1) I'm running out of things to say here. It's not easy coming up with details on how your days went by, if all you're doing is spending time in the library. The answer may sound simple: go out for a walk, go out with your friends etc. But being the cold-fearing person that I've gradually become, I far prefer to stay indoors if I can help it. Especially since the weather has taken a turn for the worse. So instead of boring you with how I spent the last two days (honestly I was stuck in front of a computer for most of the time anyways), I'm going to share with you some of my favourite songs - as well as the memories that I associate with them. (I promised to talk about my musical interests in an earlier post, so here goes :D)...
2) Back when I was in kindergarten, I used to enjoy listening to a CD recording of "Greatest Hits -Golden Oldies" that my grandparents had. Not surprisingly, I became fond of some really old tunes - including "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Only You" by The Platters, "The Tennessee Waltz" by Patty Page, "Love Letters in the Sand" by Pat Boone, etc... I vividly remember singing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" during an award ceremony at the tender age of five, and not many actually having heard of the song before. To be honest, I never really understood the lyrics until I was older XD
3) I missed a year of school when I was six. Having skipped a year when I was five, I had to wait another year to enter Primary 1 (at age seven). Hence I had loads of time to explore the large collection of CDs that my family had. I listened to everything from The Carpenters, Engelbert Humperdinck, Barry Manilow, Elton John, Bee Gees, The Beatles, John Denver, to name but a few. Sometimes when my dad was free, he'd help me jot down the lyrics so I could practise singing to the tune (this was wayyyyy before we had the Internet, okay?)
4) Fast forward to my primary and lower secondary school years, and these can collectively be called my "gaming years". The days when I was an avid gamer, glued to the TV and with no other purpose in life than to progress further into career mode. Along with these games, however, came music that have stuck in my head even until now. As I was customising my favourite car in Need For Speed Underground 2, "In My Head" by Queens of the Stone Age was playing. Every time I booted the game on, "Riders on the Storm (Remix)" by Snoop Dogg would automatically play (there wasn't even an option to deselect it, so you were forced to listen to it every time you played the game). Not forgetting such classics like "Give It All" by Rise Against, and "The Celebration Song" by Unwritten Law.
5) Then I got Need For Speed Most Wanted, and my default soundtrack changed to "Blinded in Chains" by Avenged Sevenfold, and "In a Hood Near You" by Suni Clay. I remember challenging my friend Jonathan over who could complete the game first (by beating out other "Blacklist" members to be the No. 1 Most Wanted in the fictional city of Rockport). Good times, good times... Then it was to the next racing game - Burnout Paradise; and the theme song for it was "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. There was a HUGE collection of classical songs in Burnout Paradise, and I was spoilt for choice when it came to choosing from them. Verdi's "Triumphal March from Aida" and "Nabucco: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves", Debussy's "Carnival of the Animals: The Aquarium" and "Claire de Lune" - it was a unique experience racing at breakneck speeds and watching crashes unfold in 1920x1080 glory, as classical music played in the background.
6) In lower secondary, I used to go to the Internet Cafe after band practice on Saturdays. I'd begun diversifying from racing and fighting games, and now adventure (platforming) games entered my repertoire. Prince of Persia was right up my list, and I still remember going online to search for the solutions to the puzzles in the game. The Internet Cafe had a whole host of songs which I hadn't heard before. I particularly remember three: "1973" by James Blunt, "Colours of the Rainbow" by DJ Skeptyk, and "Into the Night" by Santana.
7) Around this time, I had my first taste of more modern music. One of my favourite bands that I always listened to was Linkin Park, and such songs as "In The End", "New Divide", "Numb", "Burn It Down", "What I've Done", and "Castle of Glass" became the staple whenever I was studying. I'd joke to myself that I would always be happy in life, because there were only two outcomes if I gave it my all: a) I'd succeed, and I'd be happy, or b) I'd fail, and then I'd just sing "In The End" to make me feel better XD. Indeed, I've failed many times before, and songs like these provided that modicum of comfort that I needed. That would also explain my complete and utter shock upon finding out the recent death of lead singer, Chester Bennington. There were just too many memories associated with this.
8) As I entered my Pre-U studies, I recall diversifying to more modern music. Imagine Dragons, Avicii, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Westlife, Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Mendes - it'd come to the point where I was not selective with the genre, but rather the melody or "hook" of it. I had a playlist of all my favourite songs, and I listened to them while fervently studying for my A-Levels. During my gap year (before coming to uni), I'd stay up late and listen to EDM music - tracks by Alan Walker ("Fade", not "Faded"), Electro-Light ("Fall for Gravity"), Pegboards x MisterWives ("Coffins") started appealing to me.
9) I've completely neglected to mention songs in other languages. Since I was a child, I have always loved watching anime, and one of my all-time favourites was Samurai X (otherwise known as Rurouni Kenshin). I particularly love the 3rd Ending Song - "Heart of Sword" by T.M. Revolution, as well as the 6th Ending Song - "1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou" by Siam Shade. I remember waking up at 6.00 a.m. to watch a rerun of the previous day's two episodes, before going to school! Another anime I enjoyed was Yu Yu Hakusho - a highly acclaimed anime about a spirit detective battling demons in the underworld. One particular song resonates with me - "Taiyou ga mata Kagayaku Toki" by Hiro Takahashi, in that it was the last song I heard before going to Japan as an exchange student, in 2007.
10) Another anime in which I loved the music was Yakitate Japan - an anime about a boy who dreams of becoming the best baker in Japan. Tracks like "Chiisana Uta" by MARIA and "Houki Gumo" by RYTHEM bring back memories of days gone by. Last year, while attempting to binge-watch anime over winter, I came across some lovely Japanese animated movies. The exceptionally tear-jerking "Grave of the Fireflies" had the ending song "Futari", while the visual masterpiece "Sword of the Stranger" had "Ihojin no Yaiba". Perfection.
11) Going back to my Chinese ancestry, there are too many Chinese songs (both old and new) that I enjoy. Classics from Teresa Teng immediately flood my memory, including "I Only Care About You" (我只在乎你), The Moon Represents My Heart" (月亮代表我的心), "Small Town Story" (小城故事), "Tian mi mi" (甜蜜蜜) and "When Will You Return?" (何日君再来). Also, "Nim Can Jan" (念亲恩) by 陈百强 (Danny Chan), "San Nian" (三年) by 李香蘭 (Li Xiang Lan), "Huang Hun"(黃昏) by 周傳雄 (Steve Chou), "Fairy Tale" (童話) by 光良 (Guang Liang), "Qi Shi Ni Bu Dong Wo De Xin"(其實你不懂我的心) by 童安格 (Angus Tung) - I could literally go on and on. I'd wake up on weekends to the tune of many of these songs playing, and I guess over time I've associated them with all the good memories of the past. Talk about classical conditioning XD
12) Any other songs in different languages that I enjoy? Definitely - Warisan (Sudirman Arshad), Pergi Saja (Geisha), Danza Kuduro (Lucenzo), Bewafa (Imran Khan) etc. I think it was Captain Nemo from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" who said, "great art and music live forever". Certainly I'd like to think that, along with food, art and music break down cultural barriers and connect people together. Music continues to play an integral part in my life - whether listening to songs as I study, or when I board the LUAS back home at night; music follows me wherever I go.
13) I've gone way longer than any of my previous blogs in narrating my life story, and with it, my love for music. I hope I've given you some insight into my personal life, and maybe you may have some favourite songs of your own, which you'd like to share! Anyway, that has been my blog update (and a very long one at that), and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a nice day, cheers!
Three more stamps to go at Boojums - till free T-shirt XD
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