WordPress Writing 101 Blogging challenge: Day Three

Day Three: Commit to a Writing Practice

Setting the scene: the blogging challenge today is a free writing exercise – write about the three most important songs in your life and what they mean to you. So it’s a brain dump that I’ve gone back and added links to later.

First up, let me start by saying three songs just isn’t enough. I’m not sure how many flashed through my mind when I read this prompt.

I’m always struck by how music touches everyone. I watched this work in practice, when I was young, as I watched Dudley Moore use his musical talents to work with autistic children. We all listen to music in our daily lives, whether it’s the natural sounds of birds singing, the wind blowing through the trees or more structured pieces of classical or popular music.

I’ve lived in a world of books, magazines, music and films during my teenage years. After my dad’s death when I was 8 years old, I became my mum’s constant companion. Our favourite pass time was watching films; black and white films, on TV, every Saturday afternoon, watching horror films late into the night and making regular trips to the cinema.

By the time I was in my teens my mum was too ill to make many trips to the cinema so I’d go alone or occasionally with the few friends I kept in touch with. Like most teens, from the 1980s, the Brat Pack movies heavily influenced me. My favourite was The Breakfast Club. The song “Don’t You Forget about Me” by Simple Minds has had a regular spot on my playlist ever since. If I need a little motivation that’s the song that leaves me punching the air.

The next song might seem like a curved ball, but it’s a song that will forever remind me of my daughters when they were tiny tots. “5 LittIe Speckled Frogs” is a song that they both learned through their grandma and at nursery school. We don’t have the most pleasant of shared memories from their early lives. This song reminds me that there were innocent moments of joy and that my girls were the most precious gift I’ve ever received.

And lastly from one of my favourite bands – “Swing Life Away” by Rise Against – a beautiful song about moving on and making life what you want it to be instead of letting the past drag you down – my interpretation anyway. This song came into my life at a crisis point. Drastic changes were needed. The song defines that journey. I met someone who was willing to compare scars with me, neither of us flinching from the details, we held hands along a difficult path and we unpicked each other’s histories, putting them into perspective and reframing them. The best of friendships, complicated and worth fighting for.

I’m a rebel and that just leaves way too many unsung heroes from my life. These guys also inspire me. These bands have been my constant companions so they deserve a shout out (with links to my favourite songs): Robbie Williams (with Gary Barlow on this occasion), , Rise Against (because this is my favourite song), Eminem (such a gifted writer),  David Usher(stunning simplicity), Nirvana (unplugged and awesome RIP), My Chemical Romance (fab in concert too), Bon Jovi (unchallenged since 1896), Survivor (unchallenged since 1984 RIP) andPink (she rocks).

Previous days: Day 1, Day 2,