30 Day Song Challenge #11

Day 11: a song you never get tired of.

Bonnie Tyler — Total Eclipse of the Heart

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” is one of my all-time favorite songs. Despite having heard this song a gazillion times (in countless cover versions, in Dutch, Hungarian, Japanese, German, Portuguese, Russian, Finish, French, and Polish), I cannot ever get enough of the original. It is just too damn perfect.

The problem I have with most covers is that they don’t go all the way over the top. If you don’t do that, you get a limp, insipid, uninspired mess. But when you do take it over the top, the result can be glorious.

30 Day Song Challenge #10

Day 10: a song that makes you sad.

Dusty Springfield — Anyone Who Had a Heart

On a nice summer morning many years ago, I was cycling to work. By the time I arrived, I was depressed as hell. The reason? I had been listening to a Dusty Springfield compilation. I love Dusty to bits, but she cannot seem to catch a break when it comes to love songs. It heartache upon heartbreak upon disillusion upon abandonment upon desire upon terrible choice in (wo)men.

30 Day Song Challenge #9

Day 9: A song that makes you happy.

BLØF — Beter

Of course, there are loads of songs that make me happy. This song by BLØF — one of my favorite Dutch bands, although I lost them a bit after their In het midden van alles record — was a hit with me pretty much from the moment I first heard it. Musically, it isn’t the most interesting song. Lyrically, it is about hope and finding your way and things betting better. And then the chorus kicks in and I get this big smile and …

30 Day Song Challenge #7

Day 7: a song to drive to.

Keane — Somewhere Only We Know

It is a well-known fact that I don’t have a drivers license. Not by some idealistic principle, but I never had the all-consuming need to obtain one. Under different stars, if I hadn’t moved to Amersfoort when I did and I’d been living in Noorden a bit long — a small village with no public transport to speak of — then, well, who knows. I don’t care about cars, and I wouldn’t know if I’d be driving material anyway. Using public transport I usually get where I need to be. Sure, there are some downsides, but none big enough to plunk down a load of money to find out whether or not I should be driving anyway.

Which makes today’s category a bit daft.

A song to drive to. Well, I can clearly recall sitting on my bike, cycling home on a rather nice spring day, listening to Keane’s “Something Only We Know” (the album version, which won’t play here when embeded) and thinking to myself, “Well, this is pretty perfect…”