“Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah” The Pogues
From Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
A few summer’s back I took one of those bus tours through Ireland. It was a pleasant enough way to see the sights without spending copious amounts of cash. Our bus driver was a young, athletic looking Irishman full of the gab, as they say is the gift of that fair country. He was foul-mouthed too, dropping enough f-bombs to make me glad my mother had decided to stay at home instead of coming with us.
Throughout the three day journey, he played a cornucopia of Irish music – from Van Morrison to U2 to Snow Patrol and some traditional Irish fiddle tunes – all of which made me imagine myself as a bus tour driver.
If I had a captive audience for a few days, what kind of music would I subject them to? What kind of statement would those choices make about me? These are the types of things I think about on a regular basis. Music, it seems to me, is intensely personal and the types of music, and even the very songs one loves, says something explicit about the type of person you are.
The bus driver was very likely given instruction to play only Irish music for us tourists, and who knows he may have been given the very albums of which to play. But I can’t help but think a little of who he was also came out of that selection. He did seem to have a pretty fat booklet full of CD of which to choose from. And by his constant singing of Van Morrison lyrics, I’m pretty sure he was a fan.
He didn’t play any Pogues on this trip, though I wonder what I would have thought of him if he had.
“Close to Me” – The Cure
From Mixed Up
In my school 7-8th grade was considered Jr. High while High School properly started in the 9th grade. This was mainly due, I suspect, to the number of classrooms available in each building, and as there was space in the “Middle School” building for 8th grade classes, but none for the 9th graders, the division became plain to see.
Article comments
1 - Holly Hughes
You know I am NOT your wife's friend Holly...but I love Americana too, and I love it when people with similar tastes turn you on to more artists that you wouldn't have known about. My friend Tom recently sent me a sampler of Townes Van Zandt and I have been diggin' it ever since. I'm just sorry that I wasn't part of TVZ's way-too-small fan base back when he was alive and could appreciate it.
Now, when it comes to Neil Young, I've noticed a division between the "Rocking in the Free World" Neil Young fans and the "Harvest" Neil Young fans. As a kid, I hated hearing "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" on the radio; I found Neil's voice whiny and irritating. Years later, my husband played "Harvest Moon" for me and I became an instant convert. By the time "Prairie Wind" came out I was the one who bought it first. But I've heard some Neil fans dismiss "Harvest" and "Prairie Wind" as being too soft, too reflective. I guess it takes all kinds.
Moral of the story: It's better to learn about music from other people than from reviews or radio. That's why I like this place -- I feel like I 'm learning about music from other enthusiastic individuals, not faceless blurb hacks.
2 - Mat Brewster
Maybe it's the name. I hereby declare all Holly's must love acoustic music.
Townes is amazing. Like I said in the post his was a name that kept popping up around my favorite artists and songs and so I finally just had to check him out.
I like both loud and soft Neil Young, though probably more so of the soft. "Harvest Moon" is on my short list of greatest albums ever.