Looking for inspiration is so damned frustrating! I've been reading so many friends' blogs recently, and my self-berating side is going "Why aren't I the one entering an international blogging competition?" Well, truth is, because I'm a lazy little sod who prefers sleeping to doing anything productive. But HEY, if you woke up at 4am every day, you might just feel the same. As I have a habit of doing though, I digress...
So that one collabed with that one, this one is on drugs again, and the other one just released a new single. Cool. Story. Bro. But none of this strikes me with any particular lightening bolt of inspiration, as I stare out the window into the gloomy evening and watch the rain droplets snake down my window pane... kinda like Duffy's tears in the Warwick Avenue video. Wait, I made that last but up, didn't I? Oh well, that's what the video should have looked like. Anyway, seeing winter's on its dreary way, let's talk a little bit about the best songs to join you and your mug of hot chocolate on a particularly chilly day. Or maybe I'm just making a list of songs that remind me of bad weather. Or maybe it's just a list of songs. Shut up!
(In no particular order, I just like numbering things, it makes me feel in control.)
1) Coldplay - "Violet Hill"
"Was a long and dark December..." Chris starts off, but be it December, July, or an early April-freeze, one listen of this song is enough to make you realise just how great it feels to not be the love down on Violet Hill, freezing in the snow. (Though if Chris Martin wanted to take me somewhere, I'd gladly follow him to the North Pole.)
2) Duffy - "Warwick Avenue"
Perhaps the level of coldheartedness of this song is what made me put it on here: "I'm leaving you for the last time baby, you think you're loving but you don't love me." Plus the tube references make me think of a grey London in the middle of winter, dragging an umbrella and hoping to make it to shelter pretty darn quickly after you've given that former love of yours a good talking-to.
3) Greenday - "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
"Summer has come and passed..." yeah, it sure has. September is probably also when it starts to get a little bitty warmer in Cape Town (sorry Billie Joe, I know your song's about war). Anyway, the mood of the song is pretty much the mood of today's weather, so grab a blanket, curl up and allow yourself to be completely taken over by the depressing lyrics.
4) Hurts - "Wonderful Life"
Perhaps it's a personal association of mine, but I can't help thinking about rain when I hear this song. I mean, the one and only time I ever drove over the Severn Bridge, it was drizzling! Surely the man of Suzie's dream experienced the same climatic conditions?
5) Death Cab For Cutie - "Passenger Seat"
Doom and gloom are the name of the game for these guys, from their name to their sad little melodies, and this song is no exception. But it's cute, and short and features a pretty little piano bit that would probably lull you so dangerously close to sleep that the mug of hot chocolate would start tipping out of your hand. Careful.
6) OK Go - "Shooting The Moon"
Fine, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a Twihard. Let me rephrase that: I don't dislike Twilight, I've seen the movies and I enjoy the soundtracks. Makes sense then, that a song I first heard in a movie set in a town that gets all of four days sunshine a year should make my winter playlist. Once again though, it's calm and almost sleepy and doesn't make me want to get up and dance - which is a good thing, of course, dancing would involve leaving my bed.
7) The Platters - "Twilight Time"
Don't question, just add it to the playlist. Before you know it, those heavenly shades of night will be falling all over you.
8) Foo Fighters - "Cold Day In The Sun"
Thank you Dave Grohl, for being so unnaturally awesome that you can write a song to go with every single season/emotion/thought. Wait, is this Taylor Hawkins' song? Thank you, Dave Grohl, for existing anyway. It's not that I'm interpreting this song literally, just that I absolutely killed it last Easter weekend, which happened to be freezing. Done, done, onto the next one.
9) The Shins - "Young Pilgrims"
A train ride, ice melting on the glass and elegant young pilgrims that pass. Whether it's a cold and wet November dawn, or a chilled-to-the-bone April eve, this song will make you want to hit the road in your nice heated vehicle, fall into a winter slide, and end up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow. Try it.
10) Five For Fighting - "100 Years"
And so we conclude with a lament of human life. Yes, that's the same human life that's passing by whilst you nurse that third mug of hot chocolate - lazy. Anyway, take a step back and admire the brevity of your 100 years on this Earth, and perhaps cry some tears for those years already passed. Whatever you decide to do, you'll be accompanied by one of the loveliest songs ever written.
So, did I hit the nail on the head? Not so much? What's on your winter playlist?
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