The first song I remember hearing
Sad Songs (Say So Much) by Elton John. I was maybe five. It was the first time that I felt that weird, deep, powerful feeling from music.
The first song I fell in love with
Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam. My best friend’s older brother’s friend made this mixtape and it was off of that. I remember it sounded really decrepit because the tape had been recorded over so many times with different mixes that it sounded like it had melted.
The first single I bought
Faith by George Michael. There were a couple of record stores near where I lived in New York where they sold CD players, boom boxes, stereo equipment and CDs. I guess I was with my mom because I would have been nine or 10.
The song I do at karaoke
I was recently at a place where they were doing karaoke and I did the original Supremes version of You Can’t Hurry Love. When I was younger, I really disliked karaoke, or at least I really disliked the idea of it, because I felt it was like being on a singing TV show and everyone would be scrutinising and judging. But now I’m a bit older, I can see it as a fun dumb thing, and will do some Frank Sinatra because I don’t really care.
The song that makes me cry
Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5.
The song I inexplicably know all the lyrics to
I’m not that good with lyrics, learning every line. But I know all the lyrics to And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda by the Pogues. I love that song, the lyrics, the journey. Sometimes I’ll listen to songs by the Doors and realise I know every single word, scream, guttural noise, piano lick, guitar lick and drum fill. I just heard them on the radio and I realised how perfect a lot of the Doors songs are.
The best song to play at a party
I prefer to kill the dancefloor with my musical taste – with some bad intense classical music or a funeral march that makes you feels like you’re living in an artsy movie film. But 70s Ethiopian music is a current trend that I think makes everyone happy. You could be in an underground basement or Urban Outfitters and hear Tew Limed Gelaye by Mahmoud Ahmed, which I think would go down well at a party.
The best song to have sex to
German techno.
The song I can no longer listen to
Last Nite by the Strokes is pretty dead to me. I’m not sure why. There are some others like Reptilia, Hard to Explain, Someday, Take It Or Leave it, New York City Cops that are comparable in terms of crowd reaction that I’m not quite as sick of. If I heard it on the radio, I’d probably turn it off.
The song I’d like played at my funeral
I’ll be dead so no comment!
Julian Casablancas and the Voidz’ album Like All Before You is out now.
