Music and Me

I always wonder if people like the same songs for the same reasons. Well, here are mine...

Van Morrison- Brown Eyed Girl

This song is really special to me on so many layers. Firstly, I grew up listening to Van Morrison since my mum is a huge fan and my grandparents and most of her side of her family are Irish and every time I hear this song I can see my granddad dancing around his kitchen, flat cap on, me on his toes, belting out the words with a cigar in one hand and a whiskey in the other. I’m comforted by the fact that whenever I get stressed out or things are changing that Nanny Nora and Granddad Pat are a constant- drinking litres of tea in their tiny terrace in Cork and when I hear this song it never fails to make me dance like I’m there with them.

Air Traffic- Shooting Star

When I hear this song it literally catapults me to being 13 and confused about, well everything! Boys, appearance, going out…I was growing up! It felt as though I was the exact right age at the time of ‘myspace’ obsession when uploading self created content was just beginning to take off and I developed a really strong interest in music at this point, discovering new bands and photographing at gigs at the Astoria, Nambucca and Tin Pan Alley Festival. I’ve always admired the art of song writing and I am so in awe of beautiful songs with beautiful lyrics- it’s like I should have two iPods; one with those songs you blast out at parties with your mates and one with those you listen to on your own, the songs that move you, make you think, reflect and put into music what you can’t seem to put into words. This song is no exception and also has personal significance as one night laying in a field near my house, my friend Tom and I both saw a shooting star. It was such an impossibly special moment and I will never ever forget it.

Mumford and Sons- Unfinished Business (White Lies Cover)

These are all pretty personal anecdotes about my relationship with music and they’re all interlinked which just shows how much of an involvement and influence these songs have had on my life. I met a boy at a festival in 2007 and through a very random series of events ended up meeting him again at a friend’s gig this January. He introduced me to the White Lies version of this song and I actually won tickets to see them at the iTunes festival which was incredible and definitely worth skipping work for…:) I chose to post the Mumford and Sons cover though because not only do I think the vocals are hauntingly moving but it really makes you focus on the lyrics which although tell a story are very relatable. This song came into my life at a time when I was so happy and although it has quite a sombre feel, the lyrics ‘so get off your low and let's dance like we used to’ have such a positive, affirming and nostalgic quality and it always makes me think of this year which has been one of the best of my life...so far atleast!