the more i see of her, the more i havent;
the more i think of her , the more i yearn;
evenings and dreams,
rains and laughs
life and how we sing it-
a heart filled within , an
heavenly beauty
that leaves a kerala-shaped
hole in my universe.
ps: postcard to T, lashed by malabar monsoon.
kerala roadtrip , may 2006
To N,
You believe
your
pain is
the deepest
of all the pains
I believe
my pain is
never
anywhere deep
than
other many pains
That
truly
is
my pain.
In the ears of my days
is a thunder of accomplished rivers
-e e cummings
Here we go- for the last few days all conversations seem to somehow inadvertently drift into music- from old friends to total strangers the endless ocean of a topic of music is coming up more oftener than ever again. The last one being with a cab driver who was playing his favourite CD instead of the usual fm radio. Having gone through all these talk, and not finished yet, I thought It would make sense to draw a list to reflect on my present cross-section of musical conscience for future reference.
But, as I said charting a favourite music list is like counting how many thank-yous are said in Great Britain in a minute, so I have purposefully stuck to so called main stream chartmusic, excluding other personal favourite genres like classical ,experimental and film based et al. Again, in the list I have chosen only what I call, feel based music, subject to whatever they evoked in me- memories and feelings totally ignoring music or lyrics. Although my initial list was of 25, we shall stick to traditional thirteen shall we? Ah! just look how we are growing old!
1.Something in the way Nirvana If not the best Nirvana song , the song which conveys so much feeling in a few lines. Though quite repetitive, not an inch of bore or monotony . If I remember it right, he wrote it for his first love, when he was twelve. Makes a heart swell and linger in a perpetual promise. Saudade.
2.The end The Doors I believe every man has a song to epitomise his youth. And this was mine. The enviable vocals of the Jim Morrison and underrated skills of Manzarek‘s digits makes it such a special experience. It evokes intense personal memories, meanings, loves and kisses. Popularly marked as a war song, I think a wilder and passionate love song is yet to be written . One real cleansing of perceptual portals!
3.Old man Neil Young- Have you ever walked into a place and heard a song and immediately knew it was a song you knew all along but are hearing for the first time then?
Beautifully balanced song, the best Neil young song for me, speaks for the early twenties feeling ie the struggles to transform from college to ground reality so perfectly, reminds me of all the wise wisdom heaped on by age from dad to other mentors who treated me like a man when I wasn’t one yet. I shall never forget this song, even if I’m dementing.
4.Love will tear us apart Joy Division- This song is the symbol of that unique Joy Division rhythm , I can sit and listen to it endlessly, it has that vague sense of loss and pain of love, masterly lyrics along with the sound adds an distinct aura, which often makes it apt as a background score in movies esp. in between conversations.
5. I remember Damien Hirst - Marvellous song to come out on a debut especially the characteristic change of the tempo; very passionate yet easy on the ears; perfect song - a haunting tune about ? an one night stand or a fleeting fall in love, better than any James blunt any day. Yes , Paper mache!
6.Things have changed Bob Dylan- Well any Dylan song is supreme, I don’t think we, the tax paying blogging, flickering post-modern masses had a real poet since Dylan and this song proves it with its special fragmented lyrics and the wistful sense of disconnectedness. I reckon this song is like a whiskey which gets better as you grow old.
7. In the manner of speaking Nouvelle Vague My idea of perfect romantic song, lovely voice, I heard it first in a party and chased it up, now am a huge fan following every move ardently, very mystical melody, reminds me of certain N's ivory shoulders.
8. Heard it through the grapevine Marvin Gaye- The pain is never been so melodiously captured in a song form before, well conceived and composed, if you haven’t listened it before you got to. Marvin Oh dear.
9.Dear catastrophe waitress brand Belle and Sebastian- Very ethereal and vivid lyrics, I try to imagine different cafes and coffee bars when I listen to this, and conversely try to play it in my mind when I am being waited. Very special in narration and tune.
10.City of London Mekons This song is so unique, it says so much and nothing at all, I’ve not heard of any other song that captures the morose monotony within the heart of London better. Perfect song to listen to while having tea looking over Thames through a window.
11. Electrical storm U2 Perhaps the most underrated U2 song , bit techno-acoustic and jarring at times but Bono’s mesmerising voice is haunting, one of the brilliant black and white videos done for a song. Would be effective on a long drive on m6 in a summer evening.
12. Everybody’s talkin Harry Nilsson It’s a funny song. Very few songs can carry a movie on its tender shoulders and this one has done it so perfectly that it has grown to become the symbol of midnight cowboy. Imagine getting away with vom waonwaoon waaoon in a title track and through out the movie, as I said funny. Lively memories too.
13.When my guitar gently weeps George Harrison This is the song which adds meaning to music, I bet thousand arctic or Antarctic monkeys playing thousand guitars eternally cannot reach to an iota of the soul in this song, to me the best beatles(inc solo) song ever, slightly better than the universe by Lennon. Anyway better than that hugely overrated 3rd grade school essay made into a Lennon song.
