With the challenge complete, it’s worth rounding up the list of links. I wasn’t all that specific about which song was which in the posts themselves, and given how unreliable YouTube can be in terms of videos disappearing, it’ll be good to have the definitive list in one place.

I have a lot of favourite songs. Picking one should be hard, but I kept coming back to this, and really… there can be only one. It reminds me of lots of things. The many times I’ve seen We Will Rock You. The first time I saw and loved Highlander. (Not so much now.) My brothers. The awesomeness of Queen.

Just two more to go, and the challenge is at an end. It’s been an interesting run through the highs and lows of my musical taste. I’ve discovered songs I thought I’d forgotten and I’ve managed to expand my knowledge at the same time. Good stuff. My least favourite song could be one of a few, but there’s only one that springs to mind at the moment. I had this one worked out when I first read the challenge through, but it’s made worse by the fact I just heard the song yesterday as well. Gah.

Unlike the last subject, where there are few songs that really make me sad, there are plenty of songs that make me happy. Narrowing it down to one is kinda hard, but I’ll go with this one for now. They’re specifically generating the music to make you feel better. I hadn’t seen the video before today. Not so keen on the clown thing.

There aren’t a lot of songs that make me sad, although I did already mention that if I’m in a particularly melancholy mood, the song that reminds me of a certain event might do it. The only songs that are particularly emotional for me are all of those on the first Coldplay album. Those teenage years were tricky, and unfortunately for Coldplay, they were the ones who helped me wallow in my angst.

This song reminds me of my mum, because we used to have this exact concert on, well, VHS probably, and we’d watch it over and over. The mullets, the high pitched voices, and the guy’s weird eye movements. What’s not to like? I don’t know if it’s just me, but the video goes out of sync halfway through which is a shame, but you get the general idea. Every part of this brings back memories. The weird guy clapping at the start, the “season” who rests his nose on the microphone, and the rather funky bass solo.

This song reminds me so much of my ill-fated attempts to go to the gym. I stuck at it for a while, but the gym was never a particularly comfortable place for me. Just hearing the beginning of this, and particularly seeing the video - which was often played on those weirdly silent TV screens - puts me right back to that place. I can even smell the odd gym smell, a mixture of exercising bodies, air conditioning and ineffectual cleaning products.

Does an entire year count as an event? When I saw this was one of the criteria for the thirty days, I immediately thought of Welcome to the Black Parade. F1 fans will know that it was used in the ITV video montage they played on their final race before coverage moved to the Beeb. It was the last race of 2008 and it was brilliant. The months leading up to it had been just epic for me for many reasons. If I’m in a particularly poignant mood and I hear the opening bars of this track, I may even find tears prickling my eyes, and that is a rare occurrence.

I’m afraid there’s going to be two Will Smith songs in a row. I’m terrible with lyrics. I always think I know all the words, and then only find out halfway through that I don’t. For some reason, I genuinely do know all the words to this, and I have no idea why.

It can only be this. It is physically impossible for me to sit still to this. Impossible! “Will, we loved your last hit.”

If I’d actually given this any thought, I would have planned it better so that I could have posted the Backstreet Boys video today, my birthday. But I didn’t, so never mind, we shall move straight on to the land of nod. I can’t really listen to music to fall asleep, although I know I used to when I was much younger. These days it’s all about the podcasts. Nevertheless, this song does make me feel very relaxed and perhaps even drowsy.

The Backstreet Boys, obviously. I can’t help it, those years as an obsessed teenager are pretty hard to break. This is an album track, pretty popular in live shows, but not yet a single. Silly boys. I even chose this one for my blog version of Desert Island Discs a while back. And hey, if you don’t like the song, there are bonus subtitles to learn a foreign language with. Panico!

There’s no one I really hate, but there are people that make me roll my eyes when I hear them on the radio or see them on TV. This category seems odd, because if I hate them, why would I want to embed a video of theirs in my site? Oh well. This isn’t a band, just one person. I can just about put up with this video because it has Dawson in it. Yay for Dawson.

A while back, I seem to recall telling off someone, it may have been Alex, for watching A Christmas Carol when it was nowhere near Christmas. I’m going to have to take that back, I think. Just recently, it suddenly occurred to me that I should start looking at soundtracks. I’m watching more films these days, and they have good music in them too. Who knew? Anyway, all of this to say that I bought the Christmas Carol soundtrack and I have been listening to it even though it is not December. I’m sorry.

My music tastes are quite eclectic really, and_ I_ never know what I’m going to like, let alone anyone else. However, this is a song I probably wouldn’t normally enjoy - not a big rap fan, and although I do like a couple of Linkin Park songs, they’re a bit angsty for me. This, I absolutely adore.

I’ve struggled with this one, probably because I took it a bit too seriously. I spent a good couple of hours agonising over lyrics and thinking, well, I do like this song and it is sort of me but that doesn’t really fit. I don’t want people to get the wrong impression… Then I got over myself, and decided this would do because a lot of the time I am “off again in my world.”

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I loved this song, but it is an example of the Glee effect. I’ve talked about Glee before, and I’m still impressed with how it has opened up music of all kinds to a wider audience. But, and it’s a pretty big but, it can also ruin songs for you. Now, I cannot hear Gives You Hell, without hearing Rachel Berry saying: “here’s your picket fence, love,” in that mock-angry-but-butter-wouldn’t-melt-really way. It’s not bad, really, but it just doesn’t fit the song, and I can’t take it seriously.

This song has been following me around for the last month or so, and anytime I turn on a radio there it is. Funny, because it has radio in the title too. It gets stuck in my head, going round and round. “Nothing on but the radio, the RADIO!”

If I was doing this the right way round, this category would come immediately after “song you keep hearing on the radio” which has a nice symmetry to it. I have ruined it, of course, by being both contrary and backwards, but still. A song I wish I heard on the radio can only be something live that would never be played, or only in exceptional circumstances. Instantly, that means We Will Rock You. Sure they play Queen all the time, but not this kind of Queen. This is my favourite song from the musical (although not my favourite song by Queen). I recommend skipping to 3:35 for less musical and more music.

I have never really been a big album person. Right from when I bought my very first one, I was keen to make sure that I liked at least a couple of songs on there so I would be getting value for money. And of course, once again, this is the kind of thing that iTunes has changed. I don’t need to buy albums now. I can’t remember the last full album from a single band that I bought.

I’m not sure this really counts as angry, but when I was struggling in those early days of trying to reach a 5k running distance, I used to listen to this song over and over and it got me through. I can’t really explain why, but there’s something about it that definitely spurred me on. I’ve never seen the video before today. That’s an odd one.

The last few days have been a tough criteria for me. I don’t really think, oh I am in this particular mood, I will listen to this. I suspect iTunes and the shuffle feature have ruined that for a lot of people. Still, I know this song is mostly quite cheerful and it makes me happy to hear it, which is almost the same thing. The Chain is not the only music that I associate with F1.

Technically, I should probably put the entire Parachutes album from Coldplay here, because I listened to that A LOT when I was going through tough teenage times. Because of that, though, I can’t bear to hear it, so it would be a bit of a waste of time. Instead, I’ll go with this. It makes me think of my BFF. It was one of those songs, for her, that is pretty depressing but she could listen to over and over again without being sad. I have a couple of songs like that too, but this was hers, and it makes me wistful.

Well, of course, I have kind of missed the boat on this one. Or more correctly, I got on the boat and got married already, with just some silly music to walk in the room to. Songs were not important, it was about being married and getting our hands on the champagne. However, let’s say that I was going to do the wedding again (shuddering at the thought), and do it differently, with songs and stuff. I reckon I might play this.

I’m not so good at formal events like this, and I don’t particularly want a fuss at my funeral. Although, of course, I’m hoping not to be conscious of what’s going on when it does happen, so the organisers could make as much fuss as they want. Music isn’t something I’d particularly given thought to at a funeral, but eventually, I found something I’d like. Imagine the scene, the coffin travelling towards a fiery inferno and out bursts…

Ahh, Tim Minchin. There aren’t many of his songs that are lacking in swear words, although it’s worth a warning that there’s a bit of a swear before this one gets going. Take my wife. Plink!

Well, sort of. When Garageband became available on the iPad, I made a good effort at the best bit.

I can play the piano a little, and the guitar even less. I’ve always wished I was better at the piano, but I don’t really have the patience to put the effort in. I had this track in one of my many music books, and I tried to play it many times before eventually I gave up, and mostly stopped playing altogether. Not because of this song, I might add.

I’m not sure there is any song that makes me feel guilty. Isn’t that a weird emotion to be related to a song? Happy, absolutely. Sad, yup. Even angry occasionally. But guilty? I thought about it for a long while, but this is an odd concept. Nevertheless, I have come up with something. You know, as an F1 fan, it’s difficult to like Ms Scherzinger, but I do very much like this song. So, it might be a guilty pleasure. Or something.

When the Spice Girls first came out, when there were five of them and before they started dating footballers and having babies, I was a big fan. I like a good bit of pop music, and with all that Girl Power stuff, these ladies spoke to me. So much so that I remember having a special compilation video, taping all appearances by the Spice Girls on Top of the Pops and Royal Variety Performances and Noel’s House Party. I do believe that is what YouTube now call playlists, but back then it was hard work!

I blogged about the 30 Day Song Challenge, pondering whether I would be able to do it or not, and after giving it far too much thought, I’m going for it. One thing to note. I’m doing it backwards. I don’t like that it starts out with your favourite song. That should be the culmination of 30 days hard work. Thus, today, I begin with my favourite song from this time last year.

A lot of the blog memes and challenges pass me by, but occasionally there is one that catches my eye and the 30 Day Song Challenge is one of those. I’m not sure where it’s origins lie, but I have seen it posted by a few friends, on Facebook, on blogs. Most recently, Lukeh took up the challenge with the genius idea of using Posterous so as not to spam his main blog.