Eleni Zoe [http://hope.gr/] asked what Secrets were Revealed by Her Most-Played List on iTunes, which set me thinking, what do mine say about me? My top ten is really a top 14 as six all tied for tenth place - well, clearly I am indecisive if nothing else.
Number one, the most played, clearly the most important tune in my library, surprised me; but it speaks of long sleepless nights of unhappiness, when being lost in its cadences was often the only way left. I hope in a few years time it is no longer number my one. Gregorian Chant
Few - number two - ah, still a Romantic at heart! There is hope for me :)
and Reggea to boot - plus who could resist Blonde? The Tide is High
Then comes that issue which is so much my conundrum - no wonder this gets played as often as it does. First heard it when it was sent to me by a friend who was undergoing a sex change. Wonder why he liked it? Hope she still does: Just a Girl
Four - gutsy stuff to jump around to - and says so much about attraction: I bet you look good ... . How can this have caught the feel of my university days when it wasn't released until more than thirty years after??? You can smell the North in it.
Now this really is from my university days - but what an anthem for the spirit! This is for those moments when you bounce back up. No. 5: Free and, yes, I did have hair like that! The studio version is the one on my iTunes, but this clip is just so 1970.
Six - another give away. Did not realise I had played it so often, but then it speaks directly to my what I am - a chimera - so not that much of a surprise then: Beautiful Garbage - Androgyny
and the Japanese manga style video? Well, I am part Japanese.
That square peg in a round whole feeling [the spelling error is NOT an error] when the world shouts at you so loudly that you are the one out of sync. The fear of discovery and exposure that haunted me for years. Now I am at peace with my biology those fears are receding, much like my hair - but still this song resonates with how it was for so long: Radiohead.
That is seventh.
Brass in Pocket What it has taken to cross the divide of my fear for those who have touched me. A fitting No. 8 and my indebtedness to those women with real courage.
Dylan - well, the master of words had to feature somewhere. This one spoke so loudly to me when an impossible love exploded. So Where are you Tonight?
Nine done, now comes the five that all have been played as much as each other, all tie tenth equal. Make of them what you will, but they all have their reasons, all say too much about me:
Pembrokeshire's best: Catatonia, Road Rage
Dawn Penn: No No No
Elvis Costello: I want you
Girl with one eye: Florence and the Machine
Lily Allen: Not Fair: being a chauvinist pig is NOT just a male preserve! Trust me :(
