Review: Roxette - Look Sharp!

 Hello all!

 I am very pleased to have had a write-up of Roxette's classic album Look Sharp! published by The Mancunion. I hope you enjoy it!

 All the best,

 Liz x

Eurovision 2014: My two winners

 Hello, everyone!

The Calm After the Storm (photo by me)

 It's now been a week since Eurovision, and I'm pleasantly surprised that no less than four of its songs are in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart.

 Calm After the Storm, the Netherlands' song, is at number 9, Rise Like a Phoenix,the winning song from Austria, is at 17, the UK's entry, Children of the Universe, is at 23 and Swedish entry Undo is at 40.

 For me, this a a brilliant sign for Eurovision; that its songs are making their way into the daily lives of British people. They aren't things to be listened to as a one-off, but something to be enjoyed and valued.

 However, I am a bit sad that Malta's entry, Coming Home, hasn't yet made the Top 40. It and Calm After the Storm were definitely my two favourites, and both received a vote from me. I'm now going to talk a bit more about these two songs and why I love them.

♥☂✿

 I will start by debauching any perception anyone may have that, as both songs are folk/country songs, I only like Eurovision songs in this style. This is untrue.

 Some of my favourite ESC songs over the years have been pop, rock or semi-opera, and there are many folksy entries that I haven't liked; Latvia's entry this year, Bake a Cake, comes to mind.

 No, the reason I like Calm After the Storm and Coming Home are that they are both great songs, independent of one another of of their musical style.

♥☂✿

 Firstly, Coming Home by Firelight.

 Before hearing the sing itself, I heard a tiny bit of this on a recap of songs and I just knew I would like it. When I heard it through, I liked it even more than I had anticipated, and it became my favourite song in the competition. I also love the video; it's very moving and relevant for the Centenary of World War I.

 Commentators in the UK compared Firelight more than once to Mumford and Sons, but I don't hear that much of a resemblance. I agree with other comparisons, though - to Gary Barlow (Let Me Go) and One Direction (Story of my Life). 

 Despite these similarities, I think this song stands alone and is much better than any of the things it's been compared to!

 I'm really glad the UK gave several points to Malta, though I wish the song had achieved a better placing by the end (it came 23rd). It's certainly a song I'll listen to again and again, long after this year's Eurovision fever has sizzled out.

♥☂✿

 Secondly, Calm After the Storm by the Common Linnets. 

 I really glad to see this reach the UK Top 10; I had had a hunch that it would do well in our charts.

 When I first heard it, I thought it was a very average country song, but pretty enough. I hoped it would do well as it was so different and would be a refreshingly different winner. 

 However, it really grew on me in the two days between its semi-final and the final, and I liked it so much in the final that it received my second vote. I now like it even more: it is a real grower.

 I was really glad to see it receive so many 10s and 12s; it's really not your typical Eurovision winner and I had worried it would be overlooked, but instead it did incredibly well, eventually coming second. 

 I hope this is the beginning of a successful international career for both members of the Common Linnets, Ilse deLange and Waylon. They are already big in their own country; in fact, Ilse is a current coach on the Dutch version of the Voice (which I've just found out was the very first version of the show!).

♥☂✿

 I wish these two bands the very best for the future, and hope they will turn out to be Eurovision success stories, like Abba and Céline Dion. Even if they don't, I doubt their wonderful Eurovision offerings will ever be forgotten. They are a pair of songs with true longevity.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

♥☂✿

Songs: Coming Home - Firelight - 2014

Calm After the Storm - The Common Linnets - 2014

In these cities: The songs from my second French trip film

 Hello! Bonjour!

 In 2011 I went to the south of France with my sixth-form college, a trip that changed my life. I made a film about it, and wrote a blog post about the songs I used in the film. In 2012, I returned there and had another great trip. Again, I made a film, and in this post I will let you know the stories behind the songs I used.

✈ ☀ ✈

 The first song I used, for the Montpellier segment of the film, is "In This City" by Iglu & Hartly.

 I first discovered this song on a trip to Oxford, and I thought of it for the film as its chorus describes perfectly how I feel about Montpellier:

"And I know that down here, in this city,

That I won't disappear in this city,

I have nothing to fear in this city..."

 I adore Montpellier and would love to live there some day. It is definitely my favourite city. I have even written a novel set there. It just seems to be to have its own vibe, its own air even. I find it to be a truly unique place.

✈ ☀ ✈

 The second song in the film covers Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Montpellier's Mare Nostrum Aquarium. It is "I've been in love before" by Cutting Crew.

 I first discovered this song on a family trip to London when I was sixteen. We were driving through a very green neighbourhood with lots of trees, and now hearing the song always brings me back there. We went on to visit Hampton Court Palace, somewhere I'd dreamed of going for a long time as I was fascinated by the Tudors. It was a wonderful trip.

 I rediscovered this by chance when I was making my film and tried it with the beach photos, not really expecting it to work - but it really did. So I kept it, and now I really like this part of the film - it may be my favourite part.

 I did a post with a bit more about why I love this song.

✈ ☀ ✈

 The third and final song covers Carcassonne, and is "Famille" by Jean-Jacques Goldman.

 I first encountered this song when I was exploring Goldman's music - I did a post all about it. When it came to the film, this was probably the easiest song to choose: throughout the trip, the group had referred to each other as "ma deuxième famille" - "my second family." So I thought of this song right away. 

 Plus, it's a nice song to end the film on: it has that "ending" feel to it, but in a happy, celebratory way, rather than a sad, "it's over" kind of way.

✈ ☀ ✈

 Overall, I really like the film. I had a limited amount of time in which to finish it - much less than I had for the first film - and I worried at the time that it wouldn't be able to match the first one. However, I think I managed it, and the music was a huge part of that.

 I hope you like the film and the songs,

 Thanks for reading!

 Liz x

Songs: In This City - Iglu & Hartly - 2008

I've Been in Love Before - Cutting Crew - 1986

Famille - Jean-Jacques Goldman - 1985

Good news!

 Hello!

 I have had a poem about music published in Miracle e-zine! If you click on the green link it will take you to the website; then click on the magazine under "Issue 6" and go to page 77!

 Here is a direct link to my poem.

 I am very chuffed - I dream of being a professional writer and this is definitely a step in that direction!

 Thanks for reading

 Liz x

Finding Marcella Detroit

 Hello readers!

 I recently had a great revelation regarding Marcella Detroit. This revelation may seem obvious to some but I simply hadn't put two and two together. I had always known her as the singer of I Believe, a song that played throughout my childhood, but I've only just found out that she was also in Shakespears Sister.

 This is largely to do with the fact that I had never seen her singing I Believe and at one point I thought from her voice that she was black. When I found out she was white it was via a tiny picture that wasn't sufficient to make me realise that she and that woman who sings the bulk of "Stay" were one and the same.

 I had even seen comments on the video of Stay on YouTube referencing "Marcella"... the penny just didn't drop until I recently looked Shakespears Sister up and saw her name, and thought "of course..." and when I thought about it, I realised it was the same beautiful voice I had heard on both these songs that I loved.

♪♥♫

 "I Believe" is featured on a compilation album named Girls and Guitars that I was brought up with; it was played in our car on long journeys and on lazy summer days sitting in the garden. When I got my own mp3 player I put the album on it.

 I now know the complete track order despite the fact that my mp3 player doesn't recognise it and so it just says "track 1, track 2" etc. I Believe is track 7. It's followed by "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips, another favourite of mine, so I often used to listen to the two as a unit.

 I mainly associate this song with a memory from my youth of us driving down a sunny motorway. However, I inadvertently created another special memory for myself when I played this song on the way from the university we had been staying at to the airport when I was leaving Beijing after studying there for three weeks in winter 2012/13.

 I remember the silent city rolling past the windows in the still-dark early morning, and the sadness I felt at leaving it. And this song was playing.

 I had felt guilty about listening to music, thinking that maybe I should focus all of my attention on my last views of Beijing. However, now I realise that music can strengthen memories, and I'm sure that without linking them to I Believe my memories of that final journey would not be as strong.

♫♥♪

 Stay is a song that I probably will have heard when I was younger as it seems to have been a 90s classic; however only last year did I hear it properly, with a critic's ear. 

 It was on a music channel on TV, on some sort of countdown of ballads, and I remember thinking at first that it was rather generic but still a good song. It has since grown on me hugely.

 The opening lyrics especially feel very poignant for me:

"If this world is wearing thin, and you're thinking of escape..."

 Haven't we all felt like our world is wearing thin, and thought of escape? By escape I don't mean death, which from the video may be what the song is referring to; I rather mean retreating from things and pretending the world doesn't exist, or perhaps physically running away. 

 If I'm feeling down I often find myself playing this song in my head and thinking of the people who would be my Marcella and want me to stay; to hold on, to try to be happy.

 Siobhan Fahey is great in Stay as well, and as Shakespears Sister was her project it wouldn't be right not to acknowledge her. However, for me Marcella makes this song; her voice and the emotion in her performance are just incredible.

♪♥♫

 So, Marcella Detroit has gone for me from being a bodiless voice - but a brilliant one - to somebody I can envisage and I actually already knew... life is strange sometimes. 

 Thank you for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: I Believe - Marcella Detroit - 1994

Stay - Shakespears Sister - 1992

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.

♥

 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.

♥

 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 ♥

♥

 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.

♥

 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 ♥

♥

 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.

♥

 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.

♥

 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.

♥

 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!

♥

 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

Life begins at 50

 Hello, world!

 This is a very special blog post... it is the fiftieth post on this blog!

 In the very first post I did, way back in March 2011, I mentioned some of my favourite songs lyrics-wise. I decided that between this post and the next one I will listen again to these songs and and see how I feel about them now, almost a year and a half after I made that list.

 I will also see if, through keeping this blog, I have discovered any other songs that deserve to join that list. I'm sure there are many! But I am looking for the very best for my lyrics hall of fame.

 The first song I mentioned in that list was Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon.

 I remember when I first heard this song, it was while in the car flicking through 80s songs on the mp3 player I had at the time. It included a few 80s albums on which I wasn't sure what half the songs were because it hadn't recognised the album and just called the songs, Track 1, Track 2 etcetera. I was listening through them to see what they all were when I discovered this song, which I don't think I had heard before.

 I thought it must be Candle in the Wind by Elton John. I wasn't familiar with said song at the time, and I decided this must be it as I thought I heard the line, "You're a candle in the wind". I'd also heard Candle in the Wind being hyped about and as this song was amazing, I thought this must be the song.

 I turned out to be wrong on several counts. The line was, "You're a candle in the window." The song was Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon. Candle in the Wind isn't an 80s song so probably wouldn't have been on that album anyway. And I've since heard Candle in the Wind and don't think much of it, which is a shame because I sort of want to like it.

 Anyway, the bottom line is that I discovered a song that I really loved, and that I still love. Since I wrote that blog post in March last year, Can't Fight This Feeling has been featured in a TV advert in the UK for - I think - yoghurt which has a cow running along a beach dreaming of being a horse. The ad is certainly memorable, and I think that may have brought the song to a new audience as I heard one of my friends my age singing it around that time.

 In July 2011, this song took on a huge new significance and poignancy to me, as I used it in the film I made of my college trip to France, and now listening to the song evokes so many amazing memories of that wonderful trip. Here is my film, in case you are interested - Can't Fight This Feeling begins about seven minutes and fifty seconds into the film.

 I chose this song for the aquarium segment of the film because I could see direct links between the lyrics - les paroles in French - and some of the things that happened in the aquarium, for example the reference to the ship. I also loved the general tune and sentiment of the song, and wanted to use it as part of my record of our trip.

 Now when I'm listening to the song and I get to the part where there's talking in the film, I subconsciously expect to hear that talking, and I always feel surprised when the music goes on and the talking doesn't occur! I love this song more than ever and it certainly retains its place as one of my favourite songs ♥

 "It's time to bring this ship in to the shore, and throw away the oars, forever..."

"My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you..."

♥

 The next song on my list was The Whole of the Moon, by the Waterboys.

 Well... There isn't much to say about this song, I feel. Yet there is a whole ocean of things to say... It is amazing. It is beautiful. It is perfect. It is a very, very special song to me. I love it. 

 I first heard it in the car - I'm pretty sure I can remember exactly which stretch of road we were driving along, and where we were going. It's the same for Can't Fight This Feeling! Not the stretch of road, but the fact that I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard both songs. Songs can be so powerful when it comes to bringing back memories attached to them.

 I love the lyrics to this song - I really hope that Mike Scott, who wrote and sung the song had a particular person in mind when he wrote those lyrics. There seems to be a lot of debate over who the song was written for, but all I care about is that he wrote it from his heart and with complete love and sincerity. That is when a superficial love song becomes a beautiful, evergreen love song.

 This is one of the songs I would most like to be able to sing in concert if ever I got a band together. I always envision a full orchestral arrangement with trumpets and violins and maybe even a choir to do the backing singing in the last verse.

 However, such powerful lyrics as these could hold their own in sung a cappella or just spoken... you could do so much with this song, so many different arrangements, and as long as you mean the lyrics and sing them with all the love and emotion you feel for that person is in your life who saw the whole of the moon, it will be something amazing.

 "I spoke about wings, you just flew.

I wondered and I guessed and I tried - you just knew.

I sighed, but you swooned,

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon."

♥

 The third song that was on my list of top songs lyrics-wise is Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits. As well as learning to spell their name properly - I was shocked to see, "Dire Straights" on that first post, which was swiftly corrected - I have been listening a lot to music by Dire Straits, with two particular songs being among my favourites: the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet, and Brothers in Arms. 

 I am planning to do a longer blog post involving Brothers in Arms soon, so for now I will just say that it is a song I have loved for a long time, and which think I can add to my lyrics hall of fame. As for Romeo and Juliet, I shared my thoughts on it as part of a blog post about love songs that I did last year, and I still love it.

♥

 The next two songs on my list are both by Fleetwood Mac: Songbird and Sara. I adore Songbird and have sung its praises in my blog post about the amazing Christine McVie (whom I love and who is one of my greatest influences musically). 

 Sara is a song that has been in my head a lot recently - maybe partly because I was planning to do this blog, but I think it may also be partly to do with the fact that in one of the novels I am trying to write (my dream is to have a book published one day, and I am working on several potential novels) there is a character called Sarah. 

 Her naming had nothing to do with the song; it's just a name I like. But writing about her often reminds me of the song.

 

"Wait a minute baby, stay with me a while, 

You said you'd give me light, but you never told me 'bout the fire."

 I always liked this song, but never as much as some other Fleetwood Mac songs such as Gypsy, Little Lies and Say You Love Me. However, I've recently come to like it a lot more. Stevie Nicks has the knack for making a song not just a song, but an experience... something you get completely sucked in to, and when it finishes you feel as if you've come out of a cinema into daylight; like you have been absorbed in a story; in a far away place. In another universe.

 The initial piano chords from Christine McVie have always reminded me of the church bells ringing out in my town, and whenever I hear them, this song comes straight to my head.

 "Sara, you're the poet in my heart,

You never change, and don't you ever start."

 I saw a documentary about Fleetwood Mac in which Stevie Nicks claimed that this song was written because she was having an affair with Mick Fleetwood, and then Mick Fleetwood ended up in a relationship with Stevie's friend Sara. The exact meaning of the lyrics of this song has always puzzled me, but I can feel a lot of love behind the words. I have come to really like this song - it still isn't my favourite Fleetwood Mac song by a long way but I do really like it.

 I will sign off for now and in my next blog entry I will finish my list of top songs lyrics-wise; commenting on the work of Nanci Griffith, and of Ricky Ross and Deacon Blue, and I will add some more songs to the list, songs that I have discovered or rediscovered since I started my blog which I think merit a place on that list.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon - 1984/85

The Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys - 1985

Sara - Fleetwood Mac - 1978/79

Mountains and memories: Nanci Griffith and Tina Turner

 Hello!

 I am very sorry that I haven't blogged for a while, but I was away on a Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition at the weekend, and since then I have been completely exhausted.

 However, I had an amazing time! I was very homesick at first, as I often am on these things, but I soon got used to being away from home and I began to really appreciate the sheer beauty of some of the places we visited.

 We were up in the Lake District and we saw mountains, tarns, waterfalls, many sheep, some cows and all sorts of wildlife from rabbits and deer (I didn't personally see the deer, but other people in my group did) to swallows and spiders. 

 It was a brilliant and unforgettable experience. Not least because I was part of a wonderful group - we all really got to know each other over the weekend and became good friends. There are four of us, and we all worked together to achieve what we wanted to achieve. I will be doing another expedition next week with the same group, and I am really looking forward to it ♥ ☺

 A song which kept coming back into my head was These Days In An Open Book by Nanci Griffith.

 When I have more time and am less tired I will definitely do a long blog post all about this woman because I think she is amazing ♥ 

 I was brought up listening to her music because my parents are fans, and I came to really love her myself. It was my dream to see her live in concert, and that dream came true in March this year when I got to go and see her perform at Salford Quays as a treat for my eighteenth birthday. 

Needless to say, I was very, very happy. She was phenomenal. She sung as beautifully as ever, and she told little stories to introduce all of the songs. Some of these stories I hadn't heard before, and they really helped me to understand the songs better.

 I find These Days In An Open Book so upbeat and positive and this particular performance which I have embedded is brilliant; she just seems so happy and you can tell the song and its lyrics mean so much to her and she takes so much pleasure in singing them.

 Another song which stuck in my head over the weekend was We Don't Need Another Hero by Tina Turner. I can't really find a decent video to embed, but there are various versions on YouTube. I like it; not enormously, but I do like it. 

 I had listened to a lot of Eighties songs including this one on the way up to the Lake District; including many that I like more than this one. However, for some reason this song really stuck in my head when we were climbing one of the mountains and it was drizzling and I kept having to spur myself on to keep going, and I felt like crying out, "Is this all or nothing?!" like she shouts in the song. Silly, I know, but I couldn't get that bit out of my head!

 Anyway, we had an amazing time ☺ And all the long, hard climbs were worth the effort for the views we got from the top, and for the sense of achievement at the end ♥

 Today I went to see the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester with a group from my college. It was enjoyable, but not as good as As You Like It, which I saw at the Royal Exchange last year. 

 However, the Royal Exchange is a unique and fantastic theatre; it is theatre "in the round"; the performance space is round and everyone sits in circles watching the action unfold in the middle, which gives it a more three-dimensional feel, I think. 

 I hope you enjoyed this blog and maybe have been inspired to try a Duke of Edinburgh's Award, or go to a quirky theatre... or maybe just sit back and listen to some amazing music ☺

 Anyway, thanks for reading ♥

 Liz x

 If you enjoyed this post I recommend: My songs of the summer: Part 2, D of E and the Cranberries, D of E, birthdays and Lio and Jacky, Ireland, the Olympics, Snowdonia and Nanci Griffith and Amazing news and the Kennedys ♥.

Songs: These Days In An Open Book - Nanci Griffith - 1993 (from the album Flyer)

We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) - Tina Turner - 1985

Zumba and Stooshe

 Hello!

 Today I thought I would share a current song that I really like: Black Heart by the British girl group Stooshe.

 I discovered this song at zumba, where at the minute we are using it as the song we do our cool-down and stretches to after the main zumba session. I've discovered some brilliant music through zumba, and this is no exception.

 At first I thought it must be a really old song; from the sixties or seventies. It certainly has that "old-school" vibe about it, and I just really love the whole song. It is quite unconventional; the way the tune is quite upbeat but the lyrics tell a very bleak story. Their voices are really good, especially the girl who sings first in the song.

 Stooshe's songs tend to be somewhat loud and pop-y, and this is so different... it must have been a bit of a risk releasing it. However, the risk seems to have paid off because they got to number four on the UK Singles Chart, which surprised me because there is usually so much rubbish at the top of the charts (and here still is) but somehow this lovely little song made it up there. People must appreciate its individuality and the way it harks back to the Sixties, both in the song and the video.

 I was a bit disappointed to find out that they didn't write the song; I like it when singers write their own material. But the fact that this song got written at all is something I am very happy about, and I think Stooshe are just the right band to do justice to it, so I'm glad that it was they who recorded it.

 I hope you enjoy this song too.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

 If you enjoyed this post I recommend: I am in love with this song : ), Probably my all-time favourite song!, One of my other favourite songs!, Hope and Céline Dion and The best of British!.

Song: Black Heart - Stooshe - 2012

♥ I've Been In Love Before ♥

 Bonjour!

 Today is the 4th of July which for some people will mean fireworks and celebrations, so I hope that if it concerns you, you are enjoying this special day. For me, however, this date is important for another, more personal reason: it was the 4th of July last year when I first posted my finished Montpellier trip film on YouTube. Here it is:

 We went on this college trip in March/April 2011 and I really loved it. It opened my eyes to the culture of the south of France, where I had never been before.

 I really got the chance to practise my French, and I could feel it improving more and more during the nine days we spent in Montpellier and Carcassonne. And I really enjoyed making the film of the trip - it was hard work but was truly a labour of love. I am so happy with the final result.

 I had such a good time in Languedoc-Roussillon (the region of France we visited) that I went on the trip again this year, and again I had a lovely time. And again, I am making a film so that we can look back and remember the great times we spent together in such an amazing place.

 I'm really pleased with the way this year's film is coming along, and hopefully it will be up on YouTube soon.

 A song I have been listening to a lot recently is I've Been In Love Before by Cutting Crew.

 As well as being incredibly beautiful, this song brings back lots of memories for me: I remember around the first time I started listening to it was on a lovely family holiday in London, and I remember driving down leafy green lanes listening to this in the car. 

 It also brings back memories of another enjoyable trip I went on around the same time; a school trip to Belgium. I remember listening to this on my MP3 player in the coach and being moaned at for having my music too loud! I love this song ♥

 I hope you enjoy it too.

 Thanks for reading, 

 Liz x

Song: I've Been In Love Before - Cutting Crew - 1986/7