Mor-Than-Words

Never Tear Us Apart – INXS Another one hit of brothers influences, fantastic rock band. This song of theirs is so powerful, the lyrics really sum up how a strong relationship can’t be undone. Michael Hutchence was an awesome front man, you see him strutting around on stage. Great voice, good looks and attitude, front man tick list complete. I’ve been to Oz a couple of times, obviously INXS were huge out there, it just so happened we knew one of their accountants. The whole love story between Michael and Kylie was so weird, talk about opposites attract. Then add to that how he stole Paula Yates away from Bob Geldof , talk about rock and roll lifestyle and go against this songs meaning, he tore apart a few hearts and relationships. I remember being in my friends rented flat in Bournemouth, sitting waiting for Football Focus to start on TV when Michael's death was the main headline on the lunchtime news. We went clubbing that night and the DJ threw in few of his tunes which was u

Runaround Sue – Dion I was reminded of this song the other day, I was speaking to some younger American co-writers whilst on a week long songwriting course. The tutor set us up in bands using Greek gods names, ours happened to be called Dionysos and I mentioned this track as my only reference to the name Dion . They’d never heard of him or this hit, I suppose it’s not very PC anymore, but I thought it would be well known as rock n roll standard. This is another song that was on all my compilation albums, it was played at every party and was a great sing along. The great opening line " Here's my story, it's sad but true", sets this up to be a real teenage heart breaker, I think it's great that Sue was the one having the fun. Dion's other big song ' The Wander ’ was another favourite, listing off his many girlfriends, as a teenage boy I used to be very envious. Status Quo covered that one and I love their rocker version.  I thought it was funny how in '

The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert So after mentioning Miranda Lambert in a previous post thought I’d put up another of my favourite songs of hers. This one is a very simple idea, going back to your childhood home. The emotion and clever lyrics get me every time. The backing and the vocals are beautiful and I love this song to bits.  I lived in one house for the first 34 years of my life, so I have a big attachment to those memories. Most of the places I grew up in have changed beyond recognition expect in my mind, I can still walk through those old houses any time I need to. So much history tied up in those walls. So when I listening to this I enjoy both Miranda’s journey and my own. The part about that’s where I learnt to play guitar is particularly important to me, I spent hours finding my way around Buddy Holly songs in my old bedroom on my first Stratocaster. Favourite lyric : Up those stairs in that little back bedroom / Is where I did my homework and I learned to play

Somewhere Over the Rainbow – The Wizard of Oz I was just on a quick walk and got stuck in a heavy shower, then the sun broke out, I was stood under a perfect arch rainbow. So had to post this song today. What an iconic tune and movie, this is as near perfect to a song as your going to get. A perfect constructed melody, it's so soothing and relaxing, it's a lullaby as mentioned in the song, it fits so well with the words and just by hearing it you really feel you could be way up high. The lyrics are genius, conjure up that dream world, Judy Garland 's vocal is so sweet and almost believable even though she's singing about floating about above all those colours. There are only three parts to the lyric, the rainbow reference only repeated again the third section, so simple but so wonderful. It would be interesting to know if the movie script described the colourless place Dorothy's character started out in, the fact the movie swaps from sepia to full colour is so cleve

Gimme All Your Lovin' –  ZZ Top Ok so now were not PC, this opens with a the sound of the cool ZZ Hot Rod, then the drums crash in. The guitars start and don't give up throughout. Great shouty vocals, silly lyrics, it's a total love song. The video is every teenage boys dream, hot cars and girls. Wonder why I feel for this one. ZZ Top are awesome, totally weird looking crazy folk with huge beards and attitudes. They know how to Rock and they don't disappoint with their huge anthems. None of their songs would probably even get released in today's world, "She's got legs and she knows how to use them." Legs and songs like Sharp Dressed Man are of there time, and I'm just glad they were around when I needed music like that. Like a boomerang I need a repeat. I fell into ZZ Top as they had done a cover of Elvis ' Viva Las Vegas , we happened to go there on holiday back in the early 90's and I wanted a song to overdub when we cruised the famous

Julie – Levellers This song broke my heart. I had a chart version on a random indie compilation, it grabbed my attention straight away. Other songs on there by the likes of Suede and Oasis were monster rockers and in their midst was this gentle lullaby. The social messages in it and the sober tone were how I was feeling as a recent recruit to the real world. I had not long started my first proper job with all the stress and complications that brings, back in the days of my Walkman on the train I had this album pretty much on auto reverse for ages. I had to search out the Levellers to find out more, I was both puzzled and delighted when the rest of their stuff turned out to be nothing like this track. They were basically a punk band for the 90s but not with rocking guitars and heart attack drums but with a more alternative array of instruments. Fiddles and didgeridoos and all sorts, they were on a mission for a fairer society and were akin to all the student movements. I just liked t

Mouldy Old Dough – Lieutenant Pigeon  Not much to say about this one, except once heard never forgotten. A very random piano lead instrumental, with only the songs title as a very roughly voiced lyric. I found this song amongst my dads 45 singles collection and thought it was brilliant. The strange sound of the honky tonk piano, makes you think your down the pub, it's a great chanting song as everyone in the crowd is waiting for the opportunity to shout out 'Mouldy Old Dough'. I used to go to music weekends at holiday camps in my twenties,  I remember Pigeon being one of the featured acts one time, by then they were a very tight covers band, they did a whole set of 1960/70s songs. This of course was their encore, great fun and good memories. I just think this song is a great example of how a good tune and catchy melody can become a pop hit, no need for fancy vocals and intricate arrangements. Music can be lots of things, this song for me is just a fun memory. Favourite ly

Whiskey In The Jar – Thin Lizzy Love this song, great mixture of my Irish roots and my love of rock music. Thin Lizzy are totally underrated, another band that could have become music gods if their lead singer Phil Lynott hadn't died tragically young. Their sound was of it's time but they were a very tight band and really rocked. This song as a great example taking a traditional Irish dittie and rocking it out. The guitar intro alone is genius, it takes you off on a journey before you even know what the song is going to be about. The lyrics tell a story of a guy falling in love and trying to steal his way to his girlfriends affections. She does the dirty on him, message here is don't get drunk if you're in a vulnerable position. But really the story in this case is a bit secondary, let's just ride along with the catchy tune and great beat. Phil's voice is very emotive and strong, one of those singers that could make a nursery rhythm sound punchy. He was the ba

Suds In The Bucket – Sara Evans Through my country music connections I was on a zoom call with Sara Evans last week. She was sat at home being interviewed by us fans asking random questions. She sang two songs backed by only her son on an acoustic guitar and backing vocals by her daughter and a friend. She was amazing, she sang a great song of her's ' A Little Bit Stronger ', a real heart felt powerful message song. She was so friendly and natural and it was obvious she greatly appreciated her fans, completes the circle of music when it benefits all involved, both the listener and the artists. But I know her best for this fun song, a story of a teenage girl out hanging the washing in the yard who disappears when her boyfriend turns up. The clever imagery of her urgent departure and the half finished job is very clever. The backing is fun and catchy as hell, so all in all a great tune. I love a bit of steel guitar and some of the dirty twanging is right on point for me. Onl

The Way It Is – Bruce Hornsby This song has popped up a couple of times lately. I always thought of it as a great tune, catches my ear whenever I hear it. I have it on a Piano Songwriter based CD, I hadn't realised until recently how much it's regraded as a piano players standard, personally it just reminds me of the 80s and TV shows like Miami Vice . The extended piano solos are quite unusual, one for their length and also for their placement in the song. The lyrics are quite political, stating that's the way things are and that's the way they'll stay. As with many other songs, the melody has always been first recollection of the song. It's only later when you start dissecting the meaning and the lyrical theme you understand this is an important song and shouldn't be viewed as just another nice ballad. Songs that stand up for the undervalued and repressed should be celebrated and held up as great ways to getting simple messages out to the masses, usually as

Live And Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings After the Beatles , Paul McCartney went on to form the band Wings with his wife Linda, I had obviously heard of the band, they had some huge hits, Band on the Run and Jet being the ones I was most familiar with. They also did this James Bond theme, this is epic even as Bond theme's go, really punchy and you get the real sense of excitement and drama that's going to unfold in the film. The list of artists that have done the films themes over the years is like a who's who of popular music. So why not get an ex Beatle to trump them all. But I've only recently learnt that Paul McCartney help to launch Wings by going on an open top bus tour of Europe doing free gigs at places like universities. He and the band would rock up and just perform off the top deck, that must have been some spectacle especially when you see the paint job on the side of the bus. They lived and traveled on the bus throughout, I thought it was only

  Achy Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus This one's my brothers fault. He heard this first on Capital radio '92, we happened to be going on holiday to America and this song appeared on one of the in-flight radio stations on the plane. We saw the name of the song in the listings but had to wait for it to come round on the tape, no streaming in them days. I remember hearing it and thinking straight away what an earworm it was, it's like a total nursery rhythm of a lyric. It became the soundtrack to that holiday and I have had a love hate relationship with it ever since. My brother bought the album ' Some Gave All ' this is from, all the other songs on there are 'real' country songs with very powerful messages. So it always annoyed me that Billy Ray Cyrus was only ever known by this one song, other albums of his have some amazing songs on there, I especially love ' Trail of Tears ', ' Where My Gonna Live ' and ' Busy Man '. Billy Ray has

Wheels of Steel – Saxon This is a mad rock song, proper old school head down banger. I had this on lots of Rock compilation albums. It’s another one of those songs that brings back memories of great pub bands, fun nights out and holidays with my mates. There was a period of time I was very into my rock music, the guitar riffs and long solos. Kicking base lines and heavy drums, lots of screaming vocals and no real point to the lyrics. Wheels of Steel was an expression used as a way of describing cool motorbikes and riding them to fast. Think Easy Rider and the like. This whole lyric is a homage to every bikers dream, but it's just an excuse to rock out. Turn it up and blow your speakers. This sort of music gets a bad wrap now and it has become quite ridiculed, but like all musical movements it started with real bands crashing out worthwhile songs, but then went onto to become a parody of its self. Artists took it to ridiculous lengths, Bat Out Of Hell anyone? But who cares, it'

The Lion Sleeps Tonight – Tight Fit Don’t tell anyone but I love this version of this song. It emerged in the 80s as a novelty song for Tight Fit . They were basically a session band that used to cover lots of 60s chart hits for those strange non original artists albums that were cheaper than the real thing due to not having to pay royalties. They then did a cover of this ear worm. The made up band and the video featured a couple of young ladies dressed up in cave girl outfits which certainly caught the attention of us teenager boys. The Wimoweh chant on this is ridiculously catchy, the strange subject matter and silly words make this a great pop hit. The backing is very obvious but effective, can't beat a bit of tom tom drums. There were quite a few of these strange one hit wonders throughout the 80s but this one still makes me smile. Three million views of a Top of the Pops performance says it all. The original version was created in 1939 in Zulu, there were loads of covers fro

Ain't No Sunshine – Bill Withers I knew the name Bill Withers , he's the punchline to a funny joke. 'How do you make a duck into a soul singer?' 'Put him in the microwave until his bill withers.' But seriously, Bill has written some of the most iconic songs ever, Lovely Day and Lean On Me being huge hits and their up there with the best known songs around. I recently watched a Sky Arts TV interview with him about songwriting , I found him refreshing and very honest. He gave the host quite a hard time for asking silly questions. 'Do you find the words or the melody come first?' he asked. 'I don't want to know the answer to that,' Bill replied, 'That would kill the magic.' He didn't have his first hit until he was in his early 30s, which would probably be unheard of in today's music. But that meant he could put all his life experiences into his songs rather than silly pop song lyrics. It sounds like he had a hard time being b

I Feel Good – James Brown In my last post I had a reference to James Brown , as I said I’m not a huge fan, but he’s another artist that I think changed the musical landscape. His funk, just blew the doors of soul music, the horns and the cat calls added so much life and anger to a once gentle art form. I’ve captured his influence across my own musical journey through films like The Commitments and The Blues Brothers to Good Morning Vietnam . Anywhere where there needed a burst of passion and noise, they just added Mr Brown. Songs like this one and Papas Got A Brand New Bag , seem to pop onto my playlists almost by accident but they always take me somewhere special when they appear. You get the impression this guy was totally in charge, no one was going to put him down or control what he sang or how he sang it. Straight from his heart to your ears. The give and response between the singer and the band is amazing in this song, real power in that vocal. The horns just rip, I bet his li

Copperhead Road – Steve Earle For me Steve Earle was the 80s version of Johnny Cash , great Country artist but singing songs with a purpose and a conscious. This song is epic, the way it starts so slowly and simply, then bit by bit it builds. Then suddenly there's an explosion of sound and the whole thing takes off. The use of bagpipes is amazing, so atmospheric. The guitar sound on this is so heavy and it rocks. I love the story telling in the words, you can just picture all the characters and almost taste the moonshine. The reference to Vietnam, again is Steve bringing in subjects other artists would run a mile from. I heard this song on a number of Country compilations we had, always thought it was a bit out of place, more of a rock song than pure Country. But I've a couple of other memories of it, I did a tour of New Zealand as a part of a Contiki holiday. This was for young single travels, I met a bunch of strangers from all around the globe and set off on a two week coac

Dirty Diana – Michael Jackson I’ve been going for a daily walk during lockdown, it’s been amazing to see the amount of houses with skips outside where the stuck at homers have been having huge clear outs. There’s been all manner of stuff sticking out of these skips, but I’m fascinated by the amount of CDs, cassettes and VHS tapes I’ve seen just slug in with all the other rubbish. One skip had what must have been someone’s once pride and joy entire CD collection. Floating at the top of a huge pile was Michael Jackson 's Bad album. This was an iconic album in 1987 and sort of represents the culture of the time. This was Jackson going Pop, he was moving away from his roots and starting to break musical barriers using the latest technology. There are some amazing songs on Bad, I was never the biggest of Jackson fans, but totally got his genius and innovation, for all the controversy that his legacy created he definitely changed the musical landscape. I picked this track Dirty Diana ju

 Streets of London – Ralph McTell I first became aware of this song at school, but I can’t remember if we just sang it in assembly or supposedly learnt to play it in our music lessons. I guess it’s a perfect song for kids, totally non offensive with a powerful social message about homelessness and life not being fair for everyone. It’s a funny song for its time, not exactly glam rock, lots of well crafted story lyrics with each verse telling a sorry tale. It was also one of the first songs I learnt to play on the guitar and only then did I associate it with Ralph McTell . I knew him from my childhood, he present the oddly named Tickle On The Tum kids TV show. Ralph used to sit on a stool just singing songs and telling stories. I can recall be enchanted by the program, it probably helped my love of storytelling without me even knowing it. This song came into my mind the other day on a songwriting co-write, my fellow musician was finger picking his way through a lovely melody and his vo

Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield I share a surname with Dusty . Her real name was Mary O’Brien, she had some amazing songs over the years. There used to be best of album in our house on LP or cassette, always loved songs like ' You Don't Have to Say You Love Me ' and ' I Only Want To Be With You ' . Then as I got more into music I realised how amazing songs like ' Goin' Back ' are, real deep and meaningful stuff.  This song got stuck in my head when it was used as part of the 1994 Pulp Fiction movie soundtrack. A random collection of songs that Quentin Tarantino 's selected for his mad film. I think Dusty's song is amazing, it’s such a story song, you can tell it’s going to be a sad tale from the first few bars. Sounds to me like she really liked this guy.  The backing is so smooth, her voice is so clear and expressive, all together it’s a very sophisticated sound. Such a strange thing that such a British singer could conjure up such a

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine – Laurel & Hardy The film ' Stan and Ollie ' is on TV tonight. It tells the tale of when Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the brilliant vintage comedy duo did a tour of Ireland and the UK in their later years. It's actually a very poignant film showing the usual anti climax of all the big stars of yesterday careers, they fall out of favour and are often cast adrift. Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly performances as the comedy legends are remarkable. I love the real Laurel and Hardy , they make me laugh, their slap stick antics are my sense of humour. The great expressions and banter between them is perfection, even as a kid I loved watching their black and white short films which used to be shown on TV during the kids school holidays. Then there is this song, randomly featured in their movie, ' Way Out West '. It's part of the plot that our heroes end up in a bar where a bunch of cowboys start singing this tune. Laurel and Hardy

Let Me Be Your Fantasy – Baby D This one's straight out of my clubbing days. It was a huge tune back in it's day, Baby D appeared at a club we were at one night, they turned up mimed along to the track and then moved onto the next club. Clever stuff, but I have to say I always thought it was a banging song. All be it I was obsessed with singing "let me be your four by three' instead of fantasy, why I'm not sure. I used to have some windmill dance moves and always seemed to make space on the dance floor, I think the other dancers were scared of getting a black eye or similar. It's a wanna be love song wrapped up in serious beats, the intro makes me think were in some sort of ice palace, then the whispering draws you in. Then it's the best ringtone going until the beat kicks in and were off. Just the right tempo to dance to, positive messages as the lyric starts. Clever simple rhythms and a great song title, everyone has a fantasy. The way the energy drops d

The One and Only – Chesney Hawkes This is another one of those songs. To everyone else it’s that Saturday night sing along one hit wonder. Brilliant song, very catchy, simple title and message. Bit of self promotion never did anyone any harm. The sliding intro is very odd, then to be honest the whole song is a cliche of a 60's meets the 90's, but can't argue with the guitar solo. For me when I hear it, I’m back sat in the cinema watching the movie it was the theme of. A film called Buddy’s Song , Chesney Hawks played the lead character, a young lad who wanted his music to make him famous. His dad was played by The Who ’s Roger Daltry , so this film had some traction in the music world, it was called Buddy’s Song as the dad was obsessed by Buddy Holly . It was the usual boy meets girl she messes him around and all that goes with it. It sadly never really launched Chesney onto global stardom, it seems only into one hit wonder wonderland. Also the movie didn't win any Osc

Wild Horses – Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers Five years ago this week I was working at a London design agency, I'd been there fourteen years, then suddenly I was told it was going into liquidation. Never went back to even clear my desk, very abrupt end, I look back now and think of all the things I gained from the experience. The biggest of which was I met some brilliant friends, and many of them helped me expand to my musical tastes. One of these came from Anna, she added another step in my musical journey. I was a big fan of bands like The Byrds and The Eagles , all that Southern Rock era, but I was also a huge Rolling Stones fan, seen as Rock gods. But at that point I couldn't draw a link between them, Anna asked do you like ' Gram Parsons ', never heard of him I said. She told me about this guy who was basically seen as a Country music ghost, another one of those artists that only musical historians have heard of, but he joined the dots between so

Stop! In The Name of Love – The Supremes We lost Mary Wilson this week, she was one of the founders of the Motown hit group The Supremes . Diane Ross probably being the most famous of the three members. They were huge in the 1960s and had some monster hits, I could have picked any of their songs, but this one is a big favourite. The 'Stop!' is such a strong hook, once heard it ain't leaving your brain. And how long is the 'ooovveerr', that's how you write catchy songs. The backing is so simple, it's like a kid clinking a coke bottle. The backing vocals keep the whole lyric rounded out throughout, three voices blending and contradicting  each other adds so much texture. The clever rhythms make the whole song so catchy and you don't get tripped up until suddenly your told to 'Stop!' The message of the song is a cry for help, please don't break my heart. Think twice before you cheat on me. I don't deserve to be treated like this, talk abou

  Take On Me – a-ha Recently saw Morten Harket, lead singer of a-ha on the UK version of the Masked Singer . He even sang his own song and still the judges didn't guess him.  I hadn't heard this song in a while, I suddenly remembered it was another one that had a big impact on me. Well the truth is, it was more the video than the song itself, the video is very iconic. It starts off with static drawings featuring the band, we cut to a girl in a cafe and rather weirdly a hand pops out of the comic she's reading and pulls her into the drawn world. The band then appear inside and outside a drawn mirror while a strange plot unfolds. Real Alice Through The Looking Glass stuff, the pencil drawings of the action were amazing. There's even a sinister twist as two baddies try to kill off our leading man, all rather odd but very clever stuff for it's time. The a-ha video was crazy and so well executed, maybe it was as simple as a filter was used over the real action footage t

     Sunshine Of Your Love – Cream When I was at secondary school some of my friends decided to start a band as there was an end of year talent show coming up. It just so happened one of the guys called Dylan had always played lead guitar, another Dylan learnt to play the drums in boys brigade and Simon had started to learn bass guitar. Perfect combination apart from none of them wanted to be the singer. I still think it’s strange I had two Dylan’s in my class, both you’d have to guess were named after the great man himself, and I’ve not met another Dylan since. Anyway the band asked the music teacher if they could borrow the music room at lunchtimes to rehearse a few songs. The drum kit and amps were set up and I used to tag along at lunch break to hear them fumble their way through a few guitar classics. To be fair it didn’t take them long to get really good and the show was fast approaching. At one point they even asked if I would sing with them but I told them I didn’t want to get

    Real Gone Kid – Deacon Blue Now we're in the 80's, the musical decade that should have defined my youth, my teenage years, but instead I was discovering the 50's and 60's music of my parents. There were exceptions, I did listen to the Top 40 and watched Top Of The Tops every week. Like most kids then, I recorded songs off the radio, certain songs from those tapes broke through and have stayed in my head ever since. This being one such song, it's so full of energy it's just infectious. The intro is just a build up to an explosion of sound, the chanting and shouting starts us off. The piano riff keeps going like a train in the background, the song jumps about to keep us interested. It's clever, it starts, it stops, the guitars kick in and take us somewhere else, always pounding along. The male and female vocals dance around one another. The words are so expressive, I'm guessing it's a bit like me listening to those old 45s. Then as I grew up and d

I Left My Heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett I’ve been to San Francisco a couple of times, it’s a very vibrant city. I can completely see why this song was written, it’s one of those places you feel at home as soon as you arrive. Not sure if I left my heart there but have great memories of that city. The steep hills and odd layout make it an interesting place to explore. The cable cars add that bit of Hollywood magic, then the Golden Gate Bridge is just iconic set in the beautiful harbor. We all know the images so it's easy to picture what the singer is trying to tell us. Add all that feeling into a song, it's starts by comparing San Francisco to other supposed lovely cities, but no where else lives up to his home town. Love the way they've worked the landmarks into the words, it’s like taking a city tour. Tony Bennett ’s voice just sets the mood, talk about laid back, what a singer. The orchestral backing is so majestic, it sounds like twinkling lights. The lovely pian

    Walk This Way – RUN DMC ft. Aerosmith This was another turning point. Rap came into my life. Loved Aerosmith and then they ran into Run DMC , the iconic start to this tune changed our music landscape again. The scratching of the record was such a strange thing to hear, we had all been so careful not to scratch our vinyl all those years, now these dudes were making music doing it. The way the different elements and instruments get brought in then dropped makes this song so dramatic. It's so angry sounding but some how non threatening, the guitar riff keeps me going throughout. The beat is so constant, it's the start of songs being created over repetitive loops. The lyrics are very clever, pretty simple but perfect for what is basically a duet, all be it between two whole bands rather than the normal two singers. It's a song aimed at the teenage boy audience who is trying to be cool through school. Adopt a walk and be noticed. The whole new style of 'rapping' ly

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) – Don McLean I knew of this song, but hadn’t really listened or understood it’s message until one day in art college. We had a visiting tutor who did a presentation all about Vincent Van Gogh . I was doing a graphics course and the history part of art was my least favorite lesson, really wasn't to sure how these old masterpieces were meant to help us with our logo and brand design. But this guy started off his lesson by telling us he was a friend of John Lennon ’s back in his Liverpool youth and that got my attention. He went on to say how misunderstood and under rated Van Gogh's art was in his own lifetime and how Vincent had never believed people took him seriously. I was sort of following his point, the poor artist with his own troubles trying to get his paintings appreciated, and it playing heavy on his mindset. Then at the end of the lecture he played a montage of Van Gogh's work with this song playing as its soundtrack. The song is name

    You're the First, the Last, My Everything – Barry White I've recently been learning about music syncing, which is where songs are placed into TV shows and movies. There is a big market for this now with so many more TV channels and streaming services, as well as big Hollywood movies. Each placement can earn good money depending on where it's being used and factors such as how much of the song is used. It got me thinking about TV shows I can remember that used music most effectively. There was a series on Channel 4 in the UK back in the late 90's called Ally McBeal , it was the story of a young lawyer that had moved to Boston. She was having lots of life issues at the time, for example her ex boyfriend happened to work at the same law practice, as did his wife. The funny thing about this show was music was almost one of the characters, there was the usual background incidental music of course, but each of the main characters also had a theme song that played in their

  Eternal Flame – The Bangles This is such a sweet tune, huge song from my teenage years, melted my heart. There weren't that many all girl groups around then, so The Bangles were a big hit with us teenage boys. I didn't understand the power of the lyric back then, I just thought it was another slushy song to have a slow dance to. When you look at the words they are very moving and powerful. The early backing sounds like a music box, just imagine winding it up with a little key and watch it spin round. The lovely soothing backing vocals fill the song out, then when it lifts up it takes you with it. The guitar versus the string backing takes this above the usual 1980's power ballad. Susanna Hoffs ' voice is so achy, you feel what's she's going through. For gods sake put her out her misery, do you feel the same or is she just dreaming. The Eternal Flame image is very symbolic. Apparently it was inspired by the flame that burns at Elvis 's graveside in Gracela

    Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz I wasn't really aware of Lenny Kravitz before this song, he's a huge artist in his own genre, but after this song he went main stream. Love the guitar and feeling of this tune, let's put it this way 'It Rocks!' This song starts with a roar and it just don't let up the whole way through. Back in 1993, I remember hearing this and being really grateful thinking that Rock music was still alive after all the random music left over from the 1980's (not my favourite decade). Back then there were still music shows on main channel TV, seeing Lenny rocking out with his guitar made that cool again, he's a dude. Indie music was gaining ground, guitar bands were happening again but songs like this just still jumped out. This song appeared on a compilation cassette I had, most of the other tracks on there were the worthy 'trendy' tunes, then this explosion. It's one of those songs where the words and message are

    Running Bear – Johnny Preston I love this song. It's another one from my childhood, it sounds like a kids song, lots of chanting and takes a bit of imagination to get what's going on. It's actually a love song about two Indian's from different warring tribes, they're not allowed to be together.  This is a proper story song, loads of words, total tongue twister. Songs like this were big in the 50's, it's not an obvious setting to write a song about, I guess Westerns were very popular around the time and Cowboys and Indians were a real hit with the public. All sounding very exotic to us over here in the U.K. anything that shouted American was fantasy. Even as a kid listening to this song as a 45 single on a record player 30 years later, it really caught my ear. It was like listening to a bedtime story in three minutes. Running Bear is a cool Indian name, it gives such a strong image of a powerful fast huge guy and Little White Dove gives the impression of

    Wherever You Will Go – The Calling  No idea where this one came from, total American power ballad, it's well chessey but I love it. I'm a sucker for sentimental songs like this, all about always being with the one you love. But it's not really a happy song, apparently it was written about a husband who had lost his wife of over 50 years. The songwriter, Aaron Kamin , was at his grandmother's best friends funeral and the idea for the song came to him. How the husband who was left behind would have followed his beloved if only he could have. Can he now exist without her? The words almost say that they would come back to haunt you if that was possible, love that strong can't be broken. The need to be together is so strong. But like all good songs, you can take it's message in so many different ways. Also most listeners don't delve to deep into the meanings of songs, they just catch onto the suggested obvious tone of the chorus. The general understanding of

     These Boots Are Made for Walkin' – Nancy Sinatra You ready? Love the sliding guitar on the intro to this song, it’s like your heart pounding, you know it's all about to go South. The whole tone and the message are so well matched, you know she means what’s she saying. It’s such a clever, simple way of spinning the ‘leaving’ song idea, mistreat me and you'll get it. When this was a big hit for Nancy Sinatra back in the sixties I expect this was quite racy for it’s time. The words are so well crafted, keep plugging the same message, with some fantastic visual references. The backing is also so dramatic, you get the urgency of the situation. You better start behaving yourself or I’m off. Really like the use of the horns in this, it’s one of those really sparse sounding songs, but when you break it down there’s lots going on in there. It takes some doing but this song is so sexy sounding at the same time as actually saying I'm in control here. In fact it was written b

  Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus  This whole song hangs on one line from the lyric, ' Man, I feel like mold '. When I heard this blasting out my stereo in 2000 from yet another mix tape, I thought what a great phrase and it sums up being a teenager perfectly. Proper rock guitars and sing along chorus, I think we can all relate to this one even through we'd probably forget all about that side of being young. The words of this are so American, especially referencing bringing a gun to school, but are still very clever and speak directly to their target audience. Leaving the rest of us to be both jealous of their youth and secretly delighted we don't have to live through all that embarrassment again. How hard was it for any teenage boy to get the attention of the one girl you were helplessly in love with and she just didn't even know you existed. This song came from a real place, that feeling of being an outsider, as always with these silly songs there's usually a dark