Music memories

The final guest post for the week; here's Daire to introduce herself...

 

Hi! My name is Daire (pronounced Da-ra). I'm twenty-two years old, and currently juggling an English Literature degree, a full-time job and a slight blogging obsession. I started my blog a couple of years ago, as a way to chronicle my studies with the Open University... but since then it has morphed into a platform for me to talk about books, showcase my artistic experiments and occasionally just rant about life. Click to visit my BLOG / TWITTER / BLOGLOVIN

 

So there’s this thing that people do when they first meet you. They nod knowingly when you tell them what you do for a living and then they ask you the question that strikes fear in the heart of anyone who hears it…

 

What kind of music do you like?

 

The terror sets in. You mentally trawl through your iTunes. You frantically try to come up with an answer that’s original enough to be impressive, but not so off kilter that people start to back away slowly, with a grimace fixed on their faces. And what do you come out with?

 

Erm, all sorts.

 

Can you really summarise your taste in music into a line or two? I know I can’t.

 

Our lives are made up of hundreds or thousands of musical moments. The nursery rhymes you sang with Grandma. The theme tunes of TV shows you weren’t supposed to be watching. The hymns from assembly. Records your parents played after a class of wine or four. The Friday Night Disco. Those songs that describe the way you feel perfectly, when you can’t do it in your own words. The beats that help you cry then fight through a break up. The tunes you pound away to at the gym. The first dance at your wedding.

 

Nothing triggers a memory like the opening bars of a song. There’s something about music that can transport you to another time and place…every time I hear the first line of Love is All Around I’m three years old, doing my carefully choreographed dance on the stage we had in our living room. Yes, this may make me cringe (especially when certain family members bring it up in public…), but whether I like it or not, it’s part of me!

 

This may go without saying, but I’m known for my ‘terrible’taste in music. I’m never allowed to touch the playlist at a house party. People are constantly sending me links to ‘educate’ me. HOWEVER I’m kind of proud of my total randomness…

 

So today I’m going to share a sneak peek of the musical mayhem swirling around my brain. These are my top five most played songs of 2013. Apologies in advance:

 

Biloxi Parish by The Gaslight Anthem
 

 

Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (cover version by Boyce Avenue and Kina Grannis)
 

 

Girl all the Bad Guys Want by Bowling for Soup

 

I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan

 

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift

 

All are somewhat guilty pleasures… but hey ho!
 

Now I have two questions for you:

a) What is the first song you can remember listening to? (And for your sake I hope it’s better than my Wet, Wet, Wet!)
 

b) What are your five most played songs of the year?