Today, because I am, somehow, for no apparent reason, in a martial mood, I shall write a post about songs that I'd listen to if on my way to a battle. It's actually partially inspired by Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman (whom I love)... in the book he says that each of us is born with his or her very own song, and all you need to do is find it. Then he writes about a lady and says :
"Take Daisy, for example. Her song, which has been somewhere in the back of her head for most of her life, had a reassuring, marching sort of beat, and words that were about protecting the weak, and it had a chorus that began "Evildoers beware!" and was thus much too silly ever to be sung out loud."
I find the idea so amazingly cool, and I wish I had exactly that song in the back of my head, that's the type of person I'd like to be, I think, a little bit. It's probably one of these leftover things from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In any case, I don't. I think my song is about marshmallows and puffy blankets. That's fate for you.
In any case: I like the idea of a marching sort of beat to lead you through life's daily battles (like ordering coffee at Starbucks in German and getting the English accent on the right words. Bringing yourself to talk about something really important. Getting that stupid paperwork done. Getting out of bed. You know what I mean...)
So here are 5 songs that I think are good battle-fighting songs.
1) Another one bites the dust. Or We will rock you. I don't know what it is with Queen, really, but every time I listen to their songs, it gets me completely hyper. I'm not exactly a fan, and I don't even like everything they do (like, for example, "Princes of the Universe", which is terrible) but MAN! These two, and a few others, they are so awesome and so completely great that I find it hard to believe anybody actually wrote them. I think they must have been part of our collective imagination much earlier on.
So that would be for physical tasks, I think. Like going to Ikea and getting that 45 kg bookcase back home using only public transportation. And your roommate (eternal gratefulness, but the SHAME!!! OH THE SHAME, IT HAS NO END!!! Like a GIRL, for heaven's sake...)
2) Uninvited, by Alanis Morissette. I don't like this type of over-emotional songs, usually. I'm very easily ironic and snobbish about that type of songs. But this one? I don't know. It makes me want to punch holes in a wall and grow taller and taller until I'm big as a statue and shining and terrifying, a little like Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings movie. That would be for... getting angry at someone you like.
3) Sunday Bloody Sunday, by U2. I'm in a U2 kind of mood, these days, weirdly. That song is just great, and it makes me want to move mountains. That would be for political battles, obviously. That would be for going to a demonstration.
4) Inertia Creeps, by Massive Attack. It's a nice crescendo-type song. Really cool on the train to somewhere where you're scared to go. Matrix-type of mission.
5) Alles Neu, by Peter Fox. I don't know if you know Peter Fox, reader. He's a really cool German hip-hop (kinda) singer, and this song is about destroying things and starting a revolution, and beginning again from scratch. It's, hence, self-evident the type of battle that this is about.
With this, all I can say is: peace out (ha ha ha)
