Music

I know it's a cliché that music is a big part of people's life but for me it's true.
Buying vinyl as a teenager, reading all the sleeve notes. Having a Sony Walkman on all the time.
I listened to The Jam and Northern Soul, I loved the clothes and the energy.
All the artists I listened to back then I still listen to now, 40 years later.

Paul Weller, Van Morrison, The Blue Nile, Nick Drake, Nick Cave. When I think about it, a lot of the songs are slow and reflective, it stops and makes me think. I've never been into Popmusic,  throwaway stuff. I need to feel it, I want it to take me somewhere. 

I can't go out for a walk on the streets without music playing, but if I'm walking in the countryside I don't listen to music at all, I need that connection with nature, with no distractions.

As a 16 year old I came across a cassette tape, Into the Music by Van Morrison and I swear, it changed my life. I had never heard anything like it before, it was mystical. And there began a lifetime journey with The Man. From his music it took me to poets, writers and the music that influenced Van. Blues, Soul, Gospel. He is so talented to the point that nothing else matters, to be driven on by his tortured soul and produce album after album, to never be contented. I'm so glad to be alive while he is and to experience his songs. I can revisit his albums from 50 years ago and still find nuances in there that I've missed. They just keep giving.

I'm also a big fan of Hip Hop. This surprises people in the rare event that I tell them this. The lyrics and the way they are delivered are incredible,  over that beat. The skills required are immense, even more so when done live. The lyrics, for me, the way they rhyme, I really believe they should be taught in school, instead of Shakespeare. Wow, if I could of studied Gang Starr songs instead of Hamlet!
The message these guys can get across, social turmoil, injustice, racism. It's all in there and it appears effortless.

I feel, as I get older, that music moves me more. I keep crying to songs. Even older stuff that didn't affect me that way years ago now has resonance with my emotions. I accept it, it's nice to feel moved by the beauty of music. I'm sure that's ultimately a songs aim, to make the listener feel something. Well, it is for me anyway.

Time to listen to some King Creosote. 

Keith 

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