday recently, or it will be soon, then I wish you a very happy birthday! I hope you have a wonderful year ahead of you, full of joy and love and happiness ♥

 Now that I have finished my D of E expeditions, I feel as though the summer holidays have started for me, and I can now relax and enjoy myself for the next few weeks! I will try to update this blog as often as possible.

 I've been listening to some French 80s music, and one of my favourites has to be Tétéou by Lio and Jacky.

 This was one of many brilliant French 80s songs I discovered through the Platine 45 compilation CD which my brother and I have been listening to for years.

 Jacky was the presenter of the 80s French music show Platine 45, which gives its name to the CD. Lio was a huge star of French 80s music - I am a fan of hers, and will probably do a full post about her soon. 

 The unlikely pair teamed up for this bit of 80s madness, which I just love - the dancing especially! The video was supposedly filmed in someone's loft! I just love this song and video. It defines what 80s music was all about.

 Au revoir pour le moment

 Thanks for reading

 Liz x

 If you enjoyed this post I recommend: Bonjour!, ♥ Martika ♥, Eurovision 2012 Countdown: The "Divine" France, Sign of the Times, ♥ I've Been in Love Before ♥ and Zumba and Stooshe.

Song: Tétéou - Lio and Jacky - Sometime in the 80s! Can't find the actual year anywhere.

My songs of the summer: Part 2

 Hello!

 I said I would update this blog ages ago, and I'm sorry that I haven't, but I've been on a spontaneous holiday.  As you do. More about that later.

 Anyway, I'm ready to finish my, "Songs of the summer," post now, but first I wanted to say something - that it was with huge shock and sadness that I learned of the death of Amy Winehouse last Saturday.

 She was an amazing singer and songwriter, and she died so young - it is such a horrible thing to happen. My thoughts are with her family and friends, and I know without a doubt that because of the wonderful music that she gave to the world, she will never be forgotten.

 I will now continue my blog entry on my songs of the summer.

 After my visits to Oxford and Cambridge, and to Newcastle, I had a couple of weeks at home just relaxing, catching up with some fantastic friends of mine, and commuting to and from Manchester once a week for a project I am part of there.

 During this time, I rediscovered this song, after hearing it on the radio:

 It is even better than I remembered it to be, and I had it in my head for quite a while. I love the chorus, and the beat of the whole song - it is so 80s, and I love 80s music.

 This next song I heard twice in a few days; once was on the radio in a shop; I can't remember when I heard it the other time, but it was probably on the radio somewhere. 

                                       

 Anyway, I remember enjoying this when it first came out, and wanting Rebecca to win the talent competition in the video.

 I still don't know whether it was ever a real contest, or meant to be a spoof of reality TV shows generally. Either way, I think the video is really clever, and is always a pleasure to watch.

 I also love the song - it has a real message of hope. I now think if I was ever feeling unhappy, I would probably listen to this song to cheer me up. It's wonderful.

 Anyway; the spontaneous holiday: I went to the Lake District with my family for a few days. It was a lovely trip; we visited some incredible places, including Honister Pass, which I find to be one of the most magical places in the world.

 At some point someone made some comment; I think it was about mountains, and it reminded me of this: another 80s classic.

 If you don't like it the first time you hear it, then I advise that you listen to it again - I didn't think much of this song the first time round, but when I subsequently listened to it, it became one of my favourite songs of the 80s. Funny how things work out like that sometimes.

 When I got home after a brilliant holiday, I listened to some Deacon Blue songs. 

 I love Deacon Blue - here are some of my favourites:

                                                                                                           

                                           

                                           

   

 I only found out after researching these songs for this blog that Love and Regret, Wages Day and Fergus Sings the Blues are from the same album: When the World Knows Your Name, released in 1989. Maybe I just have a taste for the style and tone of music they were producing at that particular time.

 So... these are the songs I have enjoyed listening to so far this summer.

 I hope you enjoy them too.

 From now on I will try to add to this blog as often as I can.

 Thank you very much for reading my blog.

 Liz x

Songs: The Power of Love - Huey Lewis and the News (1985)

           Something Beautiful - Robbie Williams (2003)

           St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr (1985)

           Love and Regret - Deacon Blue (1989)

           Dignity - Deacon Blue (1987)

           Wages Day - Deacon Blue (1989)

           Fergus Sings the Blues - Deacon Blue (1989)

My songs of the summer

 Hi!

 I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this blog for quite a while. I will now do my best to blog as regularly as possible.

 This summer I have been listening to several songs, some old and some new.

 First, as my college year was ending and I was spending a lot of time editing videos, I rediscovered this song. I was looking through music I had so I could choose music for a video I was making, and I found this.

 I had heard this already, but just bits of it. When I heard the whole thing, it enchanted me. It is just so beautiful.

 Therefore it didn't really surprise me to find that the song was written by Diane Warren, the American songwriter who wrote many songs that I like, such as "Because You Loved Me," "There You'll Be," "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," and, "If I Could Turn Back Time," songs made famous by, respectively, Céline Dion, Faith Hill, Starship and Cher.

 In the end I didn't use this song in my video; it wasn't really appropriate for it; but I was so glad that through my video project I had rediscovered this lovely song that I had overlooked for so long.

 Between college ending and the start of my summer holidays, I went on a college trip to see the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. We stayed one night in each city. In Oxford, a group of my friends and I were having a sort of party in one of our rooms, and someone played this song which they had on their iPod, on an iPod docking station so we could all hear it.

                                         

 I don't know if I had heard it before. It did sound vaguely familiar. But I really liked it, and I remember thinking, "I must look that song up when I get home."

 And I did, and I have listened to it many times since. Not only is it a really nice song, but it reminds me of the amazing trip to Oxford and Cambridge; of the great time I had there, of the old friends I got to spend time with, and the new friends I made.

 Just after this trip, I was on a car journey and I heard this:

                                     

 Normally I don't have much interest in Lady Gaga's music, but for some reason I really like this. It might be the really catchy chorus, the passion with which she sings the song, the 1980s-esque video, or the sublime saxophone solo by the late, great Clarence Clemons; or probably it is a combination of all of these factors. I just love this song.

 There are a few other songs that have been important to me this summer so far, and I will try to add them to this blog tomorrow.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

 Songs: How Do I Live - LeAnn Rimes

            In This City - Iglu and Hartly

            The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga