30 Day Song Challenge - Day 24 - A Song That I Want Played At My Funeral.

I want my funeral to be a happy occasion. I want a Jewish coffin - certainly not a gawdy coffin with horrible OTT fake gold handles or anything like that. And if there is any money to be spent - let it be spent on the after party! Good food, good drink & a DJ!

But before the after party, I'll have Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye as my funeral song, thank you.

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye,
Cheerio, here I go, on my way
Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye,
Not a tear, but a cheer, make it gay (who knows what the church will make of that last bit, but I won't care because I won't actually be there!)
Give me a smile I can keep all the while
In my heart while I'm away
Till we meet once again, you and I
Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye...

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 23 - A Song That I Want To Play At My Wedding

I wonder what song Kate & Wills will be opening their dance floor to today? A few songs spring to mind -
Fool If You Think It's Over, Run While You Still Can, Love Stinks, Highway To Hell, Another One Bites The Dust, Tainted Love....
Okay, never mind all that.

I can't plan a song for my wedding, as I am already married. I certainly wouldn't have the song I had played then, playing now - you know it's a bit out of fashion and hmm... maybe a couple of other reasons too, but anyway...
It was 1991, the year of Robin Hood and I'm sure just about every wedding that took place that year and the year after, had two love sick people swaying to Bryan Adams singing Everything I Do, I Do It For You while dreaming of a lifetime of happiness.

Okay, let me put my cynicism aside. I think a lovely song to play at a wedding (if you find the perfect person) is Shania Twain's From This Moment On.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 22 - A Song That I Listen To When I'm Sad

Heavy Metal bands are really not my thing. This is what I mostly think of them: they scream and shout, there's no proper tune or beat, you can't hear what they're singing and often they look scary and so angry!

There is one exception for me. Nothing Else Matters by Metallica.

My eldest son, Zane introduced me to this song. He bought the cd and came home, wanting to share it with me. Of course, I was reluctant, expecting head-banging-guitar-bashing-bad-shouting music. Nothing Else Matters is different. It was one of Zane's favourite songs and one I grew to really like.

He died at a very young age. I listen to this song often. I miss him and sometimes this is how I feel: my son is dead and it's like nothing else matters.

In Loving Memory of my son Zane. 27 August 1987 - 9 November 2007.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 21 - A Song I Listen To When I'm Happy

A few years ago I used to play this song every morning, because it gave me that real get-up-and-go feeling; getting me all enthusiastic to start the day. My children grew to hate the song because it reminded them of school (part of the get-up-and-go enthusiasm I was trying to get them into too!), so I stopped playing it while they were around.
But, I still play it when they're not around and especially when I have to try get excited about doing the housework!

I just wish the video clip showed theJackson 5 strutting around the stage. Enjoy it anyway - it's an awesome song.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 20 - A Song That I Listen To When I'm Angry

When I'm angry, my choice of music is usually something to lift my mood, but lately I've not really done that and have opted to listen to Christina Perry singing Jar Of Hearts instead.

Apparently she wrote the song after dating a serial heartbreaker and went home to her parents to hide out and get away from him.

I love the lyrics (you can go here to read them) and I think she has a powerful & amazing voice.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 19 - A Song From My Favourite Album

Often when you buy an album, there are a few songs on it that you don't like - the ones that when they start playing you press the 'skip' button and go on to the next song.
There are only 2 albums that I could think of (off the top of my head) that I don't do that with. The one album is Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales but because I've already spoken about Sting on this blog, I've decided to go with the other one - which is the soundtrack from the movie Elizabethtown.

I loved this wacky movie with Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom and I love this album. There is not one song that I do not like. With artists like Elton John, Tom Petty, Lindsay Buckingham and The Hollies, it makes for an astounding album! It was hard choosing a track off it.

Here are The Hollies.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 18 - A Song That I Wish I Heard On The Radio

As I said - I don't listen to the radio very often, but when I do, I always hope to hear Bruno Mars singing Grenade. Love the song and the rhythm of it.
Bruno Mars comes from a family of musicians and was nominated for 7 Grammys this year. I love his music.
When I listen to this song, there's always a part that reminds me of Michael Jackson. Turns out Bruno was a big fan and as a child did impersonations of the Thriller singer, so maybe there is some influence there.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 17 - A Song I Often Hear On The Radio

I don't often listen to the radio. I usually have a cd of choice on, or just plain and simple quiet. But, it seems this last while, that every time I do put the radio on, this is what I hear - Rihanna singing Only Girl (in the World) . Luckily I think it's a great song, so I don't mind hearing it at all. And isn't that the way every girl wants a man to make her feel? Like she's the only girl in the world?

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 16 - A Song That I Used To Love But Now Hate

I was 14 and madly in love with a boy called John. I won't go into his surname - rumour has it that he's now a very well-known photographer living with a gorgeous woman in Sweden. She might even be his wife.
Anyway - I was madly in love with John and he was the first 'boyfriend' that came to my house to visit me.
I think he might have been trying to set a mood of sorts and brought along with him his Air Supply LP. Actually it wasn't his - it was his older brother's, but anyway.

It was all a bit awkward, because he had this love-sick-puppy-dog look and all he wanted to do was stare into my eyes. Which looking back at what happened next was what he perhaps should have stayed doing.
He kept rubbing my arms and every time he came closer to try kiss me, I would turn my head and his mouth would clumsily hit my neck or cheek. It's not that I didn't want to be kissed, it was just that I had a little brother running around the house and I knew that should he walk in while this was happening, he would embarrass me and then there was also the small issue of John's breath smelling rather strongly of compost. And not fresh compost either.

Eventually he put his hands on the side of my face and pulled me towards him & just went ahead and stuck his tongue in my mouth! Between his smelly breath and the hot, furry texture of his tongue, I felt a wave of nausea wash over me and pushed him away. The LP had at this crucial moment, got stuck & in the background - while Dear John pleaded with me to kiss him - was Air Supply hopping on about making love out of nothing at all.

I was only 14, but up until that point, I had loved that song so much & he ruined it for me! I have hated that song ever since. It just gives me a really creepy feeling.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 15 - A Song That Describes Me

This is a song from a truly brilliant South African band - The Parlotones.
If you watched the opening ceremony of the 2010 Fifa World Cup - you would have seen their great performance of Push Me To The Floor.

One of my favourite songs of theirs is Only Human - I feel it expresses how most of us feel and describes me fairly well.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 14 - A Song That No One Would Expect Me To Love

I absolutely love this song. I loved it  20 years ago and I still love it.
It comes as no suprise to me that I love it, but there have been many people who have expressed utter amazement when they discover how much I love this song.
When it was first released, the local hang out place was a fairly dodgy hotel that had opened a club at the side of the building, so thankfully you could avoid the main entrance, but it did not spare the place it's reputation.
Not the best venue, but they played really great music and this was one of the hits that got everyone on the dance floor.

Ladies & Gentlemen - here is the one and only magnificent Alice Cooper...!

Alice Cooper - Poison (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Alice Cooper

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 13 - A Song That Is A Guilty Pleasure

It took me many years to openly admit that I actually like this song. In fact, I really, really like this song.
Yes, it's cheesy, country and embarrassing - and that's why it's a guilty pleasure.
I don't own any of their Cd's and wouldn't let anyone catch me listening to this, but I suppose it's out in the open now...

I present to you: (No laughing!)
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers!

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 12 - A Song From A Band I Hate

This was harder than choosing a song from a band I love. There are so many bands/musicians that are just so awful (in my humble opinion) that I had a hard time selecting the winner!

I finally decided on Kansas. This song 'Dust In The Wind' is so awful - that's what they should have become - dust in the wind -  and blown right away! That's not even talking about their dodgy outfits and scary hair.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 11 - A Song From My Favourite Band

I have a few favourite bands, so this was a bit hard. I thought about what band or musician has constantly been amongst my favourites & I decided on Sting. From his Police days to his solo days - he has never let me down and I always love his music.

This is one of my absolute favourites.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 10 - A Song That Makes Me Fall Asleep

Well, I don't know of a song that makes me fall asleep. I thought of a few lullabies, but in truth I'm not a big lullaby fan.
But, there is one that if my children were still small I might play for them at bedtime.
This song by Mindy Gledhill is like a lullaby and has a slight haunting quality to it which I love. And the fact that she has a great voice.
I had hoped to find a better clip - one that illustrated the words and meaning of the song more, but unfortunately wasn't able to.

You'll enjoy it anyway - it is truly a beautiful song.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 9 - A Song I Can Dance To

I don't get much chance to dance, although I really do like to.
Weddings are my best - especially the cheesy songs that get everyone onto the dance floor.
At the moment, this is the song that my youngest likes to put on really loud and then we all dance around the house. (And I pretend that I'm really young & still go clubbing!)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 8 - A Song I Know All The Words To

I know some people that sing along to every song that comes on the radio, know the words to songs I've never even heard of and can hold a tune.
I'm not one of those people. I sometimes know some of the words, but hardly ever all or even most...
Except when it comes to ABBA!

I had one of my ABBA cd's playing yesterday as I did chores and to my absolute delight discovered that I know ALL the words to MOST of their songs. And boy was I singing along... (And pretending I have a really good voice!)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 7 - A Song That Reminds Me Of A Certain Event

School swimming galas were always a highlight. Especially the inter-high galas where all the schools took part. They were held at the Stadium Swimming Pool and each school had a stand, with their cheer leaders standing on a table that served as a small stage. 

Of course the best part of the evening was eyeing the boys from Grey College and St. Andrews. A lot of secret snogging took place under the stands and in dark corners.

War cries were shouted while the swimmers thrashed it out in the water. When one of ours won, we would sing "We will, we will rock you..." And stomp our feet very hard on the stand.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 6 - A Song That Reminds Me Of Somewhere

Sunwich Port is a holiday resort on the Kwa-Zulu Natal South Coast in South Africa. In 1980 my mother took us there during our July school holidays and we stayed in a chalet at the municipal caravan park. There was a 'club house' that consisted of a tiny tuck shop that only opened at certain hours, a snooker table and a small television with a few chairs set up where you could go watch the evening news or whatever program had been selected by the time you got there. Sometimes they would show a movie against the wall.

My mother cooked Red Roman and we spent hours on the beach collecting shells. It was a piece of paradise.
My eldest sister, Janine was 13 at the time, Michéle 12 and Gareth only 3, so it goes without saying that Janine was in charge of the music. Janine & Michéle had beautiful voices and weren't too keen on me singing along - as I couldn't always keep a tune and hardly ever knew the right words.

There's a moment that stands out in my mind: We were leaving Sunwich Port in my mother's bright orange Volkswagen Beetle. A tape was playing on a portable tape recorder - I can't remember if we had one in the car or if it had just packed up - it might also have been to keep the noise contained in the back seat for the benefit of my mom. It was Joy singing Paradise Road and as I looked back to the place we had spent 10 wonderful days, I truly felt as if I had been in Paradise.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a better video clip, but the song is truly beautiful.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 5 - A Song That Reminds Me Of Someone

I was about 7, driving with my father in his pale blue Ford Cortina bakkie (pick-up). He was taking me to a friend who lived in Marquard Cresent. Her name was Tammy Adams and she had a very beautiful and glamorous mother. The windows of the car were open, it was a hot day and for the short time that my hair blew in the wind, I felt very glamorous too.

The tape deck was a giant one that looked like it could swallow a whole loaf of bread. Neil Diamond was belting out Beautiful Noise and I pretended to be on a movie set, being filmed in the car with my father at the wheel. A lot of the Neil Diamond songs remind me of my father, but most of all Beautiful Noise.

In memory of my father, John Stuart Daubney. 26 November 1943 - 22 October 2007

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 4 - A Song That Makes Me Sad

From 1966 - 1989 the South African Defence Force (SADF) fought a war on the border between Angola & South West Africa (today known as Namibia). The Kaplyn (Cutline) was a thin strip of land cleared of any growth. This was the border.

National service was compulsory. Young boys just out of school were sent off to the army for their basic training and then to The Border. I knew many young men that experienced this and I saw how lives and families were changed forever. This is a subject very close to my heart. My current work in progress is on this topic and the research has been both captivating and debilitating.

I think this moving song by Bok Van Blerk captures the essence of that period so well and I cannot watch this video clip without getting a lump in my throat and an ache in my heart for the devastation that another forgotten war caused. The song is in Afrikaans, with English subtitles. As with most things - there is a bit lost in translation, but I'm sure you will still be able to feel the emotion of it all.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 3 - A Song That Makes Me Happy

Mustang Sally has not waned in popularity since it was first recorded by Sir Mack Rice in 1965. I wasn't even born yet. It's considered by many as one of the greatest hits of all time. I am one of the many. It also reminds me of a dear friend and musician Nic Klopper who sings it so damn well.

No matter what my mood, listening to this song makes me want to dance and puts a smile on my face.

I love the way The Commitments did it in their 1991 movie.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 2 - My Least Favourite Song

This could also be titled - The Song I Hate More Than Any Other Song In The Whole Wide World.
The award for My Least Favourite Song goes to (no drum rolling) - the one and only (heavy, twangy accent here) Billy Ray Cyrus and his goddamn awful Achy Breaky Heart.

Seriously - this is honkey-tonk-hi-ho-silver-shit at its worst!
What was he thinking with lyrics like You can tell your dog to bite my leg? He would have been better off having his vocal cords bitten. Right off, preferably. And You can tell my eyes to watch out for my mind... Really? What mind? And the less said about that dodgy hairstyle, the better.



Here it is for you to view at your own peril. I take absolutely no responsibility for any feelings of illness you might experience while watching this clip.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 1 - My Favourite Song

I wasn't even yet a teenager when Southern Cross was released, but the minute I heard the song, I fell in love with it. We were with my father having a barbeque at a friend of his. It was a sunny, but chilly afternoon - I think it might have been autumn, although I can't be sure.

Apparently Stephen Stills wrote this song following a long boat trip he took after his divorce and although I didn't know it at the time, in my young mind I saw a man on a ship, sailing through the day and into the night, tears in his eyes while he looked up at the Southern Cross. It filled me with such profound emotions - emotions I still feel when I listen to it and I would have to say that this is still my favourite song of all time.