Frankie Knows Best.

Shame Cone.

I was 15 when I first discovered Frank Turner.

I was scrolling through a BBC radio list and the song Photosynthesis was on it, we had the same last name so I checked it out.

A few minutes later I went to Facebook and updated my status to,

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up

A few hours later my older brother saw this and accused me of copying him, he had also just discovered Frank Turner (although I stand by the fact that Sam didn't introduce me on this occasion, he did later introduce me to Larry and his Flask who are one of my favourite bands, so don't say I don't give credit where is is due!)

At the end of that summer, Sam headed back to college leaving behind a few CD's and oversized sweaters that I went ahead and stole. 

A few years later I got my license and a bright green car that still housed a light-up CD player identical to the one I vividly remember my childhood neighbor popping out and hiding under his car seat in fear of it being stolen. In a heavy rotation with my fire mixed tapes was the Love, Ire & Song album I stole from Sam's stash.

I know every word of that album frontwards, backwards....maybe even in German, who knows, it's a possibility.

Although I have claimed on numerous occasions that Long Live the Queen is my favourite Frank Turner song (I'm not actually sure why, it's just always the one that pops into my head first) there is a different song that I always turn to when I need to be kicked in the ass....

Do you ever listen to a song and think....oh....this was written about me, I don't even know you Frank Turner, why did you make me your muse? I'm flattered. This is that song for me.

Now time for a slight detour but we will meet back up with the original path a few miles down I promise.

After sending out my last blog post just a few hours ago,  I immediately read an article about Selma Blair and an update on her battle with MS. A side-note here, that scene in Legally Blond where Elle Woods proves she is the ultimate queen and goes about showing Warner and Vivian who they are fucking with is the kind of energy I aspire to bring to my every day life. I definitely WWEWD on the regular, and yet here I was lamenting about my own poor choices and confusion while the Vivian Kensington is going through some hardcore shit. After crying over the idea of Selma turning to social media to let the world know she can't cry and wants her Mum (I feel that in my bones, always) and of course forwarding the article to my friend to let her know about said tears, I hit shuffle on my Spotify and ran myself a relaxing 6am bubble bath. 

And wouldn't you know who popped up? My man Frank with the song he definitely wrote for me. A tag team early morning reality check, here to remind me I'm so wrapped up in my invisible armor, I've only got myself to blame and I need to stop being an idiot.

Thanks Frank, maybe I'll actually take the advice to heart this time....

***I just reread this and boy is it clear I got like an hours sleep last night, yikes. Driving and blogging, two things you should not do while drowsy.

Music Monday Part II

Almost four years ago now I made a post titled Music Monday which was essentially a list of song I had been listening to the most that past week. I'm starting that back up, and by "starting that back up" I mean I may make it a thing, or I may forget about it all together by next week. Who knows! That's show biz.

Dancing Queen

Better Be Home Soon by Crowded House

I recently went through a breakup due to wanting different things at different times, and it was a big old confusing mess. It became clear after a few weeks that we wouldn't be living in the same timezone anymore and that left me sitting on an airplane listening to this song on repeat and trying to hold it together at, 'cause when you get back home maybe I'll be gone. What a moody little story, yikes. 

Beyond by Leon Bridges

Picture me riding my banana-yellow beach cruiser along the Pacific Ocean groovin' slowly, imagining love is real and definitely isn't fake and made up. 

May the Bird of Paradise Fly up Your Nose by Little Jimmy Dickens

Let me set the scene for you. My Dad and I were walking across the parking lot and in an ongoing effort to stump people with random trivia I asked him a question regarding the Bird of Paradise in the garden. Being the fountain of random crap he is he started singing this song about elephants caressing you with his toes and it's been in my head ever since. 

Bonfire by Childish Gambino

When I was in high school I used to drive around blasting music and rapping in my true white girl form in my green Ford Taurus. Camp by Childish Gambino wasn't released at the time but there is something about this song off the album in particular that takes me right back to that time. 

When you Were Made by The Growlers

I'm a child of divorce far more so than I ever was a child of marriage because of this I feel like it never really bothered me that much. Nonetheless, when I want to get deep into my feelings regarding the issue this is where I go and it 100% always makes me feel worse. Whoops. 

Roam by The B52's

My Mum always complains about her children's annoying habit of picking one lyric from a song and repeating it until she physically can't handle it anymore. For the last few weeks, this has been that song for me. Can not remove from brain, it will live for eternity on a loop in my skull.

Roll Over Beethoven by Chuck Berry 

Chuck Berry makes me get shit done. I think it's the guitar solo's, or the fact that I associate him with the McCallister family running through the airport in a rush to catch their flight to Paris. 

That Thing You Do! by The Wonders

People I love in no particular order: Tom Hanks. End of list. I grew up watching Forrest Gump on repeat, and it still sits atop my list of favourite movies. If someone told me I had to die for him to live, I would take that bullet. God, what a legend. Stan for your man ladies!

Gravity By John Mayer

Speaking of stanning for your man, I love John Mayer. I have a very eclectic taste in music and tend to favor individual songs by certain artists instead of their entire catalogue. John Mayer is one the few people where I can go to their Spotify, hit play and not skip a load of songs. Murder me with your guitar John Mayer, I've got the time. 

The Joke by Brandi Carlile

Every now and then I find a song that just fucks. me. up! That is one of those songs. Whenever I'm feeling emotional and I need to just lay on my bed listening to something while I stare at my ceiling contemplating life, this is it (I definitely don't do that though.....that much at least)

One Foot Before the Other by Frank Turner

I once got caught by a janitor furiously "air guitar-ing" to this song. That was fun. 

Through the Wire by Kanye West

I love Kanye West and his cute ass kids and I don't even fucking care. These last few years he's been doing some questionable shit, but after watching his interview on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman I'm back onboard. Also, fuck it up Kanye, rap with your jaw wired shut, live your best life. Fun Fact, I once watched a guy drop acid with his jaw wired shut and it was equal parts terrifying and a mess. 

Sex and Candy by Marcy Playground

This was my Myspace song for a long ass time. Throwback of a throwback of a throwback.

Music Monday #1

           
Let's play a random game, I like to call "Song's I've been listening to a lot recently, posted on a Monday so I can use the completely original title of Music Monday"

          
                                           

Slightly odd fact about myself, 90's Silverchair are one of my favorite bands...ever. I grew up listening to Silverchair through my bedroom wall as it blared out of my brothers speakers and at the time I definitely wasn't feeling it at all. I was right in the middle of Spice Girls-mania so of course my only opinion of them was a)they weren't the Spice Girls b) Ohhhh Sam stuck that Neon Ballroom sticker on his bedroom door, Mum is going to get so mad and c) The video for Anthem of the Year 2000 gave me legitimate nightmares. It wasn't until way later when I was 16 or 17 that I even started listening to them properly, and by that point they had long moved away from their grunge roots but alas, I was in love.
                                           

Continuing the trend of random facts, when I was a Senior in high school I went through a deep obsession with this song. I have no idea why or where it came from, but listening to it now brings me right back to driving around with an old boyfriend belting it out at the top of my 17 year old lungs. I also loved it because whenever I used to sing it (which was always) it used to really piss my mum off because she hated the song...and I got some joy out of that too.

                                            

Aaaand just to spice things up....Another one of my favorite artists! (are you seeing a trend?) I first heard Frank Turner whilst streaming a random BBC radio station (fun fact: UK radio is far superior to US radio) in my room one Sunday while I did a random science report on Brook Trout (I have a really good memory..incase you were wondering.) A little while later when I finally got my license, I found a copy of Love Ire & Song in my brothers old bedroom and for a good year it was the only CD in my car and I listened to it over and over and over and over.....



                                           

Last night I couldn't sleep so I literally lay in bed all night listening to Ryan Adams cover of the entire 1989 album on repeat. I honestly think Taylor Swift is amazing in every possible way (let's be friends?) and an entire album inspired by Harry Styles is something I can get behind all day, add Ryan Adams and I'm there forever.

                                          

Dream a Little Dream of Me is quite possibly my favourite song in the entire world. I think I realized this when I was randomly googling my queen Doris Day (or should I say one of my queens....I haven't forgotten you Julie Andrews!) and found her cover and fell into a spiral. It's one of those songs that has been covered by everybody and their Mamas (get it? The Mamas & the Papas? I'll excuse myself) but no matter what version I hear it in, I love it...always and listen to it....always.

                                        

Do you ever have those songs that you listen to and it automatically brings you back to an exact time and place? This is that song for me. A few years ago, I became obsessed with this song to the point where it never left my ears for more than an hour. The addiction was so strong that every Friday night whilst my friends and I all gathered on my exboyfriends terrace to drink and be merry, I would insist this song played on repeat until the moment the iPod was physically torn out of my clenched fist and the song was changed, much to my displeasure.

                                      

.....I just love John Legend....that's basically all there is to that....I also love songs both by and featuring Kanye West in the mid-2000's. I'm not sure when I noticed this specific fact but I think it was when I realized I also really liked his feature on Number One (....the Pharrell song....not this song...obviously) so much so that I told Pharrell that to his face one time #truestory

                                     

So this song comes with a story. When I was around 6 or 7, I was in the car with my step mum and this song came on. Simple enough story, except at the time I obviously had no idea what the song was and all I remembered after it had ended was a few key lines she kept singing whilst tapping away at the steering wheel, most specifically"hop on the bus Gus". For years (I'm talking 15 of them) I would sing this melody and few random lines over and over and over again in my head. The song was literally in my head for over a decade, but I never once thought to actually look it up and I didn't remember ever hearing it again. Earlier this year though, I was at dinner with my Mum and brother and I randomly started singing about Gus and his escape vehicle when my Mum turned and quizzed  me, "Ooohh who sings that song?" I shrugged because even after all these years I had no idea."Paul Simon-" "50 ways to leave your lover" my brother finished and after 15 years I finally had an answer.