Eight Songs

The song choices are by far the hardest part. My mother left her choices on the previous post, and told me that it took her the best part of an hour to narrow it down to eight. I’m not sure how long I’ve spent thinking about this as I chose them over a period of several days, by writing one, then going away to ponder and picking it up again later. Here goes:

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Selecting a long song seems like a good idea. Why go for three minutes of music when you can have eight instead? Plus Bohemian Rhapsody is arguably the best song in the world, and has moments to cry to and moments to rock to. All bases covered.

Dire Straits - Romeo & Juliet There have been arguments before over whether the original version or the cover by the Killers is better, and I must say, I’ve been warming to the newer version ever so slightly. I still maintain the original is the best though, and therefore I will bring it with me. This song is bizarre because I knew it, but didn’t know I knew it, then I listened to it a lot, then I loved it.

Wheatus - A Little Respect This song is the exact reverse of the above, though. I loved the Erasure version, but when I heard Wheatus take it on, I was enamoured with that one instead. The cover has a lot more oomph to it (standard musical terminology, honest), and I think it would be great to dance around the island too.

Lady Gaga - Pokerface I hated this song when I first heard it, then I loved it. Perhaps if I was stuck with it all the time I would cycle through these emotions all the time, and I think it’s good to keep the feelings going and not become complacent whilst stuck on an island.

Will Smith - Miami Then I could dance like a fool and finally learn the words properly.

Backstreet Boys - Panic See, now this requires picking my favourite BSB song and I’m not about to attempt that. Instead, I’ve gone for the one that wouldn’t get on my nerves, and is a bit more upbeat, rather than a soppy love song. That would just get me all maudlin about the people I’m missing.

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) I’m a bit torn about this one, still a bit undecided. I think it would be good, because the advice in there is all excellent and it’s a nice message to listen to. On the other hand, it might simply remind me of things I’m missing out on by being stuck on an island, so perhaps it’s not such a good idea. I put it in, though, because it’s a good reminder to wear sunscreen, which I imagine would be a priority on the island.

Axis of Awesome - Four Chords Any version will do, but this is a sneaky way of getting about thirty songs for the price of one. I get them stuck in my head all the time so it wouldn’t be hard to pop this on and go off singing one, then pop it on again and enjoy another song instead.

Book Choice

This is tricky because I love books, but I don’t think there’s one that has really changed my life. I think I would go for something abstract, like a book of instructions on magic tricks. Then I could spend time practicing with whatever I can lay my hands on, and I’d have a new career to come back to once rescued.

Luxury Item

Now, I gave this some proper thought, and I narrowed it down to two items, depending on the capabilities of the island. If there is a source of electricity, which I’m assuming there is otherwise you would only be able to play your chosen eight songs for a certain amount of time, then I would take a laptop with a copy of the Sims on it. I can play the Sims for hours and hours and hours, almost without blinking, so that would while away some time. If there isn’t electricity for recharging purposes, then I would take a piano, because that way you wouldn’t be limited to eight songs, and with nothing else to do, I might actually knuckle down and do some practice.

Thinking about it, though, I might need to bring the sunscreen that I mentioned for Song 7. Presumably the island does not come with sunscreen readily available.