I think I've finished my long, long, long work on my Lord M. "fanmix". And for people who weren't paying attention (where have you been?!), he's my worryingly persistant roleplay character from some years ago, and solid evidence that I may be nuts.
I'm posting it here, because I feel accomplished, and so so proud because it's perfect. But I can't exactly launch it at anyone in particular. People who weren't part of it would need it accompanied by a long commentary-come-life story which I don't, at present, have time to write -people who were a part, there are things I still can't talk about. But it's here for the record, so envisage me grinning like anything as I post this.
Because it's mine, it's terribly 80s - I'd never noticed how 80s my music tastes were until finishing this - but every song is perfectly satisfying in meaning, and mostly in lyrics. I like most of the songs on this list - two I'm not so fond of in normal life, three are complete favourites - but their right-ness is such that that's irrelevant. Plus, it fits together well - the progression from female voices to male, the progression from an external viewpoint to an intensely internal one, and the arrangement of piano-y ones with piano-y ones, synthy ones with synths. It's not meant to be a collection of great music, so don't bother with crits from that corner.
That was aimed at you, Friend 2 :p Feel free to listen, but I'm not expecting you to go wild over my choice of music...
I've started working on a mk. II album, for the songs which didn't quite fit, and to rectify problems like the fact massively important figures like Lucy and Lancaster don't figure on this album at all. But enough gushing for a something which is going to be appreicated by, well, just me really. If anyone wants a listen, it's on Spotify here:
spotify:user:unmutual:playlist:7szvbcXq5Rc5PPAwDjolFI <------put that into search bar
And Spotify has just been opened up for everyone to download. Hurrah! So barring ethical quandries, you've no excuse! You might still enjoy it as a music collection, even if you miss the story connections. And if you do want a proper commentary, explaining what goes where, I'll be happy to provide one - post-exams.
Note: they've weirdly removed Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love", which is why the Futureheads cover is there instead. I don't mind the cover usually, but Kate Bush is important for the album...
Seasons Change
1 - Thunderball, Tom Jones
(Nice dramatic and definite opening. It's an external view of the character, all the judgements easily made by other characters. The one problem is the "Bondness" of the tune, those very iconic riffs. But I don't think it hurts to identify the two characters. Also, for people keeping score, this is the underwater Bond film.)
2 - Moonlight Shadow, Maggie Reilly/Mike Oldfield
(The words are fantastic, particularly the colours: if you know what you're looking for, I guarentee you'll catch some really alarmingly suitable lyrics in the background here. The folk feel reflects the distance - he can't entirely remember what happened, which is nicely mirrored in the genre of a folk song recalling a generic memory. Plus, the contrast between such a powerful male voice to a female one seems significant. Somehow.)
3 - Hounds of Love, Kate Bush
(a "17 years later" song, covering the entire period in between that and the Pub. I had to have some Kate Bush on here, for weird reasons involving the way my brain works. First pick was Running up that Hill, but the words here are apter. Listen out for the obligatory watery reference.)
4 - My Immortal, Evanescance
(Yes, I know. Leave me alone. I didn't want to get into the emotionally heavy stuff until later on, which is why the first few are quite musically unemotional. They set the scene and tell the history. The piano feel is nice for the entry into the Pub too. It's emotional frankness and openness is a direct contrast to Hounds of Love's running away approach.)
5 - The Rose, Bette Midler
(this and the above two are the really important tracks for me personally, for various complicated reasons I'll explain one day if I've got time and you're drunk. It's another nice contrast - My Immortal is heavy stuff, so this female-with-piano song lifts the mood into hope. It's another solid song, nice to mark both the centre of the album and entry into the Pub)
6 - She's Like the Wind, Patrick Swayze
(see above. Only, I adore this song and always have, forgetting momentarily it's from Dirty Dancing. The piano sound again links this to the previous. The deep emotional hopelessness of it all, and nature imagery: this is the first of the romance songs. It's a shame it all gets so 80s at the end, but it's close to what we mean. Suitably, the next few songs are all male vocalists.)
7 - Memory of Water, Marillion
(the most recent addition, and the one which made me go "yes, it is finished". Although this one may be substituted if I find something better, as it's the title which stood out more than the content. But the tone change is nice, and it segues into the 80s-ness of the second half. Some very important things happen here, and they have to be marked. They are not good things. Time to play spot the water reference...!)
8 - Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me, Elton John
(the ultimate Lord M. song, every single word of it, particularly for this period in time. The piano thing wasn't deliberate, but I suppose I am the one picking the songs, and it links them both together and to the Regency period. I like the light/dark images, especially in light of the next few songs. Even though this is romantic, it's still rather hopeless.)
I'm not happy with the segue here, it doesn't work - but there are no other natural events here to provoke a song. Perhaps I should put on a piece of Vivaldi? It sort of works if you substitute the cover from Lost Boys (can't remember the band right now). It also works if you move it before "Memory of Water" - but as the two songs refer to very specific events, that screws up the chronology. If more work is done, it will be done here.
9 - I'm Not in Love, 10CC
(don't take this literally: this is a song about someone who is very much in love, and the terror of really needing someone. It's also one of my favourite songs - but it's also apt in several different ways. Not to mention taking the edge off the obnoxious 80s-ness of...)
10 - Lament, Ultravox
(hate the tune, had to have the lyrics. Like "Sun going down on me", it's amazing how close this is to his actual thought processes at that moment. I suppose these songs are fairly universal, like the way love songs seem cheesy and OTT, until you're actually in love and you think "weird, this is exactly how it feels")
The temptation to add "I'm getting married in the morning" from My Fair Lady was unbearable.
11 - In the Dark, Tony Banks
(You didn't think I'd let him have a happy ending, did you?
A strong contrast to the opening, In the Dark is a very ambiguous and subdued ending. The proggyness softens the shock of Lament, and of course we're back to gorgeous pianoness, and that cathartic organ. Less vitally, I also love Tony Banks. No, it's not to be a sad end - but it is uncertain. Who know's what's going to come? In fact, the future turned out to be irritating and far from content, but not too bad either)
I'm posting it here, because I feel accomplished, and so so proud because it's perfect. But I can't exactly launch it at anyone in particular. People who weren't part of it would need it accompanied by a long commentary-come-life story which I don't, at present, have time to write -people who were a part, there are things I still can't talk about. But it's here for the record, so envisage me grinning like anything as I post this.
Because it's mine, it's terribly 80s - I'd never noticed how 80s my music tastes were until finishing this - but every song is perfectly satisfying in meaning, and mostly in lyrics. I like most of the songs on this list - two I'm not so fond of in normal life, three are complete favourites - but their right-ness is such that that's irrelevant. Plus, it fits together well - the progression from female voices to male, the progression from an external viewpoint to an intensely internal one, and the arrangement of piano-y ones with piano-y ones, synthy ones with synths. It's not meant to be a collection of great music, so don't bother with crits from that corner.
That was aimed at you, Friend 2 :p Feel free to listen, but I'm not expecting you to go wild over my choice of music...
I've started working on a mk. II album, for the songs which didn't quite fit, and to rectify problems like the fact massively important figures like Lucy and Lancaster don't figure on this album at all. But enough gushing for a something which is going to be appreicated by, well, just me really. If anyone wants a listen, it's on Spotify here:
spotify:user:unmutual:playlist:7szvbcXq5Rc5PPAwDjolFI <------put that into search bar
And Spotify has just been opened up for everyone to download. Hurrah! So barring ethical quandries, you've no excuse! You might still enjoy it as a music collection, even if you miss the story connections. And if you do want a proper commentary, explaining what goes where, I'll be happy to provide one - post-exams.
Note: they've weirdly removed Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love", which is why the Futureheads cover is there instead. I don't mind the cover usually, but Kate Bush is important for the album...
Seasons Change
1 - Thunderball, Tom Jones
(Nice dramatic and definite opening. It's an external view of the character, all the judgements easily made by other characters. The one problem is the "Bondness" of the tune, those very iconic riffs. But I don't think it hurts to identify the two characters. Also, for people keeping score, this is the underwater Bond film.)
2 - Moonlight Shadow, Maggie Reilly/Mike Oldfield
(The words are fantastic, particularly the colours: if you know what you're looking for, I guarentee you'll catch some really alarmingly suitable lyrics in the background here. The folk feel reflects the distance - he can't entirely remember what happened, which is nicely mirrored in the genre of a folk song recalling a generic memory. Plus, the contrast between such a powerful male voice to a female one seems significant. Somehow.)
3 - Hounds of Love, Kate Bush
(a "17 years later" song, covering the entire period in between that and the Pub. I had to have some Kate Bush on here, for weird reasons involving the way my brain works. First pick was Running up that Hill, but the words here are apter. Listen out for the obligatory watery reference.)
4 - My Immortal, Evanescance
(Yes, I know. Leave me alone. I didn't want to get into the emotionally heavy stuff until later on, which is why the first few are quite musically unemotional. They set the scene and tell the history. The piano feel is nice for the entry into the Pub too. It's emotional frankness and openness is a direct contrast to Hounds of Love's running away approach.)
5 - The Rose, Bette Midler
(this and the above two are the really important tracks for me personally, for various complicated reasons I'll explain one day if I've got time and you're drunk. It's another nice contrast - My Immortal is heavy stuff, so this female-with-piano song lifts the mood into hope. It's another solid song, nice to mark both the centre of the album and entry into the Pub)
6 - She's Like the Wind, Patrick Swayze
(see above. Only, I adore this song and always have, forgetting momentarily it's from Dirty Dancing. The piano sound again links this to the previous. The deep emotional hopelessness of it all, and nature imagery: this is the first of the romance songs. It's a shame it all gets so 80s at the end, but it's close to what we mean. Suitably, the next few songs are all male vocalists.)
7 - Memory of Water, Marillion
(the most recent addition, and the one which made me go "yes, it is finished". Although this one may be substituted if I find something better, as it's the title which stood out more than the content. But the tone change is nice, and it segues into the 80s-ness of the second half. Some very important things happen here, and they have to be marked. They are not good things. Time to play spot the water reference...!)
8 - Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me, Elton John
(the ultimate Lord M. song, every single word of it, particularly for this period in time. The piano thing wasn't deliberate, but I suppose I am the one picking the songs, and it links them both together and to the Regency period. I like the light/dark images, especially in light of the next few songs. Even though this is romantic, it's still rather hopeless.)
I'm not happy with the segue here, it doesn't work - but there are no other natural events here to provoke a song. Perhaps I should put on a piece of Vivaldi? It sort of works if you substitute the cover from Lost Boys (can't remember the band right now). It also works if you move it before "Memory of Water" - but as the two songs refer to very specific events, that screws up the chronology. If more work is done, it will be done here.
9 - I'm Not in Love, 10CC
(don't take this literally: this is a song about someone who is very much in love, and the terror of really needing someone. It's also one of my favourite songs - but it's also apt in several different ways. Not to mention taking the edge off the obnoxious 80s-ness of...)
10 - Lament, Ultravox
(hate the tune, had to have the lyrics. Like "Sun going down on me", it's amazing how close this is to his actual thought processes at that moment. I suppose these songs are fairly universal, like the way love songs seem cheesy and OTT, until you're actually in love and you think "weird, this is exactly how it feels")
The temptation to add "I'm getting married in the morning" from My Fair Lady was unbearable.
11 - In the Dark, Tony Banks
(You didn't think I'd let him have a happy ending, did you?
A strong contrast to the opening, In the Dark is a very ambiguous and subdued ending. The proggyness softens the shock of Lament, and of course we're back to gorgeous pianoness, and that cathartic organ. Less vitally, I also love Tony Banks. No, it's not to be a sad end - but it is uncertain. Who know's what's going to come? In fact, the future turned out to be irritating and far from content, but not too bad either)
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