We’re all different. No single person in the world is unique. One way we measure individuality is through our music taste. What 5 tracks would define your life? We’re hedging our bets that no one else in the world would pick the same five songs. Here’s Priya’s musical fingerprint…
I Should Have Known Better // The Beatles
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJImvBHeo8Q&w=740&h=422]
From the ages of zero to five I was raised on a solid diet of Beatles albums. While I now realise my parents have a pretty awful case of hero-worship that I don’t share when it comes to the band, my ability to name and sing along to their entire discography remains. ‘I Should Have Known Better’ is one of the songs that I still enjoy, and will forever conjure images of attempting to teach myself to play the guitar and sunny family holidays. Despite the clean-cut nature of earlier Beatles records, there’s still an unpolished edge to the Lennon/McCartney harmonies, and I have to admit I’ll love anything with a good harmonica line.
I’ve Got A Dark Alley and A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth // Fall Out Boy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI06EqQVEuU&w=740&h=422]
That one’s always a mouthful to say. This song has gotten me through every single bad period in my life and is the majority of the reason Fall Out Boy became my favourite band. The album this is from, From Under the Cork Tree, has been my favourite for a good 3 years now, and I still miss the days when Pete Wentz gave songs paragraph-long titles which were seemingly irrelevant to the lyrics. The downside is that I can’t listen to it without getting weighed down by all the bad things I used it to cope with, but it deserves a place here nonetheless.
What You Know // Two Door Cinema Club
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXwYJyrKK5A&w=740&h=422]
Everybody has those songs which completely transport you to a specific time and place, and this is one of them for me. Spending the summer of 2012 in New York City was one of the best experiences of my life, and this was the soundtrack to it. I’m still amazed that I managed to spend the entire 8-hour flight there with only this track on loop. The song marked me starting to listen to music that wasn’t off Glee for the first time in a year (we’ve all been there), and I’m so grateful I did. That super tight opening, which has come to represent TDCC’s sound, is still as brilliant three years later.
Everybody Wants To Rule The World // Tears For Fears
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST86JM1RPl0&w=740&h=422]
Anyone who knows me will know about my embarrassing penchant for all (or at least most) things 80s and mainstream. I grew up listening to this song on my parents’ favourite throwback music channel specials, and my love for it never really wore off. Most recently embarrassed myself by singing along to this loudly in The Breakfast Club cafe, where even my fellow 80s lovers were judging me.
Cemetry Gates // The Smiths
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOMwu6OoGo4&w=740&h=422]
I’m aware that I’m sealing my status as an utter cliché by putting this song on the list, but I would be lying if I said this wasn’t my favourite Smiths song. When I first listened to The Queen Is Dead, this was the first song that came on shuffle, and something about the melancholy and references to Oscar Wilde appealed to my angsty 13-year-old self – and still appeals to me, so go figure. Morrissey’s plaintive vocals have helped the formation of probably millions of angsty teenage personas over the decades, and mine was one of them.
Which songs would define your life? Tell us@indie_pendent_