My Crucial Tracks for this week were cheerful and tearful - Stone in Love, Driving Away From Home, Goin' Back, Illegal, Sycamore Tree, the 59th Street Bridge Song....and the first Fairy Tale of the season?
My personal Crucial Tracks this week.
What song do you turn to when you need to cry?
"Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl)" by The Pogues
I'm answering a different question here
There’s a live version of this song that’s just been released. It’s not on Apple Music yet, as far as I can see.
I only heard it this morning, and it starts with the crowd chanting “Kirsty, Kirsty”
I don’t usually get very emotional about the deaths of people I never knew, but there was something very sad about the loss of Kirsty MacColl
"Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl)" by The Pogues on Apple music
What song feels like a personal anthem right now?
"59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" by Sugar Minott
I am always feelin groovy.
This is a great reggae version by Sugar Minott
"59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" by Sugar Minott on Apple music
What's a song that feels larger than life to you?
"Sycamore Tree" by Lady Saw
Wikipedia tells me that this came out in 1997, but it feels as fresh as a daisy, and, I guess, as big as a sycamore.
Share a song that represents rebellion or freedom to you.
"Illegal" by Swayzak & Benjamin Zephaniah
As a (very) late-middle-aged 'centrist dad', I'd have to say that freedom from crime is one of the most important freedoms....but this is gorgeous
You might know Benjamin Zephaniah from Peaky Blinders, but he was mainly a poet. We saw him in the 1980s at the Elephant Fayre, but more recently he was on BBC Radio 4 a lot. He came across as an all-round good guy
What's a song with lyrics you didn't fully understand until you were older?
"Goin' Back" by The Byrds
There are probably a lot of candidates, as I often don't understand much!
Obvious ones would be American Pie, or My Name is Michael Caine ( I didn’t know what that was about until a couple of weeks ago), or lots and lots of songs about Irish history.
The track I’m picking is a song that I didn’t appreciate until I got older. This is because I think it’s about aging, and looking back
I’ve posted Dusty’s version before, so it’s the Byrds this time. I really like the Pretenders version too but I don’t think it’s on Apple Music
Describe the perfect song for a road trip and why it works.
"Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)" by It's Immaterial
A nervy, indie, slightly wistful song from the 1980s about a road trip in the north of England
“You know, I like this suburb we’re going through
And I’ve been around here many times before
When I was young we were gonna move out this way
For the clean air, healthy, you know
Away from the factories and the smoke
I like that shop, too
You can get anything there”
"Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)" by It's Immaterial on Apple music
What song would you use to describe your current relationship?
"I'm Stone in Love with You" by The Stylistics
This song sums it up.
Not at all connected with my current relationship, but I had a friend, Kathy, who was from Philadelphia. She was once in hospital, in a bed next to someone who said she was a friend of the Stylistics. The group came to visit, and Kathy was joshing with them, saying “you’re not The Stylistics”, and eventually “prove it”….so she ended up with the Stylistics singing to her in a hospital bed.
I never knew what Kathy was in hospital for….but it may well have been worth it
"I'm Stone in Love with You" by The Stylistics on Apple music