Music Made Me

I am reaching 34, which I’m reliably informed is my mid-30s.

I sense an attack of the “Hornbys” coming on. And rather than a sudden passion for miniature railway resurfacing like some cross between a garden shed nerd and a Top Gear presenter, it’s more a need to work out where life is taking me, where it all went right, and where it all went wrong. And it will involve lists at some point.

I am a strong believer that music is integral to people’s lives and personalities. You don’t need to be musical to enjoy music. Truth be told, I always wanted to be a recording artist, but my singing voice holds no great distinction. I come from a musical family, but perhaps I lack the application to take it seriously. What got me thinking this way, and eventually writing, was a combination of two publications by Nick Hornby, that great stalwart of mid-life crisis lad-lit. “31 Songs” is a record of, well, 31 songs that have shaped his life thus far, whilst “High Fidelity” followed a man through all his ex-girlfriends, interrupted by mix-tapes and Top 5 lists.

“What is your favourite song of all time?”

You hear a song on the radio and you say “oh, this is one of my all time favourite songs”.

Is it possible to have a favourite song? Or is that just something you say when you hear a song from your youth, which you remember liking, and it brings back happy memories?

I have a favourite song of all time. In fact, I have a favourite top ten of all time. The top three hasn’t changed in almost 20 years. I wrote it down once as a point of reference, and I came across it recently, surprised to learn that the order really hadn’t changed.

The digital age has made if far easier to track my listening habits. I listen to a lot of music both online and on my MP3 player. Sites like last.fm have a vast library of online music. They record your listening habits and make suggestions accordingly, while MP3 players will store information about how many times I listen to a song.

So is there any relationship between my favourite songs and what I actually listen to? In what way have those songs created the world-weary beast that stares back from the mirror every morning?

Over the next few days, I shall tell you, (for I’m sure someone reads this) about my All Time Top Ten. You can then listen to the tracks yourself, as I’m sure I’ll be able to find them on YouTube somewhere. Definitely no Celine Dion in there, though you’d be surprised how much Mariah Carey and Dina Carroll is in my back catalogue.