(Some of) The Music that inspires me to be here

It has been a quieter week for me this week. This does not mean less happened BUT it does mean that I MIGHT wander off-subject even more than normal. It got me a’thinking about the whats and the wheres. I know, I always say something like this so as to gently drift into a faux-philosophical ‘closing thought.’ I am aware of this so please do not hold it against me, I have never pretended to be a great writer neither have I ever alluded to being anything but a fella with a beard. Read on or not, it’s your choice.

I thought that instead of drip feeding you bits and pieces of inspiration, I would give you a creative foundation of influences upon which I have build my mental state. Some areas, such as music, are much more fluid and change daily/hourly/minutely(??) but other areas mainly books and films are fairly rigid and hard to impregnate. In this musical sojourn , I have concentrated more on songs with home as their main theme for no other reason than home is often on my mind in a good way.

Edward Sharpe – Home. This is a song that has amazingly mixed feelings for me. It is a wonderful example of how to exemplify loving sentiments with happy noises. I love it. Sadly, it is tied up in a web of memories that I would rather forget - it’s all very soap opera-ish. Home. It’s where you lay your hat. It’s where your heart is. It’s where you get fed, cleaned and watered. It’s is where you are happy enough to make a sound of utter utopian content similar to that which the girls makes at 3:42. The warm, happy jangly feel to this track makes my head think of the messes that you made and grew to love in your room when you were younger. It’s like building a blanket fort for the soul. Trust me, I have built a LOT of blanket forts.

Welcome Home by Radical Face. This conjures COMPLETELY different set of memories and emotions. It reminds me of a wonderful period in time that I spent with Jimmy McSparron - Trekkingnut in the village of Pa’ Umor in the Kelabit Highlands in Sarawak, Borneo. Despite its central theme of going/arriving home, the minute the chorus starts the build, I have a strong sense that I NEED to head out into the world and see it. It’s pretty much an irrepressible compulsion but I think that has more to do with the grand, crescendo-ing, soaring vocals and major key than the lyrical content. I I’d be curious to hear what you think.

I know wrote about him but a few weeks ago BUT Michael Kiwanuka’s Home Again still features heavily in my daily mental playlist and it also fits quite nicely with this theme. His heart-achingly raw, longingly sorrowful voice adds a wonderful depth to the intensity of this song. There is a strong sense of regret and desperate hope that he'll feel home again, in this case it seems like home is wherever SHE might be. Broken hearts, we’ve all had them, we’ve all dealt with them differently we’ve all (hopefully) bounced back stronger from them. I know that the cognitive re-visiting of such memories can have a detrimental effect but the whatever-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger principle works with great effect here. If I weren’t for the heartbreak and anguish of 2010, I doubt I would be as happy as I am now.

It is not all about the umm-tiss umm-tiss of modern music y’know. Ave Maria sung by Maria Callas – the song that played as my Grandfather – Api – was cremated shall forever hold an intensely strong fire in my belly that makes my heart swell with pride. This was a man who talked himself and family out of many MANY difficult situations during the Magyar Revolution in the 1950. I do not think that many people know, mainly because I have never told them, that I see a great deal of Api in me. From what I know and remember, he was a proud and courageous man who held honesty and humility as important virtues. He spirit has definitely been passed down through the generations.

Lastly Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat major. Firstly it is hard to find a picture to represent this so I added one of my own.My friend Mike and I would often listen to this in the evenings in the jungles of Sarawak and drift off to our respective cerebral havens. Just so’s you know, neither Mike nor I are Beethoven. I don’t have a lot to say about this. It is glorious. It is beautiful, magnificent and reminds me why I am so happy to be alive. Give it a go.

You have to understand that these are a tiny weeny snapshot of the music that really presses my buttons and has a direct correlation to what I am thinking. If you are curious enough to see where else my audio wanderings go then have a look at my hypemachine playlist. I admit that I have not updated it recently but that is mainly because my internet connection cannot sustain the streaming music. Aaaaaaaaaah the joys of living in the third world... One day, if you are lucky I will have finished my life story and I am sure music will feature heavily there.

For now, happy listening.

Be well good people.

Love, WonderBear(d) x