Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimised by 2020? Yeah, this year will hardly be going down as anyone’s ‘best year yet’, but the good thing is that it’s almost over, and that’s certainly cause for celebration. There’s been little to get excited about this year, but whilst many other aspects of the world were shutting down; musicians, bands, singers, songwriters and artists kept producing music to keep us going, and Spotify kept suggesting some fantastic tracks for me to listen to. So, I thought for my new blog series, we’d take a trip down memory lane to look at some of the songs that have helped get me through what has been a very weird year. Let’s go!
The Hustle – Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
This song comes a bit out of left-field since it was first released in 1975, but you know what, I honestly think I needed to get as far away from 2020 as I could, and if that meant going back 45 years, then that’s what I’d do. The Hustle was exactly what we needed when things seemed very bleak – a good old fashioned disco track that you can’t help but move to.
By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55816798
Break My Heart – Dua Lipa
I really appreciate the irony of the line in the chorus: ‘I should have stayed at home’ because honestly that’s what everyone should have been doing at the beginning of this year, and we shouldn’t have to have Dua Lipa to tell us it. Aside from that, Break My Heart is just an impeccably well produced track, as it the entirety of her album Future Nostalgia which I can assure you will make every trip to the supermarket so much more exciting.
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63428617
Reality – Lost Frequencies, Janieck Devy
I like to think that quarantine wasn’t a total bust in that it encouraged people to get a bit more creative and try to learn new skills that they maybe didn’t have time for before. For me, this meant learning guitar, and Reality has an awesome guitar riff that was one of the first things I learnt to play. After trying out the riff myself, I went to check out the full song, loved it, and here we are. A must for anyone who appreciates a good guitar intro.
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50683056
Drunk Me – Mitchell Tenpenny
Mitchell Tenpenny was not on my radar pre-quarantine, but Spotify suggested I might like his music, and this started with Drunk Me. This is a hard hitting song that you just know would sound amazing in a stadium, which gives me hope that I’ll get to hear it live once all this is over. Mitchell has some other great songs I picked up in quarantine too – if you like Drunk Me, you’ll love Alcohol You Later and Broken Up.
Photo credit: Jim Wright
Surrender – Natalie Taylor
Taking a slightly different route for this song. Surrender is the type of song you want to listen to as you watch the sun rise over the mountains, just you and no one else around. The lyrics and melody do have a bit of a sad vibe, but I can’t tell you how perfect this song is to listen to when you just need to breathe and take it in. It’s about time we all start making more space for ourselves, and maybe just listening to the three minutes of this song could be your first step.
https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/4680970
ily (i love you baby) – Surf Mesa,
Emilee
If you know me, you know I love to travel, and this year has been less than ideal for that. But, let me tell you that this song can give you that same feeling of being on holiday. This song is warm, and it reminds me of spending nights at the beach with friends, looking up at the stars and listening to the wave crash in front of us. Want that feeling too? Listen to this song.
https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Surf+Mesa+feat%2E+Emilee&titel=ILY+%28I+Love+You+Baby%29&cat=s
I’ll Still Love You – Abby Anderson
We all have those songs that we think would sound good at a wedding, right? This is hands down the best love song I’ve heard all year – just take a look at these lyrics: “When the colours fade from these picture frames; when my hair turns grey, the seasons all change, and we've seen better days. Whatever this life puts us through, baby, I'll still love you.” I mean, I’m no expert, but they may well be some of the best love song lyrics of all time.
Abby Anderson YouTube
Play Date – Melanie Martinez
Finally, let’s have a fun one. I think it must be so hard for artists to create music these days – I mean there’s only so many chords and rhythms available, right? So in a world where a lot of music has the potential to sound the same, I loved coming across Play Date which really wasn’t like any song I’d listened to you before. There’s so many distinct elements of this song that make it enjoyable and I feel like I discover something new with each listen.
https://www.deezer.com/en/track/105286434
Honestly, even writing this post brought back a few good memories, and that's saying something when this year has meant that those are often few and far between. I'll be back soon with another instalment because there are plenty more great songs I want to share with you, but I'd love to hear some of the songs that have got you through this year too - drop me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry. Thanks for reading!
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