I Fell in Love... With a City: My London Nostalgia Mix
Written: Nov 11 '02 (Updated Oct 15 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I love London!
Cons: I am not there now. :(
The Bottom Line: I'm being self-indulgent. Humour me! Why is there a product rating for this?
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| beckytcy's Full Review: The Best Romance Mixes |
A quick re-cap: I studied in London last semester (Spring 2002) and it was the best six months of my life. It literally broke my heart to have to leave. My last two or three days there, I felt like I was about to burst into tears at any moment. Like most broken-hearted people, a lot of songs remind me of my beloved.
This review is dedicated to Katy, Dinny, Nate, Merry, Eleanor, Philippa, Emma, Tim, and all the other fabulous people I met in London.
Note: Not all of the songs on this theoretical mix are good. In fact, some of them are downright atrocious. These songs have been included because they remind me of a certain situation or anecdote. And, of course, other songs remind me of London, as well, but this essay would get ridiculously long if I included any more.
Two asterisks next to the song means I sang it karaoke during my time abroad.
Enjoy!
1. "Badge" by Cream
Most of the music I listen to is British, and Cream is my favorite band of all time. This song was the last song they did before breaking up. It was co-written by George Harrison and the title comes from the fact that George mis-read the word "bridge" as "badge" on the lyrics sheet. I've always been an Anglophile. It runs in the family. My grandfather used to read London newspapers and insist on using British spelling in school. When I got really into Cream, it made me want to visit England more than ever and began using the word "queue" (rather than line) because I was inspired by this song.
Talkin' 'bout a girl who looks quite like you
She didn't have the time to wait in the queue
It also mentions swans living in the park and London's parks are my favorite feature of the city.
2. "I'm so Bored with the USA" by The Clash
I wouldn't have gone abroad if I had been entirely happy with the United States. We were warned before going that we shouldn't walk around waving American flags or anything. Also, I was tired of going to school in a boring suburb in Connecticut and I was ready to go to an exciting city. I was excited when I found out that I was going to be living in Camden Town, since I had heard that the Clash had spent a lot of time there and it has a lot of punks and fabulous markets. [More info on this in my upcoming London op.]
3. **"It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls
The Weather Girls are the ultimate one-hit wonder because the name of their group is in reference to their one song! Martha Wash really belts it out on this campy classic that is hilariously outrageous and fun. It's about how "Tonight for the first time... It's gonna start raining men" and how you should "rip off the roof and stay in bed." This song mirrors the feeling of glee I had upon arriving in London and discovering that it is full of attractive men with British accents. (sigh) "Hallelujah!"
4. **"Crying at the Discotheque" by Alcazar
I wrote the story of my "family stay" in my Why You Should Study Abroad opinion, so I won't repeat the details here. The mother in both my family and the one that Katy was staying with loved this song, which is a cheesy club hit by a Swedish group. It is so much fun to sing and dance to and I downloaded the MP3 and sent it to my friends at home over instant messenger, so they could share in its glory. The fun lines include:
The golden years
The silver tears
You wore a tie like Richard Gere
We would request it at cheesy clubs and the DJ would dedicate it to us.
5. "Your Disco Needs You" by Kylie Minogue
Kylie is a wildly popular in the U.K., but I discovered this song through my American friend Ethan who sent the MP3 to me when I was in London. It is extremely campy and reminiscent of the Village People's In the Navy since it has a mockingly patriotic tone to it. The best part is when Kylie breaks into French for no reason, telling her listeners that they should never give up their allegiance to their disco nation.
Vous êtes jamais seuls
Vous savez ce qu'il faut faire
Ne laissez pas tomber votre nation
La disco a bésoin de vous!
I love it because it's so ridiculously dramatic. Apparently, there are also German and Spanish versions of this song, but I've only heard the French one.
6. "For Tomorrow" by Blur
This song is one of my favorite Blur songs because it is so happy and bouncy and full of "lalalas." My friends and I used to walk around Camden Town singing the lalala part. Plus, the members of Blur actually live in Camden Town and they were sometimes spotted at the local pubs and supermarket, so we were always on the look-out for them. However, I probably wouldn't have recognized them unless they were in cartoon form.
I would also add "Park Life" as another Blur song on this mix because Katy and I used to sing it a lot and I spent a lot of time in London's gorgeous parks.
7. "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol
The one thing I didn't like about going out clubbing was when men would grab us or follow us around. We mainly wanted to dance by ourselves since most of the men in clubs were sweaty and gross. One night, we'd had enough of men grabbing at us, so we headed to the bar for a drink. There was an attractive man there dancing by himself (to a George Michael song) and not bothering the people around him. So, we started dancing near him, since he seemed to be nice. He was a terrible dancer, but told us that that's what he did for a living. It turned out that he was a stripper, but fortunately, he didn't ask us to pay for his services.
They would play Billy Idol at '80s retro nights and it would always make me think of Oliver, the South African stripper.
8. "Common People" by Pulp
I have a major obsession with this song and Pulp in general. It's so dramatic, musically perfect, and addresses important issues. I listened to this song and "Disco 2000" almost every day that I was in London. See my review of Pulp's brilliant Different Class album for more details about these two songs.
9. "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" by Pink Floyd
The women who served the food in our dorm's dining hall were really mean and fascist about how much food you could take. Once, they screamed at Dinny for trying to take another bowl of soup. So, they always made me think of the end of this song when the person yells, "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!"
Also, Katy is vegetarian, but in Scotland, they accidentally served her real haggis. It was not a pretty sight.
10. "Planet Telex" by Radiohead
This is the first track from one of my favorite albums ever, The Bends. It reminds me of London because it goes, "Everything is broken," which was true of my halls. The phones didn't work, the computers were always on the fritz, the laundry room was in shambles, etc. We had two showers on our corridor-- one was one constant stream and the other was a mist. But I loved it our halls anyway.
Another Radiohead song that I would add to this mix is "How Can You Be Sure" because of the line, "I am hungry again/I am drunk again,"which was my thought many nights before going to sleep.
11. "Don't Stop Moving" by S Club 7
S Club 7 is basically the Mickey Mouse Club with a record contract. They don't have much talent, but they are attractive and sing cheesy songs that seem to be aimed at 14-year-old girls.
I won't bore you with a long story, but basically, I saw a guy dancing to this song and I could never find him attractive after that despite my friends' encouragement. They didn't understand! Finally, one night, we ran into him at a student union bar and Katy yelled to him, "Show us your moves!" when this song came on. He danced, and Katy understood why I didn't like him. hehe. I am so superficial sometimes. :)
12. "My Old Man's a Dustman" by... everyone singing it
Katy, Dinny, and I went to see some free comedy at a local pub. The comedian's entire routine was based around the song "My Old Man's a Dustman," singing it in different styles (including "Stairway to Heaven")and talking about how he had emailed people whose last name was Dustman. We'd never heard the song before, but it was still funny anway. We mentioned it to Tim and Emma one day in the lift and they burst into song. Apparently, everyone in the country knows this song. It's so much fun. I've even gotten some of my friends at Wesleyan to sing it. "OHHHHHHHHHH, my old man's a dustman, he wears a dustman's hat..."
And for you Americans out there, it means "garbage man." This song was a Number 1 hit in the '50s by Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle.
13. **"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston
We used to go to karaoke almost every Sunday night. This was one of my karaoke specialties. I sang it in London, Liverpool, and Wales. However, I wouldn't sing it in the same pub more than once.
14. "Kiss" by Prince
Nate sang this at karaoke once and brought down the house with his falsetto. The next time we went, the karaoke DJ put this song on for Nate before he had even requested it. The bartenders even gave Nate a special kangaroo ball in recognition of his fantastic performance. I went to a cheesy bar/club over the summer that played this song. But Merry and I couldn't dance to it because it made us so sad to think about karaoke in London.
15. "Stranded" by Lutricia McNeal
When we went to visit Tim in Kent, he played this song while he was making breakfast and Katy and I came downstairs with our bras on over our shirts. I'm not sure why.
Even though she's from Oklahoma and has a great voice, Lutricia McNeal has never had a hit in the states. This song is fun to sing along to.
I don't wanna feel like I'm stranded...
16. "Norwegian Wood" by The Beatles
I had to include a Beatles song on here because they were one of the reasons I wanted to go to England in the first place and why we went to Liverpool. They also caused me to want men to call me "Love," especially if they were from the North. I chose this particular song because it makes me think of the Norwegian ski instructor on our flight to Ireland. Katy, next time we fly RyanAir, I'll let you sit next to the cutest guy. I promise!
17. "Set Me Free" by N-Trance
One of the bartenders in our hall's bar used to play this song all the time because she knew I liked it. It's a cheesy dance song. It makes me think of when I tried to go a week without flirting and everyone was trying to get me to fail, including girls... It is in dispute how long I actually went without flirting.
18. "All Right Now" by Free
Some people on our study abroad program went to Wales for an "adventure weekend," riding horses, canoeing, etc. There was a cover band at a local pub that played this song and had us (me, Katy, and Dinny) come up on stage as back-up singers. They were called ABD, which stands for "Always Bloody Drunk." It was really fun except that there was a really scary woman who was trying to dance with us and who almost ripped my arm off! This song rules.
19. "Wonderwall" by Oasis
Shock! Horror! I know... I'm not supposed to like Oasis because I like Blur. And I don't really like Oasis, but sometimes in a moment of weakness it invades my consciousness... I chose this song over "Don't Look Back in Anger" because it reminds me of the time Katy and I got our ears pierced.
With only one hole in each ear, we were the least pierced people in Camden Town. We went to Claires, since it's a chain and seemed less shady than the other piercing places but the woman screwed up and made my ears bleed. Katy almost fainted and I sang this song with different lyrics to try to keep her sane.
Katy, you gotta come with me to Sainsbury's
Cos after all, we need cotton balls
And "Champagne Supernova" reminds me of my trip to Amsterdam, for obvious reasons.
20. "Me Julie" by Ali G and Shaggy
In the states, the Ali G character is known best for his role in Madonna's Music video, but he is wildly popular in the UK. Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G pretends to be a rapper and uses the wrong verb forms. This is a terrible song, but the whole Ali G concept did cause us to say things like, "I is knackered" and "I is p!ssed" far too often.
[Translations are "I am very tired" and "I am drunk."]
21. "Do you Know the Muffin Man" Traditional
He lives on Drury Lane. "Look! It's Drury Lane," I exclaimed one night while waiting for the bus after partying at the London School of Economics Union. I carried on about it on the bus and even got a few people on the top level to sing along. Late night bus sing-a-longs with large groups were so much fun. Emma and I went cavorting through Leicester Square singing "Common People" in the pouring rain on Philippa's birthday.
22. "Freedom" by Alice Cooper
K, D, and I went on a tour of the Scottish highlands and our tour guide only had one tape, which included this song. It is hilarious and bizarre, starting out with lines from the Declaration of Independence. The best line is, "This ain't Russia/You ain't my dad or mother."
Freedom to rock, freedom to talk
Freedom, raise your fist and yell
Scotland did make us feel free with its beautiful countryside. We climbed hills and actually raised our fists and yelled.
23. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" by The Manic Street Preachers
I received a tape with this song on it my last full day in London. I brought my Walkman with me as I walked around the park, rode the tall red bus, watched the World Cup, and felt like I was going to burst into tears at any moment. Indeed, the feeling of glee that I had had during most of my time in London was gone. But I met some workmen who were doing construction on the manager of the Manic Street Preachers' house and one of them called me "love." yay. Listening to this song now actually makes me happy for some reason, because it sounds fun despite the sad lyrics. And it's really fun to sing along to.
Also, one of the things I'd been looking forward to about going back home was that the weather would be better. However, it was rainy and cool for my first week in the states. It fit with my sun-less heart. :)
24. "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" by Don Henley
I love Don Henley, but this isn't one of my favorite songs of his. However, there is one part of it that reminds me of my last day in London when I got in trouble with the transit authority for "tampering" with my bus pass. I was afraid that I would be blacklisted from returning to the country! So this part makes me think of that day:
As we taxied down the runway I could hear the people shout
They said, Don't come back here Yankee!
But if I ever do-
I'll bring more money
Cause all she wants to do is dance
I spent way too much money drinking and dancing, but it was so much fun.
Another Don Henley song I would add to this mix is "Boys of Summer," which I would dedicate to London.
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong after the boys of summer have gone
25. "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" by Oasis
I apologize for putting another Oasis song on this theoretical mix, but this was the song that was playing on the radio when I got into the cab to take me to the airport. And I was actually crying, so it was too apt. I heard this song in America, too. :(
26. "Bad Cover Version" by Pulp
There are some good things about New England, but it's just not England. Most of the cities and towns have British names, but they are "sad imitations that got it so wrong." Some places that I visited (or drove through) during the summer include Salisbury, Winchester, Brighton, Manchester, Ashford, Stratford, and even New London. When people here talk about SoHo, they are referring to a part of New York City.
A bad cover version of love is not the real thing...
The original was so good; the one you no longer own...
There are more songs that could be in this list, but I will spare you any additional melodrama.
I say to London, "Cheers, luv!"
Related Ops:
Why You Should Study Abroad
Pulp's Brilliant Album "Different Class"
BritPop at its Finest: The Best of Blur
RyanAir: Extremely Budget Airline
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out
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