Re: TrueCrazyLion's Playlist

[TrueCrazyLion]

This song had a big emotional impact for me in the spring of 2006 when it originally got released; it was the overall sound of the song which struck me more than the lyrics did to begin with, but over time the words have acquired more meaning for me too.
It's one which I feel a strong emotional connection with:



(Starsailor - This Time)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I first connected with this track in April 2002, when I got a copy of Free All Angels and began listening to it. I liked every track on the album, but this is one which I soon grew to love in particular. 2002 was a particularly sunny spring in Scotland, and this weather helped magnify the positive and happy vibes I always feel at that time of the year anyway. I connected very strongly with this song, and whenever I’ve heard it since then, I get reminded of the massively positive vibes I felt when I first listened to that album.
It’s haunted me occasionally too, and just recently it came up in my YouTube recommendations:



(Ash - Walking Barefoot)

[TrueCrazyLion]

This track is one which I first connected with as I was recovering from bad flu which I'd had over Christmas/New Year at the Millennium, since it was regularly getting played on local radio at the time, so it's part of the soundtrack of my childhood and one which has personal meaning. I found it exceptionally catchy to begin with, and before long the lyrics began resonating with me personally too. Many years later, I reconnected with it in early 2016 as I listened to it on Spotify for my Last FM page, and a flood of memories came back as I listened, which was moving and nice all at once.
It's definitely a song I have a strong sentimental connection with:



(Scooch - More Than I Needed To Know)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I loved this song when it originally came out, mainly because I liked the unusual sound and beat of it - but over time the lyrics have gained personal resonance for me too, and I've come to consider it very expressive:



(Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex)

[TrueCrazyLion]

This song captivated me when it started getting regular radio airplay in August 2005, mainly due to its beat, which I found massively infectious:



(Rihanna - Pon De Replay)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I was already a fan of Eternal before this song got released, but it struck me as being on a whole different level to their previous singles and I immediately loved it. In recent years it's haunted me at times, including earlier tonight when it got played at the 24H Bakery while I was waiting on my food. Everytime I hear it, it brings back a lot of positive memories from the early summer of 1997, and I can't help feeling good:



(Eternal - I Wanna Be The Only One)

[Kaere]

Lots of stuff I've never heard before. Just goes to show there's a big cultural difference between countries, even while there's similarities too.

[TrueCrazyLion]

Yeah, most of these tracks are ones I was first introduced to by hearing them get played on mainstream radio, but I guess "mainstream" is a relative term, depending what country you're in. I'm guessing the Internet has closed that gap a lot, before that the differences in music which was considered popular in different parts of the world must've been enormous!

[TrueCrazyLion]

I've never had a profound emotional connection with this song(Not yet anyway), but I do have a lot of good memories which I strongly associate with it, as I loved the beat of it as soon as I heard it, and I was listening to it a lot in the spring of 1998, since it was #1 in the UK Chart for 7 weeks during March and April of that year - a time which was generally very positive for me, and that is the overall vibe of the memories which it brings back for me when I hear it now. Earlier this evening I was in a taxi which was bringing me back into the city centre from Broughty Ferry when this song randomly came on the stereo in a big long list which the driver was listening to on shuffle, and it brought a lot of those memories back:



(Run DMC - It's Like That)

[TrueCrazyLion]

This song had a major impact on my emotions during the winter of 1997-98, particularly in November and December of 1997 and January of 1998. (It was regularly getting airplayed on the radio throughout that winter, and for an unusually long time, as it was constantly in the top 5 of the UK Chart from early November '97 till mid-March '98.)
I connected strongly with its melancholy and its emotional intensity, in what was actually my most profound emotional connection with any song so far up to that time. It was heavily influenced not only by the time of year(In what was one of my first ever experiences of SAD), but also by the state of exhaustion I'd pushed myself into by writing a page-a-day A4 diary throughout 1997(I was determined to stay up late every night writing down what had happened that day, even when I had school in a few hours; it took me ages to write due to my learning disability, and I ended up depriving myself of sleep most nights. By the end of the year I'd worn myself right down with sleep deprivation, but I was determined to finish the diary, which I did on 5th January 1998 when it ran out.) These feelings are closely connected with this song for me, and although it was initially associated with a dark and depressing time, it has haunted me at times since, and it has grown to have a unique and special vibe for me.
Recently it haunted me by being played in the 24H Bakery the other night when I was there, and then coming up in my YouTube recommendations less than a day later:



(All Saints - Never Ever)

[TrueCrazyLion]

This track has a lot of positive memories for me from the much happier winter of 1998-1999, and specifically the final months of 1998 - probably the single happiest pre-Christmas period I've experienced in any year so far. (It didn't hurt that that winter had a lot of cold but sunny days, which took the edge off of any depressed feelings caused by the short day length.) This song has a databurst of positive and excited memories for me, as it was #1 in the UK Chart for 7 weeks in November and December 1998 - first reaching #1 on Sunday 1st November, 20 years ago today:



(Cher - Believe)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I connected with this song relatively recently, in 2015, when I was regularly listening to music on Last FM, and when I was listening to "my mix" where the site chooses what gets played to you based on your likes and preferences, this song kept getting played. I connected with the lyrics and their sentiment, as well as the tune itself.
Recently it's been brought back into my immediate consciousness by being the soundtrack on a new holiday advert:



(The Strokes - Someday)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I had early childhood memories of hearing this song, as it had been released as a single in the UK and correspondingly played on local radio, but I kind of forgot about it for years - even when I listened to the Cross Road album, as this track wasn’t included on it(I still don’t know why as I think it’s one of Bon Jovi’s best songs). It wasn’t till I bought myself Keep The Faith in November 2002 that I finally heard this song as an adult, and I immediately loved its power and energy as well as the lyrics themselves. I consider it a personal feelgood anthem, and I think it sums up my outlook on life pretty well. I’ve been a big fan of it ever since, and I’ve included it on a lot of the compilation tapes and CDs which I made in the next few years:



(Bon Jovi - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I remember hearing this song get played on the radio when I was a kid and being drawn to it, purely because the spoken lyrics described someone living his own life exactly how he wanted to; doing what he wanted, how and when he wanted to do it, having a happy life, and above all, not going to school(I was in primary school at that time and I hated it). To me, at the age I was, living the life described in the song sounded like living a dream.
In the early summer of 2015, I rediscovered this song via Last FM, and I remember taking some time to let the song wash over me as I listened to it, and realising I now had that life which I'd craved 20 years earlier! It was a nice personal moment.
Earlier on tonight this song came up in my YouTube recommendations, which is a good reason to post it here now:



(Blur - Parklife)

[TrueCrazyLion]

This is a song which I’ve considered anthemic and majestic ever since I first heard it, it’s always inspired strong emotions, although I’ve never really understood what or how yet, but the feelings associated with it have always been very positive. Posting it here now because it just came up in my YouTube recommendations too:



(Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I've always found this song very catchy ever since it came out, and it's always got stuck in my head easily - plus I've always been drawn to the eccentricity of the lyrics.
Hearing it on the radio the other day reminded me of this, so think that was a good cue to post it here:



(The Wombats - Let's Dance To Joy Division)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I've always loved the melody and tune of this song, and recently it's been in my head for days:



(Joan Armatrading - Drop The Pilot)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I connected with this song superficially as soon as it got released in August 2002, I immediately loved its beat and overall sound. A lot of things were changing in my life at that point, such as getting ready to start Uni, and this song became symbolic of the freshness and newness I was feeling as result of the positive changes. 
That summer also had some of my first experiences of going clubbing, and I clearly remember dancing to this song in the local clubs at that time.
Just tonight it came up in my YouTube recommendations, which reminded me of its personal meaning to me:



(Sugababes - Round Round)

[TrueCrazyLion]

This track recently came up in my YouTube recommendations, and reminded me how I connected powerfully with its sound - and video - when it got released in the UK as a single in March 2007:



(Christina Aguilera - Candyman)

[TrueCrazyLion]

I first heard this song, and saw this video, on a music TV channel in the morning on Boxing Day 2008: I remember it especially clearly because I woke up that morning feeling a bit strange, and as the day went on I started feeling increasingly unwell with what turned out to be a horrendous episode of flu. This song was burned into my memory as being the last one I heard before the flu properly kicked in, although I never had negative memories attached to the song because of it; maybe hearing it consistently on the radio over the next 3 months after recovering from the flu wiped it clean, so to speak. But I do have good memories of listening to the song during a winter which felt particularly fresh after the previous two mild winters in Scotland.
I liked the video a lot too:



(Beyoncé - Single Ladies)

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