My Playlist
Music has played an integral role in my life so far, succouring me in times of despondency, elevating me in times of ecstasy and empowering me in order to experience intense emotion. I am not lonesome in my love and appreciation for music and I am sure that at some point, everybody has had or will have an intensely profound correspondence to a piece of music.
In this article I shall compose a list of several songs which have had an immense impact on my life, especially through adolescence, and briefly comment upon how these artists have helped me develop into who I am today.
Five Years - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - David Bowie
Five Years is the perfect first song for my playlist as it finds immense beauty in simplicity, with the captivating yet minimalistic drum beat running through the entire song. Bowie sings of the earth’s inevitable doom and his strong, comforting, and emotional connection to the wonders of planet earth. The raw passion in Five Years has the power to transcend the listener into a sense of numbness and utter awe.
This Is the One - The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
This Is the One encapsulates a time of love and realisation in adolescence and a particular moment of romanticism. It’s charming and briefly recurring guitar riff carries a certain youthful energy which is somehow relatable independent of the lyrics. In some ways, This Is the One is a coming of age song which explores the fruitful and exciting period of youth, it’s naivety and purity. The song ends with a celestial pulse which symbolises the transition into adulthood.
Pictures Of You - Disintegration - The Cure
Pictures Of You opens with a lengthy, startling introduction which beautifully transitions into the honest voice of Robert Smith who sings about intense heartache and inability to move on from a past love. The haunting but evocative lyrics are perfectly accompanied by an astonishingly emotive guitar/synthesizer twinning. Pictures Of You is not only chillingly moving but is also part of one of the albums I personally consider to be one of the greatest - Disintegration.
The Tourist - OK Computer - Radiohead
Radiohead have produced some of the most sonically sublime songs ever, and The Tourist is no exception. Commenting upon technology, rapid progress and the loss of humanity, Thom Yorke’s enthralling vocals criticises the conspicuous consumption of the developed world and the dizzying expansion of lifeless modernity. Although The Tourist is undeniably beautiful, it is simultaneously frightening and rather frightening. Would thoroughly recommend listening to this song alongside the entire album.
My Kind of Woman - 2 - Mac Demarco
My Kind of Woman is an expression of infatuation for another person. It embodies the feeling of deep appreciation and devotion for somebody that you value immensely. However this song is not a celebration of love and has underlying feeling of fear of loss which is reflected in Demarco’s choice in chord progression which is unlike his frequently uplifting and summery riffs.
Breathe (in the air) - The Dark Side Of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Breathe’s dreamy and intoxicating introduction captivates the listener in a state of euphoria, which precursors a body of lyrics which effectively ask the listener to calm down. It suggests that allowing yourself to become consumed by life's trivial obstacles and inconveniences can only result in ultimate misery. It comments upon overworking yourself and the benefits of recreation and relaxation. This idea has been massively appealing to me and my occasionally lazy tendencies…
Disorder - Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
Disorder, like many other Joy Division songs illustrates the chaotic aspects of life and it incapsulates the feeling of those moments confusion and hardship. It allows the listener to understand that it's okay to occasionally vent anger or other extreme emotion, and that it is not always viable to emotionally conform by putting on a smiley face. This song embodies frantic and it is almost impossible to sit still whilst listening to it.
Everyday is like Sunday - Viva Hate - Morrissey
Morrissey. I can not begin to describe the importance of his music and its impact on my life. This song is very personal to me as I live and was born in a terribly deadbeat village and this song really captures my desire of breaking away and achieving greater things. Everyday is like Sunday also comments upon the monotony of everyday life and it's lack of flamboyance, acknowledging the boredom and tedium of conventional, routine living. The idea of living this way frightens me to quite an extent.
O’Malleys Bar - Murder Ballads - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
This song quite a controversial choice as it extravagantly violent, and perhaps not considered too pleasant. However in the same dramatic way in which Tarantino presents his films as a spectacle of ultra violence, Cave manages to paint a bloody canvas in fourteen minutes which shall leave you speechless - literally. On my first listen I was morbidly captivated by this gruesome, disturbing story of a charmingly psychopathic murderer. Perhaps my appreciation of this song stems from my love of cinema and how this song is highly cinematic and descriptive.
I Knows it's Over - The Queen is Dead - The Smiths
Finally, The Smiths with what is in my opinion one of the greatest songs of all time, from the best band of all time. I Know it's Over tells a melancholy and saddening tale of hopeless romantics and lovers. It speaks on the pain of love and the necessary human desire to find it. Love is not romanticised in this song, alternatively it is darkened and made unattainable; “Love is natural and real, but not for you my love, not tonight my love”
