The first song I remember hearing
I grew up in a house that played the Top 40. I have vivid memories of the saxophone in Careless Whisper by George Michael. Nobody talks about how great and instinctive a singer he was. Maybe they do, but not in my universe.
The first single I bought
Say You’ll Be There by Spice Girls on cassette single from Woolworths in Stirling, that had the pick and mix section and the chart on the wall. If I close my eyes, I can still see the music video with Geri in her red boots and Emma in her blue gloves.
The song I do at karaoke
Survivor by Destiny’s Child. Karaoke is supposed to be silly. I don’t want people to be technically good. I want it to be a good impression full of passion and completely ridiculous. I know I can’t sing like Beyoncé, but I’m happy to give it a try, ideally halfway through the night so people are high on the supply of karaoke.
The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
My mum and dad got very into country music in the 90s. Don’t Take the Girl by Tim McGraw was the epitome of 90s mainstream American country, but only now can I appreciate it as such an amazing example of narrative songwriting.
The song I secretly like, but tell everyone I hate
I feel like the narrative around Morrissey has caught up with my feelings about the Smiths. His lyric writing is untouchable. But I don’t want to think about him, hear about him, or know any more about him. Everything said about Morrissey comes with a pile of sadness.
The best song to have sex to
I don’t tend to create a playlist for such things. But if it comes to sexy songs that I do love, I’ll choose Posing in Bondage by Japanese Breakfast. I would always know when my university housemate had her boyfriend over because they would aggressively play Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol. Quite a sad shag album, but I’d always be like: “OK, noted.”
The song I wish I had written
Nothing Compares 2 U. The way Sinéad O’Connor delivers the lines, and having watched the documentary where she said what she was feeling about her mother when she sang: “All the flowers that you planted, mama / In the back yard, all died when you went away” has me in tears.
The song that gets me up in the morning
At the moment I, it’s anything off Tangk, the new Idles record, especially Pop Pop Pop. I love that he’s in his crooner era. If you’d told me five years ago Joe from Idles can really sing, I would’ve have never have believed it.
The song I want played at my funeral
I don’t want it to be too miserable, so I’ll have Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. That always makes for a good knees-up.
