Five Before Bed

Like the rest of us I too go to bed. I am still mortal and unfortunately still need to rest. I like to go to bed listening  to music. I am in bed at the moment and listening to my nightly five before bed.

Five Before Bed Playlist 1

The first track is by the hitherto unknown to you Xander Banks. I say this not because I am that far up myself that I listen to music nobody else has heard but rather because the artist is in fact my housemate. The track was a little experiment of his and I uploaded it to grooveshark for the crack.

'The crack' - an Irish phrase - in this case it means 'for a laugh' or 'for fun'.

It is a collection of samples Banks made on his home computer with a recording of an Alan Watts lecture laid over. Watts was a philosopher in the sixties, very much a free thinker, he seemed to hold a lot of the views that Bill Hicks later turned into comic masterpieces. In this piece we hear Watts challenge the logic of the current system of life in western capitalist countries. He observes that 'everyone must play'. We must all fit into a certain system, but his words are also empowering as he reminds us that we all have the capacity to rise above it. It is a brilliant before bed track as it is extremely relaxing yet provokes thought. There are certain plantstuffs that greatly enhance both the understanding of Watts and music of Banks. (If you enjoyed this track by Xander Banks there are a number of others including a track with a Bill Hicks recording that I will show you the way to if you wish to send me a message about it).

Next up is Radiohead's 'House of Cards'. Another wonderfully melodic track from one of my favourite bands. It contains the lines 'I don't want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover'. Forgive my cynicism but I picture one of those guys who is 'friends' with an attractive girl. She wonders if he is maybe gay and is friends with him as he worships her and is non threatening, she muses that he may be gay. He is very much in love with her but lacks the confidence to act on it and instead enjoys being close to her but is still pained by her attitude to him. Her friendly caresses and hugs are just painful glimpses at what could be if only he would man up.

We continue apace to the third song; S.Y.M.M by the Manic Street Preachers, I love the epic wailing of Bradfields voice as he sings 'South Yorkshire Mass Murderer'. I enjoy the ambition of this song in the scope of the topics it deals with as well as the clever self deprecating lyrics; 'the ending of this song, well I haven't really though of one'.

The final two tracks are Joan Baez's take on 'Danny Boy' and the highly erotic 'Everlasting Lust' by Enigma. I will let you discover them yourself as sleep is about to take me!

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

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