Pieces of my mind

So it's been a month.

You probably recognise the sensation: "has a month really gone by? What happened?" That's how I feel at the moment.

I read my posts that I wrote after coming back home a month ago. How the sadness was filling my heart and I couldn't come to terms with the fact that I could have had my very last experience of a live concert with Suede. Today I know that it's not going to be that way. Suede lives, in some way, for some time, and I've got tickets to their gig at the O2 arena on December 7.

I've got nothing else to say about it for now. How about listen to the playlist for the Albert Hall instead?

Clinging to a scheme & the S word

The soundtrack for this post is The Radio Dept.’s newly released album ‘Clinging to a Scheme’, more on that later.

First a short note about that I finally have got my t-shirt, probably one of the best looking ones. It’s the “two thousand and ten t-shirt”. It might be interesting to compare this one to the more "ancient" one from the early nineties, I’ve just added a photo of it to the ‘Beautiful things’ page. The latest one is surely less provoking. One more thought about this t-shirt; why does it always take such a long time to get something delivered from townsend-records?

As I wrote the other day, my greatest love in music will be doing another show, this one in December at the O2 arena in London. The tickets are on sale from tomorrow, however there were a pre-sale yesterday and guess what, I bought a couple. So, I’ll be heading for London in December again. It feels strange thinking about the concert now in April already...

Hopefully I’ll be going to some concerts in between now and December, however so far I haven’t planned any. The Radio Dept. are to play here on May 13, however it’s at a 'student place', and I’m not a student, so I’ll have to manage that somehow. It would be great to see them though.

‘Clinging to a Scheme’ Some of the songs I’ve already listened to quite a lot and I love them, like ‘David’ and ‘Heaven’s on Fire’. Now it’s time for the others as well.

To end this post I’d like to quote Brett Anderson. He’s on the go with he's solo work and says:

with all the fuss going on down the road i thought i'd let you know what's going on about the next solo record.
on monday, Leo and myself started writing properly together. we have about 15 backing tracks to work on , edited and compiled from the jam sessions in january .
things are already feeling good... the music is live and urgent and very inspiring to write to. so far we have 3 complete songs... one mid-paced, stately album opener called 'Unsung', a fierce rocker and a brand new untitled beast which i am writing parts for today and sounds a bit like 'Idiot' period Iggy.. dark, industrial and damaged.
no one who is interested in my solo stuff need worry that i am being sidetracked by the S word... my goal over the next few months is to crack on with album number 4 and hopefully have it ready by the end of the year. when it will be released i can't say but i do know it's going to be special. 

Brett's "notes from the underground" can be found at the forum.

Now I’ll continue listening to The Radio Dept.’s Clinging to a scheme.

Music to my ears

It's been quiet here for some time. I haven't had that much to write about. Today there’re some interesting news and other things I’d like to share though.

I got an email this morning; it said that Suede are going to play at the O2 arena in London on December 7. That’s news indeed. Earlier on, some days after the RAH gig, it was announced that they’re going to play at the Smukfest festival in Skanderborg, Denmark on August 7. Two more Suede gigs in 2010 then, nice.

I do wonder, is there something about the number 7? It was seven years since they had played together before the Albert Hall gig, they’re playing on August 7 and then on December 7...

I have thought about going to Smukfest, but I don’t know, it seems a bit off. London is always nice, but the arena is a real big one. I read on the website that it has capacity for up to 20,000. As I think I’ve written before, I do prefer smaller venues. Well, I won’t decide upon this now. I’ll have to think about it for some time...

The other thing that really made me smile when I saw it was this clip that I found posted on the facebook group “We want a Suede @ Royal Albert Hall DVD!!!” today. Do join that group, if you like, it’s open for all. I don’t know if we actually can manage to get the TCT to release a DVD consisting of the whole Suede concert, but it’s worth a try.

The video that makes me smile is this one from the BBC. It’s Bernard Butler playing Animal Nitrate! He’s teaching us how to play it. I just love it! Watch it and I think you’ll agree!



To have Mr Butler as my guitar teacher, that would have been something. I guess this is as close as one can get to that. I definitely will take my guitar and play some. However, since I haven’t played on it for some time now I’ll be careful to play it far away from anyone else’s ears.

No need to argue

Some words about another song. It is strange how this song came to play a part in my life. I did at times put on this song by The Cranberries, on repeat, and I had it as a kind of mantra: chanting and filling the room... These moments were not healthy ones. My set of mind was often sad, dejected, or numb. At times these moments were also consisting of me acting out on the emotions hitting me.

I have not listened to the song for many years, but I know it by heart. Somehow, when I think about the song, and almost hear it playing in my head, I get a feeling of coldness. It is like when the snow has started to melt and you can tell that there is life beneath it. However, the few spots uncovering the earth only show the dead grass of the autumn. Even though the spring sun is shining at times, it is still cloudy and the cold wind is making you aware of the brisk truth of ugliness.
 
The Cranberries - No Need To Argue
(spotify)

Live to Tell

I recently purchased the compilation of Madonna's music videos on DVD, and it has got me thinking about her music and how it has been a part of my life growing up.

Live to Tell, I can’t remember when I heard the song for the first time. However, every time I hear it, it gives me a special feeling inside. I certainly heard the song before I bought her compilation album, the double-LP: 'The Immaculate Collection', but it was after listening to that album, several times, that the song got a specific meaning to me.

If I’m right, the album was released in 1990 and I probably bought it when it had been on the market for a while. I was quite a young teenager at the time and I don’t know how good my English was, probably not that good. At least I don’t think I really listened to the lyrics that carefully.

If English isn't your native language you’ll experience a song that’s sung in English differently. I think this also applies at present, when I'm an adult and claim to be fluent in the English language, fluent but not fully learnt. I can learn new things every day. If you have studied a language, this also applies to your own native language, you soon become aware that there’s a lot that you don’t know, and that there’s a lot you could learn. When it comes to lyrics, however, most people get them and they at times affect you instantly. Still, if the lyrics are in a second-, or third language, there’s always a filter for your perception of the song.

“I have a tale to tell, sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well /.../ I hope I live to tell, the secret I have learned, ‘till then, it will burn inside of me, the truth is never far behind, you have kept it hidden well, if I live to tell, the secret I knew then, will I ever have the chance again? /.../ Will it grow cold, the secret that I hide, will I grow old? How will they hear, when will they learn, how will they know?”

These lines of lyrics affect me deeply and I identify myself with them. It was also what I did as a teenager. The song became a song for and about me. In these lines of lyrics lie other lines of untold experiences, of hidden matters and masked outcomes.

In recent years, however, I have begun to wonder, I may have things to reveal, but do I want to tell my story? I have previously thought that I wanted to tell, and also that I had a need for it. Today, I‘m not so sure, I can’t say either yes or no.

Nonetheless, the song touches me deeply. Additionally, the performance Madonna and her dancers did to this song on the 2006 Confessions Tour makes it even stronger. The beginning of the performance is heartfelt. See it and listen to the stories told! You'll find the link here:
Madonna - Live to Tell from the Confessions Tour.