Beats And Tunes, The Music Of My Life

Most of you will like a song for it's lyrics and how they relate to you, or relate to life. I'm not one for listening to songs, I prefer listening to music. The music I listen to tends to have a direct effect on my mood, whereas if you're a listener of lyrics, the songs tend to reflect your mood.

This is why I like hard, fast and energetic music. I can actually feel my spirits being lifted by certain music. Hard dance, trance, jumpstyle, hardstyle and the like are always the first to go on my MP3 player. It's the kind of music the older folks would call 'just a load of thumping'. I'm a big lover of beats, but the actual tune that accompanies those beats can do wonders for my mood.



I'm not a fan of the Beatles, Oasis or any of those real rock bands that people say is real music. That's not real music, that's real song. The music tends to slip into the background, but I like the focal point to be the music itself.

Now there are two songs that kind of relate to my life. One used to relate anyway. In Time by Robbie Rob probably won't be a name you'll know, but those who have ever watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure will know the song. That was more a hopeful wish, that things would get better in time. That probably reflected my mood before I started my rehab.

My current life theme is a funny song and is in fact featured on the first Shrek film. I'm On My Way by the Proclaimers relates to the turning point in my life, which went from wishing to actually being able to change my life.

But that's as far as I'll go in relation to song lyrics. Especially after hearing a Snow Patrol song last year and wanting to commit suicide before it was finished. Bugger me, that was a miserable song.

Heed this advice if it's all you ever do. If you're feeling a bit down, whack something upbeat on, something that makes you feel better, not something that basically forces you deeper into misery.

Hard, fast and energetic music is something I really enjoy while out cycling. The pace of the music I'm listening to tends to dictate the pace my legs are willing to push. The more upbeat the song, the faster I go. I certainly hate cycling without music on.

I've gotten into listening to jumpstyle and hardstyle in recent months. Some of the tracks I've found on Youtube are top notch. For an example, search Youtube for the D'void hardstyle mix of the Spongebob Squarepants theme tune, it's a good laugh and has a good tune to it aswell. Have a listen to some other hardstyle and jumpstyle music while you're on there. You never know, it might even cheer you up a bit.

My Twitter followers agreed with me that DJ Tiesto's remix of Barber's Adagio For String is nothing short of an iconic tune. I actually have that on as I type this. Even those who aren't into hard music seem to like it.

I did actually create my own music a few years ago. A program called Dance Ejay made it possible to use a computer to create your own dance music. I've never had a negative review of the tracks I made back then and in fact, managed to even sell a few albums to friends. I'll be more than happy to make a disc of that music up now, aslong as you pay for the cost of the disc.

For those who have been reading my blog, you'll know my Dad and me were quite close and shared a lot of common interests. Music was certainly one of those interests we shared.

In my early days, he introduced me to the music I liked. Phil Collins, Genesis and Level 42 were always at the top of the list for both of us. I still listen to a lot of that even now.

As I got older, my music tastes changed. See, when I hit high school, chart music was hitting it's peak. The summer's of 1993 and 1994 produced decent commercial dance music. 2 Unlimited, N-Trance, Cappella and the like. There's a 90's bar in Warrington town centre and the music in there is always good.

Chart music went quickly downhill after that, barring the Da Hool's and Perpetual Motions of 97 and the invasion of hard dance in 2000, with Lock and Load's 'Blow Ya Mind' and Cosmic Gate's 'Fire Wire' the best of the lot.

These days, I stay away from the chart music inspired by shite Simon Cowell run popularity contests which produces nothing but talentless drones who couldn't write a Xmas card, never mind a song.

What surprised me was that my Dad took to my kind of music aswell. Commuting between Northampton and Wycombe when I worked with him always seemed better when we put on Hard Trance Classics, or other tunes of that sort. He loved it as much as I did and for a man in his 50's before he got ill, he had a hell of a music collection that even Pete Tong would be proud of.

I will have a quick rant about how a good tune and a good beat make a decent national anthem too. Italy, France, Scotland and Ireland all have superb anthems that invoke passion for their respective nations. Flower of Scotland and Ireland's Call are my favourite and I know all the words to both. Ask me the words to the English anthem and past the first line, I'd get stuck. God Save The Queen invokes boredom. Nick Griffin will probably invoke a fatwah on me for saying that, but that racist bigot can kiss my left arse cheek.

I love funny songs, song that make you laugh. Roy Chubby Brown's version of Alice for example, or the theme tune to Ducktales and even Technohead's 'I Wanna Be A Hippy' (plus the Smurf's remix titled 'I've Got A Little Puppy').

I like my music to cheer me up and get me motivated rather than make me want to slit my wrists or lash out in anger that anybody would buy any songs sung by Jedwank or that little gay American girl (Justine Billboard?).

Some music trivia for you as it just came on; Zombie by the Cranberries is actually linked the the 1993 IRA bombing of Warrington. Bet you didn't know that.

I'll leave you with these song lyrics, just make sure you read them in the voice of King Julien the Lemur from the Madagascar films;

Okay then, while you are here, 

I just wanna tell you a little story, 

It’s an old story that my daddy used to tell me, he was a king aswell. 

I was born, probably about 68 years ago over by 

that tree over there. Yeah!

And I remember things changed a lot in those days, in Madagascar. 

It wasn’t so commercial, you know, 

It wasn’t all about money and who’s got the latest tree 

and what leaves are you wearing and who's got 

the latest fur on their back, you know. 

Those days it was just me and a couple of the others, you know. 

Doing the jungle boogie, you know, 

Jungle boogie... Jungle boogie