About Me

Politically motivated, ethically minded, spiritually heartened and campaigning for change. I think that about covers it.

Monday, 14 February 2011

Music I Want My Child To Listen To


So, I just encountered this meme for the first time and thought "Hell yeah! I wanna join in!" Music is where my heart has always been. I guess it's taken a bit of a backseat for a couple of years but I regret that and I'm hoping this will give me the incentive to get back into music. Recently I've been listening to some old favourites while I write, partly to help inspire my writing but also taking a trip down memory lane, following the recent photo storm among my old school friends on Facebook.

But I can't really start there, I have to go further back. Where did my love of music really take root? Easy, in the folk festivals my parents took me to as a small child. Most of the time spent at these folk festivals I was off playing with other kids, exploring and occasionally curled up asleep on, or sometimes even under a chair, while my parents watched the bands and artists perform. However, distraction and sleep both became impossible whenever Spirit of the West came on stage.

I remember the way the tiny platforms that formed a stage at some venues would shake under the thump of the bass drum and the weight of the lead singer jumping around. The whole floor would erupt with energy and enthusiasm, with otherwise stationery crowds leaping from their seats to dance to this high-energy band. Once, I even got sung to directly, having requested my favourite song (what band can't resist a cute 6 year old girl with pigtails who loves their music?!)

Spirit of the West are a Canadian folk band, who still occasionally do the rounds of folk festivals in North America. Their album Save This House still warrants the odd airing in my house now, twenty-odd years after it's release and the last time I saw them live.

Home For A Rest is one of my all time favourite songs, though obviously I didn't understand it as a child! Amid the frantic flute play, chaotic chords and lyrics about being drunk for a month there is an understated poetry, especially in the line "The spirits we drank are now ghosts in the room".

Here's a clip so you too can savour these Canadian delights. Enjoy.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay you joined in :)

Holly said...

Yeah. Not sure I did the Linky right though :/

Unknown said...

No the link you left works fine.