list 43 songs that never fail to brighten my day

I want this off, off, off my list, but I’m not giving up on something so easy. So. 20 to finish. Iiiiin one!

• “Eject” – Senser
• “Stiki Choon” – Boo!
• “Joy Division Oven Gloves” – Half Man Half Biscuit
• “A Cautionary Tale” – The Decemberists
• “Both Hands” – Ani Di Franco
• “The Day the Nazi Died” – Chumbawamba
• “Remember Me” The Zutons
• “Love Me Like You” – The Magic Numbers
• “Underground” – Ben Folds Five
• “Cobbler’s Daughter” – Kate Rusby
• “Labour of Love” – Hue and Cry
• “Under Your Boots” – Richard Dawson
• “The End Of The World As We Know It” – REM
• “The Magic Number” – De La Soul
• “Think” – Aretha Franklin
• “Here Comes Your Man” – Pixies
• “Cannonball” – The Breeders
• “Je t’emmène au vent” – Louise Attaque
• “Give It Away” – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• “I Know What I Know” – Paul Simon

Summery and fresh and honest and optimistic. This beautiful song has been occupying my headspace for weeks now.

I am on a lonely road and I am travelling
Travelling, travelling, travelling
Looking for something, what can it be?
Oh, I hate you some, I hate you some
I love you some
Oh, I love you when I forget about me
I want to be strong, I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to wreck my stockings in some jukebox dive
Do you want, do you want, do you want
To dance with me, baby?
Do you want to take a chance
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me, baby?
Well, come on

All I really really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you too
All I really really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you
I want to talk to you, I want to shampoo you
I want to renew you again and again
Applause, applause, life is our cause
When I think of your kisses
My mind see-saws
Do you see, do you see, do you see
How you hurt me baby?
So I hurt you too
Then we both get so blue

I am on a lonely road and I am travelling
Looking for the key to set me free
Oh the jealousy, the greed is the unravelling
It’s the unravelling
And it undoes all the joy that could be
I want to have fun, I want to shine like the sun
I want to be the one that you want to see
I want to knit you a sweater
Want to write you a love letter
I want to make you feel better
I want to make you feel free
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Want to make you feel free
I want to make you feel free

It’s summery and psychedelic and lush and unusual, and it was waaaay ahead of its time. So beautiful, with an amazing brass solo, probably cornet, I don’t know. But “Forever Changes” is definitely one of my top ten albums of all time.

The ultimate Christmas song, despite its grim subject matter. It also reminds me of when I’d just started going out with my ex, and things were all new and fresh and happy and exciting. We used to walk home across the Tyne Bridge singing this. I’d be Kirsty and he’d be Shane, which, ironically, given his near-alcoholism, egomania and mentalist-tendencies, turned out to be not so far from the truth. Great days, Eddie. (No, they weren’t.)

Not only does this start with a kind of “Yeehah!”, it features the amazing and lovely and late-lamented Kirsty MacColl, and it’s done in some crazy time signature that I can’t label cos I’m not a musician. I believe there may be an accordion in there somewhere too, and that makes me happy.

From what is most likely my favourite album of all time, “Sings Songs and Plays Guitar”. Seriously, this man is an absolute genius. He’s a local artist, and you’re unlikely to find any of his stuff online, unless you buy the CD, and if you’re a fan of lo-fi acoustic music, I highly, highly recommend that you do, especially since he’s so poor that he doesn’t even own a guitar of his own at the moment.

I have been known to lie in a dark room and listen to the whole of this album intently, and that is unknown for me. It’s absolutely beautiful. I had real trouble picking which song to post. I may well post more.

Handily, I know this guy, and I have his express permission to hand out his music willy-nilly, so if anyone wants to hear it, message me on 43p and I’ll email it. I’m guessing, but I think this song was inspired by his grandma who lived on the Northumbrian coast, and it’s just so respectful, nostalgic and sweet, and so evocative of grandparents and their unconditional love.

_Take this ten-pound note and buy a side of lamb
Eat a good meal
Remember you’re just a growing boy
You are what you eat_

_Place your hand in mine and try to get some rest
I’ve had a good life but nothing can stop me growing old
I’m tired of linen sheets_

_Have a shower every day and brush your teeth in the morning
Always wash right behind your ears_

_Taste this caramel
I’m making up some treats
Have a walk on the beach
Get some Bamburgh air into your lungs
That’ll give you an appetite_

_There’s a robin’s nest in the wall and a catfish in the pond
There’s some shortbread on the tray
I think there’s a swingball in the garage
It’ll all disappear in time_

_Comb your hair
Tuck in your shirt
I’m proud of you
You’re a good lad
I’m doing beef and corn on the cob for tea_

Edit a couple of days later: Well, whaddya know. I just received a message on 43p from Mr Dawson himself! Turns out he’d succumbed to googlage of his own name, looking for succour after a grumpy-ass day, and stumbled upon this entry (and this website, which he’d never heard of), which cheered him up no end. So that’s nice. So now I have his email address and phone number, and can stalk him whenever I like. Mwahahhahahahahah! Actually, he can stalk me too. Dammit, I’ll have to watch what I say too, actually, the walls of Newcastle upon Tyne have ears. No more gossipping for me.

Half poem, half song, this passionate nine-minute denunciation of the Western world’s reaction to 9/11, its manipulative media, its dependence on oil, Dubya and the war in Iraq really gets my blood pumping. It’s spare and uncertain at first, but builds beautifully, spiralling into a jazzy head-nodding mish-mash with a hopeful, triumphant ending that makes you want to get up and take action! I absolutely love it. I implore you to go and listen to it here.

Last one, I promise. Actually, I don’t promise, but last one for now. If you’re not remotely emo, you’ll piss yourself at this. A medley of all your favourite “The world is cruel and my parents don’t understand so I think I’ll dye my hair black and paint a symbolic tear on my cheek” tunes, whipped into a circus-style frenzy with Weird Al as the ringmaster. Brought to my attention by the ever-lovable Leons, it brightens my day like little else.

Only the wonderful Ben Folds could turn Dre’s opus of chauvinistic piggery into a tender ballad. There’s a guest singer on there too but I don’t know who it is – I suspect Rufus Wainwright. The best bit is when the guest fella goes “Man… fuck that bitch. Two, three…” Lucyann and I even considered covering this ourselves but frankly I think I’d have trouble singing those lyrics.

I’m a sucker for a comedy cover version, and this has got the lot. The juxtaposition of Snoop’s mysoginistic hard-ass gangster-G lyrics set to a bluegrass down-home bounce has me boinging around on the bus like a weeble (they wobble but they don’t fall down). And when they change the lyric from “You gotta get yours before I gotta get mine” to “gotta get yourn” it tickles my linguistic funnybone. Highly recommend that you get a listen to this.