1) Mansun - Legacy
For me, this represents the beginning of something. Something lasting. The lyrics are terribly depressing, but the man who turned me onto this is not. And this song is him, for me.
2) Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
This is how I want to feel on my deathbed. How can this one not make your heart pound? And will any sane person ever get over a world without Freddie Mercury?
3) Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
I read a book called "The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist"s during the same time I first heard this song and now the two are melded together in my mind. It reminds me that Socialism is among the best (and unnecessarily vilified)ideas ever contrived by mankind.
I only ever listen to this one when I'm absolutely at the end of my tether. I lost my father when I was still very young, but still knew each other well enough to be best friends. This is what I imagine he would say if he came back to me. Part explanation, part apology, part consolation for the dark hours. Definitely the best thing U2 ever recorded. In a very strong field.
5) Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer
If there's one thing ever recorded that just brings tears to my eyes, it is this one. I have no idea why. I just find it beautiful and heartbreaking. But I do know this: 300 years from now, kids will study the poetry of Paul Simon they way they do Byron and Shelley today.
6) Camille Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre
Imagine you're dead. One night of the year you get to arise and live and dance. Imagine your passion, your sadness at the coming dawn. This has to be one of the most imaginative and evocative pieces of music ever written.
7) David Bowie - I'm Afraid Of Americans
I'm a future expatriate. I never imagined living anywhere but America. But America is not what was intended. It's a frightening thing. It could have been the light of the world. But it isn't. It's Raytheon and Coca-Cola. And they're both selling the same thing.
This isn't my favourite Beatles song. But until I heard this, I don't think I understood I was different from little boys. Then I heard that breath. And I knew. And the word "girl", especially that way they have of saying it it Liverpool, hasn't ever been the same.
9) Frankie Valli - Grease Theme
This soundtrack is the first music I bought with my own money. That was real power to me. "We start believing now, that we can be who we are." I wish that it had been The Sex Pistols' Nevermind The Bullocks, but I was sheltered. And this was my stand against the force of the establishment. It took me years to get that my parents should never have taken a kid to that flick. The some of the dialogue and lyrics are filthy! But Grease is still the word and ever shall be. "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure down deep inside!"
This IS the best love song ever written. End of.
Some absolutely beautiful selections. I would be happy to be stuck on an island that you were Djing on...
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