My Personal Favourites

Ok, so I thought I could start off with my personal favourites. That way, you can see if you like me and my tastes (and I hope you do), so you can trust me later on. It's a trust building exercise, just not lame.

1- Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Ok, so I'd probably have to say this is my personal favourite song of all time. It has it all - beautiful, poetic lyrics, a raw energy that still manages to sound new, and it sticks a warm fuzzy feeling inside your gut. Its a song that you can fall asleep to, listen to loudly in the car, lay on your bed with. Its appropriate when you're happy, sad, excited, feeling a little flat and especially when you're missing someone.

2- Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead

Second favourite. Why? Because its soft but powerful. Because Thom Yorke's voice is beyond belief. Because I know Radiohead can be a bit much for people - but this one seems to speak to everyone. It seems to hit you right in your insecurities, breaks them down, then brings you back up again. All in 5mins. Worth a listen, I'd say.

3- Dear Prudence - The Beatles

My favourite Beatles track changes on a daily basis. I chose this one because, well, its just so pretty. From the building guitar to Paul's fantastic bass line - this is a song that will make you feel warm and fuzzy. A nice one to sing to nice and loudly when everything seems on the up, or that can help make you feel better if things are tough.

4- Life on Mars - David Bowie

Beyond epic. It just raises your whole body up, and makes you want to scream lyrics you may not even understand. I find this hits you in a way almost unexplainable, so I'm not even going to try giving this much of a blurb. Just listen.

5- Baba O'Reily - The Who

The way this builds is just fantastic. You find yourself listening out for every slight addition to the melody, until it just hits you and you get immersed in it. Fantastic song, especially if you just want to get absorbed into the music.

6- Staralfur - Sigur Ros

So, besides it being the background to one of the best scenes in one of my favourite movies, this song is so uplifting it hurts. Because the lyrics aren't in English, the mind seems to focus on the beautiful melody and the whole song takes on a different meaning for everyone.

7- Do You Realize? - The Flaming Lips

So, humanity is a bitch sometimes. When you feel like everything is really shitty - be it something in your own life or a general dislike for the world around you when you see certain news articles - this song will lift you up from it. It basically slaps you into shape, makes you feel like life is once again beautiful. A tall order from one song, but it does the trick.

8- Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

Like The Beatles, Muse is another band where my favourite song changes from week to week. I chose this one because, essentially, it was the first of theirs I ever listened to (and ever came to love). It is purely epic. One of those songs where you can listen to the whole thing hundreds of times and never get bored. Very good for when you're feeling passionate - with anger or with a general belief in yourself.

So, there are my top 8. If you like songs on this list, then we are probably like-minded and therefore my other recommendations will hopefully help you out in some way. If these are the first time you are ever hearing these songs, and they are so mindbendingly amazing for you that you just must have them in your iTunes library - then I will try not to encourage the use of YouTube-MP3.org or any of those shenanigans! Or tell you to sign the petition that allows those things to happen. No, I would never do such a thing.