Tears, yes, and some violins, but mostly dancing!

Queenie decided to make a playlist for herself and burn it for the laydeez coming to lunch on Saturday. Jeez, it’s hard work. First you gotta find the right toons, then you gotta put them in the right order, then you gotta delete one, because you’ve gone over the 70MB, then you gotta go out and buy the cd roms, then you gotta write out all the little cards and burn all the discs….. she reckons the music industry has nothing to worry about. Nobody has the time for this, surely.

Anyways, she’s burning and listening now so she thought she’d tell you why she likes these songs.

She also CANNOT do the third person for another second, so the rest of this is in the first person. I’m at home. I scored really low on Finisher in the Belbin, okay. Just leave me alone.

1. Smog: Hit the Ground Running

Well, you’ve got to start with your tongue in your cheek, don’t you.

I had to le-e-e-eave the country! Although there were some nice folks there.

I like Smog, even though he’s a humourless bastard. He gives it to you straight, with none of that ideological rubbish Billy Bragg goes on with. Gosh I am sick to death of being lectured at by political junkies.

But you is one - Percy.

Not any more, dude.

A bitter man rots from within – how true!

And I love the children’s choir in this, so deadpan. Reminds me of that awful choir I was in when I was young, the Choirmaster was THE choirmaster, if you know what I mean!!

2. Bloc Party: Positive Tension

This is from one of only two good albums (new albums) I spent my hard-earned on this year. The other one being Push the Button. Although Bloc Party's Irish gig in Whelans recently was deemed disappointing by my mainstream music guru. As opposed to my obscure music gurus. Who are legion.

This is my favourite song on the album. Great energy. Really camp without being too much.

Something glorious is about to happen! Damn right it is.

3. Badly Drawn Boy: Another Devil Dies

I had to think about this song for a long time. And I moved it around a lot. I don’t really like BDB, he’s a bit twee for me. But this is not twee. It is such a bitchy song. And really insightful. And I know the laydeez like him. So this is for them.

It seems like we’ve weathered the storm. Without having the privilege of calm.

I can relate to that. Can you?

4. Jefferson Airplane: Coming back to me

From the kooky Surrealistic Pillow album, which I only discovered recently. Via a film I love. It’s called The Indian Runner, directed by Sean Penn, which is based on a Bruce Springsteen song that I also really love, called Highway Patrolman. It’s on Nebraska. It’s about a man who lost his farm and had to be a cop, and his relationship with his brother who is a bad un. One memorable night in Springtown a couple of Christmasses ago, I was at a party and two of my friends played the Springsteen song. Out of the blue.

So every time I hear this song, I think of The Indian Runner, then I think of Bruce Springsteen, then I think of that party. Not quite what the airplane had in mind when they wrote it. Never mind, it’s my song now.

5. Alicia Keys: Butterflyz

I wasn’t expecting to have something like this on the playlist. I rarely listen to R n B. But whenever I do, I really like it. It must be my secret shame, like Wattser and musicals….. what is that about?

I love songs that say Baaaaaaby that way. I’d love to be able to do that, but it’s too rich for my blood. This is a great song.

This is for Polly. Because she could sing it if she wanted to.

6. Basement Jaxx: Being with you

This song interrupts the last one in a very annoying way, which I didn’t know how to fix.

I love BJ, I have all their albums. I saw them when I went to Glastonbury and they always remind me of that weekend. More of that anon.

But I chose this song, which is not really their style, because it reminds me of a Kool and the Gang moment I had when I was sixteen. And I don’t have any KATG.

I was on some summer cultural trip like a Gaeltacht, only with sunshine, in a little village in the North of France and I met two Dutch blokes who invited me back to their tent for a cup of tea. So I went. I was only sixteen. Well, we sat there and made a little fire. And they made me a cup of tea. And played me KATG. And then they drove me back to my hostel. And the guy who was in charge of the trip was waiting for me outside the hostel with two gendarmes.

I still fail to see what was so terrible about the situation. I’m an excellent judge of character.

7. Kevin Shields: City Girl

Kevin used to keep chihuahas. Did you know that? This is for Elmo. And Elmo’s mammy. And her mammy. Who is also my mammy.

8. David Gray: Please forgive me

Please indulge me. I’m a hopeless romantic. And he played on every stage in Glastonbury that weekend. Bless him. He must have hated this song by the end of it. I wonder what he’s doing now. Falling like a stone into someone’s eyes, no doubt.

I love a bit of mystery. All women do. Unfortunately, it’s all in our head. Never mind. We can just make it up.

9. The Waterboys: Glastonbury Song

Aaah, the lads!

That was a stormer of a gig I went to in the Olympia last year. The best gig I was at for a long time. It was a night back in Galway again.

Galway…………..! Do you remember all those weekends…. Hitching down from Maynooth, with all the dodgy guys in beamers? Occasionally you’d get a lorry driver. And he’d feed you. Bliss! And it was always pissing rain when you got into Eyre Square. And you had to walk miles to some manky pub with a load of NA Travellers and their smelly dogs. And then to Supermacs. And onto the Warwick, or the Oasis. And getting off with a cadet! Or a rugby player. And then trying to get rid of them the next morning. And we only ever had a tenner!

Why can’t it be like that again?

10. Bob Dylan: Forever Young

This song always, always, always reduces me to tears.

11. Mary Gauthier: Our Lady of the Shooting Stars

I only found this the other day in a Party Shuffle. It’s incredible. The guitar is great – I wonder is she playing. I presume she is.

I’ll hate it in a month.

Btw, it’s pronounced goshay. But you knew that, didn’t you.
Did I tell you I won a music pub quiz the other night? Well, I had a bit of help.

12. Everything but the Girl: Missing

Nearly as annoying as Badly Drawn Boy. Sentence bands. For fuck’s sake. We know you’re clever. You didn’t get where you are today with a tit job, now did you.

I really like the way they worked this up into a dance tune though. The original is torturous. I should know. I have all their albums.

But I needed a link song. You’ll understand in a minute.

13. Mercury Rev: Black Forest (Lorelei)

See? I think it works. Black Forest didn’t link into the Gauthier well enough. I had to ditch Solas though. I was really annoyed about that. I had What’s up with Win, which is a riotous sortie through the traditional Irish oeuvre. Which is what you want in a trad band. None of this introspective Clare fiddle crap that Martin Hayes has going on. Where you have to sit quietly at a gig.

Life’s too short not to talk at gigs. And to my shame, I told a young fella to shut up at the Rev gig. I’m mortified. But I got my comeuppance the other night. I was talking my way through a gig at Whelans, as I normally do, when a completely nutty guy standing two people away glared at me and told me to stay quiet. So I did. And it was so difficult. I know I talk a lot. I’m sorry. I’ll shut up now.

You can't go around the black forest, boys and girls, you have to go through. How true!

This is for Nadia.

14. God is an Astronaut: Route 666

I got this from Stevo. He gives me albums. In order for me to listen to them, which I’m very bad at. Which is why the party shuffle is really good, because I hear a song and then I go over to check out who it is. Real smart. I wonder who decided that had to be a feature. Probably someone with the attention span of a flea.

I went to see GIAA with Stevo and Eileen and it was a great gig. They had visuals of George Bush. It was very serious. Very early Floyd. I really enjoyed it. I love going to gigs with Eileen and Stevo. This is for them.

The album is called The End of the Beginning. Of course.

15. Orbital: One Perfect Sunrise

I’ve had so many. I’m really lucky. Going to have a few more shortly.

Sunrise at Macchu Piccu.
Sunrise in Los Llanos. On Lake Maracaibo.
Sunrise in Goa.
Sunrise in Connemara
Sunrise in Dun Laoghaire
Sunrise in Glasnevin
Sunrise in Springtown

Blue Album is my favourite album. I was going to put on Transient, but it's too sad.

I also managed to burn two CDs while that was on, due to it being so long.

16. Miracles

I don’t know the artist. Maybe someone can help me with it. I got it from a cd Mark gave me, which is entitled Firstborn – when it hits you can’t feel it. Which is intriguing.

I just love the guy’s enthusiasm. It’s infectious.

Mark says the name of the band is Firstborn and I should learn how to read my cd covers properly. So there you go, Miracles, by Firstborn, from the album When it Hits you You can't feel it.

17. Viggo Mortensen: To Sleep

To sleep. Perchance to dream.

What with the forthcoming change in time zone, I’ll be up when you’re all asleep. So I’ll be thinking of you all. Dreaming.

And he says it in this little poem so much better than I ever could.

Don’t you think?