Sing Songs

Sing Songs ©

By

Michael Casey

We had the Eurovision song contest yesterday on tv, it’s a song contest for the whole of Europe if you are reading this outside of Europe. As a child we used to love watching it on tv, some say it was a way of showing that European satellite technology worked, but for us kids it was a load of fun. It’s in it 58^th year now, I can remember how excited we were when the juries all over the place cast their votes, this was in the days before telephone voting. The sighs and groans as other countries beat us, it was a 3 hour extravaganza on Saturday night in Spring. Then the utter naïve joy if England/GB won, or the despair if somebody else beat us.

Now what has Eurovision brought us? ABBA in one word, so you can forgive Eurovision everything just for the sake of ABBA. My favourite ABBA song is “Like an Angel passing though my room” which was on an album that I owned, only I’ve lost it over the years.

Sing Songs used to be a  working class tradition in the pubs in England, before Juke Box became king, before monster tvs and football matches. People used to have a piano at home and they would all gather around and sing songs, having a sing song. Both my daughters are learning to play piano on the piano behind me, you may have seen the photo of me with my daughter on the piano behind me. So I hear a lot of live music at home, it will be a few years more before they can host sing songs in our house. They are in a choir too, their teacher for both is the same lady, so she is a big part of their musical life.

Music is the background to my life, but it really is so much more, saying it IS my life would be too melodramatic, so let me think of a better word. It’s part of my clothing, that’s the best word to describe it, just as we put on our socks or shoes before we leave the house or so that we are fully clothed, music is part of me it’s essential, just as clothes are. Now you get the picture. Everybody has music plugged in as they travel to work or to anywhere, Music is the Opium of the People, I’m sure Marx would say today.

Now what music do I listen to, I listen to Annie Lennox, her 17 album is a favourite so I must listen to it 2 or 3 times every week. 14 years ago JJ made me leave my copy of it in Shanghai, as a kind of hostage, so that I would not forget her. Now I play it often, because I like the sound and it makes me smile at JJ’s naivety all  those years ago. That’s just part of my taste in music.

What about everybody else? It seems music to deafen you is very very popular judging by what I hear on the bus, the whole bus does not want to share it. However  nobody can shout loud enough to discourage the listener not to share it. Then there are those lads in cars with the boom base and the shaded black windows, not forgetting the spoiler, and the huge exhaust, the ones with blood tricking down their ears as they speed on the road. Music or should I say BASS is the thing for them.

Yes a song is good if you find yourself singing along or whistling to it. It was called The Old Grey Whistle Test, it was popular as it passed the test, that happened to be one of the best ever music shows here in the UK. Now we have Jools Holland show, no nothing to do with the French President, Jools is a piano man and his show is totally eclectic, maybe 8 guests, all in different genres of music.

So as you sing songs and even have a sing song in your own home, remember Music flows, it moves, in all meanings of the word move, and if it doesn’t move you, and I don’t mean because the base is set on 11 either, then if it doesn’t move you it’s no good.