Until the Dragon Comes

So, the last entry for this meme (finally, I'm sure you're thinking ;-D).

Normally, this would be a pretty tricky question, time tends to blur together when you reach my advanced age, but I looked back at my journal for last year, and found something that really stood out. I first heard about Commander Chris Hadfield on Twitter, and I thoroughly enjoyed his pictures of Earth from orbit, and his philosophy of life as expressed with them. So when, not long before he returned to Earth, he released this music video, I had to share it as widely as possible. :-)

Space Oddity, sung by Chris Hadfield



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Guilty for missing a day, perhaps... No excuse this time I fear, just lack of tuits. :-)

In any case, this struck me as a particularly odd heading, I can't say making me feel guilty is something music often does. I decided to go for this particular song, which gives a different perspective on a yearly event. We always grumble about Race Week, and for good reasons quite a lot of the time, but I was struck by the song from the perspective of one of the many Irish visitors.

Galway Farmer by Show of Hands



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I'm sorry I missed yesterday, we were busy getting the parents off on holiday. A fortnight in Spain this time, a month after they got back from their three weeks cruising in the Mediterranean. Finally making up for lost time. :-)

Apart from the recorder, which I used to be fairly good at once upon a time, the only other instrument I've ever played is guitar. Two/three years in my early teens at school, and I was never what you'd call an expert. Still I did learn to play this song...

Gypsy Rover




I do have fond memories of a holiday in Scotland where the locals in the pub in Thurso wanted the tourists to pick a song to sing, and I was the only one bold enough to volunteer, because I found this in their sets of words. Blame the wine. :-)


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I'm afraid I'm going to cheat and pick 2 songs for this, or rather a song and a hymn.

As a Tolkien fan, I can think of few songs more suitable for a farewell than Bilbo's Last Song, preferably sung by gayalondiel, but in her absence I really liked this version which I found on YouTube

Bilbo's Last Song, sung by Joshua Burnell



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It sounds wrong to say you have a favourite funeral hymn, but Abide With Me is definitely mine. It has just the right level of melancholy and comfort, and the tune can take a variety of moods. This is from the London Olympics opening ceremony, the beautiful solo version sung by Emelie Sande, which still sends shivers down my spine whenever I hear it.

Abide With Me, sung by Emelie Sande



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A sad song, but with an essence of hope in it, and beautifully sung.

Kieran Goss and Beth Nielsen Chapman - 'Sand and Water' (Live at The Grand Opera House, Belfast)



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Well, pretty much any loud music I can shout along to works, and yesterday's album is definitely a good example, but another band that works fairly well is Paper Tongues.

For the People - Paper Tongues



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Though, as I said, I don't really listen to the radio much. So really, this is just a song, and wider still, an artist, I wish was more well known.

Come On, Come On by Mary Chapin Carpenter



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Well, put it this way - once I liked this song enough for it to be the first new single I ever bought. Then I was 10 years old, now I'm not...

Orville's Song by Keith Harris and Orville

I had a great weekend, that I'll write about when I'm more awake, but in the meantime I promised the next entry. :-)

My taste in music is pretty eclectic generally, so it's more difficult to surprise people who know me, but my colleagues at work were certainly surprised to find that I like some hip-hop, particularly Dessa. Of course, I do have to blame fandom for the fact that I've even heard of her... this was my first exposure and also probably my favourite Black Widow vid.

In the Bullpen by Dessa, vid by genusshrike here



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Another heading I've decided to subvert... why would I want to share music from a band I hated?

Anyway, this is a song I really like, from a band whose other tracks don't do much for me.

Kayleigh by Marillion



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