I Second That Emotion

I was tagged (my first one) by Sue at Life and times of a Flutterbug who has challenged me to come up with five pieces of music that bring tears to my eyes. I have to admit that as far as tears go, it takes a lot, and more often than not, involves a choir of children singing, but there are more than enough songs that stir up emotions in my heart, both positive and negative, for this to be a real test of my ruthlessness. There were so many tunes that were vying for inclusion for so many reasons, but maybe only one or two that were impossible to leave out. So in the tradition of all music chart shows, here are the top 5 counting down to number one (For some reason Black Pearl doesn't seem appropriate to play underneath this chart rundown).



5. Luka - Suzanne Vega

I think it must be true that for most people, the music of their teen years has a lasting imprint. When I was at college, failing my A - Levels, I started to take an interest in the wider picture. The world was no longer just about me and my family, but also had lots of different, interesting humans in. They all had a story to tell and every individual should be encouraged to fill whatever potential that they had (I still think I will fulfil mine one day). A song came on the radio that just filled my soul with warmth. As usual it was the melody that hooked me first. Then I came to understand the words. It was a wake up call for me, that this sort of thing went on. But more than that, it opened up a world of songs with a story or a message. I decided to buy, for the first time, an album (it was just before the explosion of CD sales) mainly for the words of the songs and not just for the tune and the singalongability. I would like to recommend the Suzanne Vega song The Queen and the Soldier which is absolutely stunning.


Not only did this song introduce me to meaningful lyrics, but it also lead me to the pleasure of live music. My first ever concert was to see Ms Vega at the NEC in Birmingham in December 1987 and I have not stopped watching live music since.

4. Something Inside So Strong - Labi Siffre

I spent a summer in the mid 1990's (and many weekend evenings) being a pseudo tour manager for my friend's stage hypnotism tour. It was a good excuse to get a working holiday in Cornwall for two skint but talented lads. Two weeks camping, spending the days pottering about and spending the nights entertaining the crowds in whatever pub or club would let a couple of Scousers in and better still, pay them and provide a couple of free pints (we never overdid the free pints as we were quite proud of the show and we liked to make it as good as possible every time we did it).

We only had a couple of night off, and as luck would have it, on one of our rest days, there was a free music festival sponsored by a large lager company, taking place in Plymouth. It's almost like we planned to be at a place where there was free beer on our free time.

To be perfectly honest, I can't remember much of the festival. One stage was headlined by Madness and as much as we loved the nutty boys, there was no way we were able to get anywhere near whilst still being able to lubricate our vocal chords. So we ended up in the alternative tent which was also not to be sniffed at. In there was a singer of some repute. Labi Siffre. We'd heard of him. Let's give that a go.

It's quite impressive how a tent full of semi sober singers can sound (as long as you are semi sober yourself), but the beautiful noise that came out of that tent that night when the anthemic bars of the song, Something Inside So Strong, rang out, was really quite overwhelming. The words are quite inspirational as well.


It's now one of those songs that I have on the CD list in the car and love to sing along to during sunny window down moments.

3. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range

I have loved this song forever. The piano solo is one of my favourite segments of music. I have always found it to be haunting but I have only recently listened to the lyrics. Listening to this has now inspired me not to accept that everything is just the way it is because it is. I am now more open to a challenge but also can be more challenging. Who was it who once said "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans"? Well I am no longer a subscriber to that thought. I made a promise to myself at the start of this year that I would make good things happen to my family in 2010 and this song partially inspired that.


2. Shattered Dreams - Johnny Hates Jazz

This is one of those songs that reminds me of a point in time.

My mum died when I was 15 in 1986. The few months were about concentrating on moving forward. I passed my exams (16 plus it was then. Does anyone remember that?) and there were lots of kind offers of support from friends and family. In the summer of 1986 we (my younger brother and I) spent a week at beautiful house in Derbyshire owned by members of our extended family. We went clay pigeon shooting and to Alton Towers amongst other things.

One thing that sticks in my mind most though was the generosity of one particular couple. Before my mum had died we had started to go on holiday in bed and breakfast houses in Newquay in Cornwall. Previous holidays had always been with uncles and aunties who could drive as neither my mum or dad could. We chose Newquay because it was more central for transport both from our home and once we were there for trips out.

The first time we stayed in Newquay we lodged with the Cullen Family, Lynne, tom and their children Claire and Thomas. we had a ball, and were devastated to find out that the next year they were fully booked. We still went to Newquay and called in on the Cullens to say hello. During that holiday we went to a place that had a gypsy caravan and my mum went inside. She came out telling us about what had been said to her and the one thing I remeber was that she was told that there would only be three of us returning to Cornwall the following year. Everyone assumed I'd be holidaying with friends instead of the family (Yeah, like I had friends). My mum passed on the following February.

Move forward fifteen months and we were booking for our holiday in Cornwall for the summer 1987 and a phone call to the Cullen family to check availability the last week in July and first week in August. Luckily they had moved into a bigger guest house and there was room at the inn. Unbelievably, when they heard that it would be just the three of us, they invited us to stay for a week in May as well. They looked after us in our favourite part of the country so well I have never forgotten their generosity.


One vivid memory for me is sitting all excited at Skelhorne Street Bus Station (later to be the Buzz club in the 90's) waiting for the coach to Newquay via Bristol and Plymouth. Over the speakers the radio started playing Shattered Dreams. That always reminds me of the kindness of relative strangers and restores my faith in human nature.

1. You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry and the Pacemakers

It won't come as a shock to many that this is my number one. A song I've sung on a regular basis for most of my life. It used to be a call to arms for my beloved football team, however in 1989 it took on a whole new significance. On the 15th of April that year, I was one of the thousands that attended a football match in Sheffield. Ninety-six of my fellow supporters never came back. You can read my account of the day here.

After the tragic events of Hillsborough the Liverpool anthem became a hymn to those who lost their lives on that sunny day.

There have been plenty of versions of this classic song. Of course the original was in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. It also gets sung at a raft of other football stadia, including Parkhead, the home ground of Glasgow Celtic, the first team that Liverpool played after the Hillsborough disaster. It was re-recorded as a charity single after the Bradford City Stadium Fire in 1985. But for me the only version that comes near the Kop singing it is the one that reached number one in the charts back in the 60's and still gets played before every game at Anfield.