Being from a family of passionate and diverse music fans, including an opinionated punk, a long-term emo music devotee and a ex-indie DJ, I’ve certainly had a lot of ‘musical phases’ over the years. Frankly, I still have them. But the one thing that has been consistent for me since my very first album (Kaiser Chiefs’ Employment, no less) is my never-ending love affair with music. Like most people, it has soothed me through trying times, taught me some enormously important lessons and most importantly, helped to define who I truly am: a gobby, pretentious radiohead obsessive.
Blue Light // Bloc Party
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5tR03Ev_wE]
In 2007, there was a huge wealth of striking indie acts that could’ve fuelled my initial musical passions. But after receiving Bloc Party’s flawless debut Silent Alarm from my (lovingly) pushy older brother, the album was immediately cemented as my very first favourite. During the following months of tireless overplaying, the song that I adored the most was ‘Blue Light’: a short and tender ode to lost love, with a unforgettable sweeping guitar intro and drums of military precision. Upon hearing the satisfyingly complex musical layers cushioned by placid, hushed vocals, I had absolutely no idea what the song was about, but I must have known that it was something truly pure and emotive that I hadn’t quite heard before. To this day, I still love those final soft echoes of “you are the bluest light” whenever I hear it.
All I Need // Radiohead
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9IODJdi3GA]
A year or so and several assorted embarrassing (Metro Station) and acceptable (Maximo Park) musical obsessions later, I first listened to what would remain my most treasured album for years to come: Radiohead’s pivotal masterpiece, In Rainbows. This album and, in particular, the impassioned ‘All I Need’, opened up a whole new world in emotional music, changing the way I saw the world around me and re-igniting my lifelong fondness for creative writing. To this day I’m yet to find a song that fills me with as much giddy emotion and joy than the beautifully climactic cacophony of ‘All I Need’, from the lull of its opening percussion to the magnificent roar of its close. Potently beautiful in music and lyrics, it is an enormously truthful and vigorous love song- I will always consider it to be among the greatest of all time.
Miserable Lie // The Smiths
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhJ_5OcSy1U]
Naturally, everyone has a song that perfectly encapsulates their first heartbreak, and it just so happens that as I was experiencing mine, I was also deeply infatuated with the Smiths. Typical. So, of course, when thrown into the depths of adolescent despair, where else is there to find solace but in the perfectly brooding lyrics of Morrissey, and the tumultuous musical mastery of Marr? With vocals wrenched from the pit of the infamous singer’s tortured heart, the simplicity of one repeated word, “goodbye”, flings the song into a darkly satisfying storm of raging percussion and self pity with the additional irrevocable cry, “nobody ever looks at me twice!”. In short, it was my ideal break up song.
The Wedding List // Kate Bush
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqGMmbYE-go]
After holding Kate Bush’s various hits as nothing more than guilty pleasures for quite some time, I found upon listening to her albums in full that she was one of the most vividly talented figures in modern music. I was quickly enthralled by her unique and expertly crafted lyrical tales, none more so than the wonderfully disorderly story of ‘The Wedding List’. Her vocals, as ever, are powerful are utterly flawless within the song, whilst her lyrics recount the eccentric and captivating saga of a vengeful bride. Kate Bush provided me with an endlessly inspiring female role model at a time when I was just beginning to educate myself on feminism and inequality. I’m still learning, and she continues to motivate me every day.
Johnny Was // Stiff Little Fingers
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KIdLQDgAn0]
Now, at a completely chaotic time in my life, my latest musical phase – thanks to having numerous punk mixtapes lovingly crafted for me, and a lifetime of hearing London Calling played in my Mum’s car- is, fittingly, angry and political. Nothing is more apt than punk music when it comes to unveiling injustice and inequality; Stiff Little Fingers’ incredibly raw, 7-minute epic ‘Johnny Was’ does just that. Over 30 years later, it continues to be an exemplary representation of the frustration felt by many, including myself, at the events of the modern day. Although musically exhilarating, it is the solemn simplicity of the lyrics that render this song so important. The line, “we can’t have this kind of thing happen here no more” resonates with me especially, as it becomes all the more relevant when placed alongside the recent tragic occurrences in Ferguson, Paris and beyond.
Which songs would define your life? Tell us@indie_pendent_