Recently I received an email saying I had been “a bit slack on the blog front recently”. I agree. I only posted four blogs in 2020, the most recent of which was in September, and none so far this year. Until now.
I suppose I can blame the pandemic and the resulting changes in daily life though, in theory, it should allow more time than ever to be creative. But somehow it can also create a sense of drift, a feeling that there is no need to rush or meet a deadline.
Well, spurred on by the email and by an improved sense of well-being thanks to increased daylight and the approach of spring (it is now light here in Orkney before 7am to almost 6pm) – here I am.
This blog is a bit unusual, you might even say it’s a bit of a cheat. I was looking at my Spotify playlist of some of my favourite songs. The list is not comprehensive and it does not lend itself to including longer or linked pieces of music, such as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon or Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony for example. But it gives a flavour of some of the songs, performances and artists I enjoy.
While scrolling through the playlist it occurred to me that I could take a selection of the song titles and shuffle them into something like a free-form poem (apologies to anyone who actually knows anything about poetry). I have kept to the songs I particularly enjoy and not cheated by adding songs to the list just because their titles would be handy to help complete the blog.
Everything from the end of this sentence to my name at the bottom is a title of one of my favourite songs.
A song for you
I came to dance
It doesn’t matter anymore
It’s so different here
I don’t wanna know
Just dance
Who knows where the time goes?
C’mon everybody
Back to California
Kentucky Avenue
Hit the road Jack
Loud music in cars
Is that all there is?
Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie
Picking up after you
Your cheatin’ heart
It never entered my mind
Hallelujah I love her so
Who does Lisa like?
Heart like a wheel
Any road
Cypress trees
The dreaming fields
Waiting on a friend
What’s he building?
Indoor games near Newbury
Doctorin’ the Tardis
Moments of pleasure
Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis
She blinded me with science
What’s the use of wond’rin’?
Back in the USSR
The day before you came
All the way from America
Sunday morning to Saturday night
I met you on a Sunday
Who are you now?
I dreamed last night
Walking down Madison
Police car
Band on the run
Don’t come the cowboy with me, Sonny Jim!
Is there any way out of this dream?
When we was fab
One of our submarines
Brainwashed
Cassandra
Queen Bitch
What’s going on?
On days like these
Everybody’s famous
Power to the people
Let there be love
Stardust
What can a song do to you?
Hello in there
Gimme shelter
When I get to heaven
I’ll take you there
Amelia
What can a song do to you?
Say Grace
Grace darling
Three bells for Stephen
Brothers in arms
Bring him home
Wah-wah
Wah-wah
Waiting for the silence
The End
Graham Brown
To find out more
If you would like to check who recorded the songs, and to see what else is on my growing favourites list, please take a look at this Spotify page…
Please bear in mind, as you probably know, that streaming songs on Spotify does not result in much income for the artists concerned. If you love music please consider supporting your favourite musicians and songwriters through the purchase of CDs, LPs, merchandise and concert tickets (online or, hopefully soon, in person).
Graham Brown Orkney 
What a brilliant roll call, Graham. Plenty I don’t know though, including Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis – surely one of the most left-field titles ever! Cx
Thank you Claire. Yes, that’s a great song by Tom Waits. About the dreams of those to whom life has been less than kind – with a heart-breaking twist at the end. I was thrilled recently when Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis came up as a clue in Only Connect.