Week 48 – Think Bensonium

Day 336: Happy Birthday Helen, Things of Stone and Wood

Roderick Benson — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 09:44:52 +0000

Well it is my lovely wife’s birthday today and I have the perfect song for this day. “Happy Birthday Helen” by Things of Stone and Wood. Sadly, the audio quality of this video is very poor so I have put two versions of the song one so you can see the Aussie band members of Things of Stone and Wood performing, the other so you can hear the song with decent sound quality. It is always gratifying when one can find the perfect song for an occasion (slightly more aligned than the song I chose for our 20^th wedding anniversary (Covid Island Discs Day 26) .

Video of the band performing but poor sound quality

Audio of song with no video

Day 335: Only Sixteen, Dr Hook

Roderick Benson — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 00:00:09 +0000

Time for another old one from an American band that makes its first appearance in Covid Island Discs. As I’ve said a few times since starting blog, it is strange how you can mine so much music and yet forget about bands that brought you lots of joy when you were a twenty something year old. Dr Hook had some great hits in their time but this is probably one of their best known ones. Unfortunately the recording quality of this clip isn’t the best.

Day 334: All Cried out, Alison Moyet

Roderick Benson — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00:23 +0000

I am surprised it has taken me so long to cite a song from this very talented musician. I really enjoy songs that carry a certain musical intensity to them and this one definitely fits the bill. The bit for me that carries the intensity is in the middle of chorus line with the key change “you took a whole lot of loving.”

Day 333: This is the Life, Amy MacDonald

Roderick Benson — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 00:00:35 +0000

Time for another song by Amy MacDonald.

And your singing a song thinking this is the life
and you wake up in the morning and your head feels twice the size
Where you gonna go, where you gonna go, where you gonna sleep tonight?

Day 332: I was only 19, Redgum

Roderick Benson — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:00:13 +0000

Yesterday I shared the song Heaven by Bryan Adams which I first heard at the tender age of 19. As I mused over the memories of that song, the fact I was 19 reminded me of another great song by the Aussie band Redgum. This song strongly reminds me of the other Anzac song Waltzing Matilda (see Covid Island Discs Day 36) which recalls the origin of Anzac day when Australian forces failed to take Anzac Cove in the Gallipolli campaign of 1915-1916.

In contrast this song tells of a much more recent conflict for the Australian armed forces and that was the terrible Vietnam conflict which left so many young me both physically and psychologically broken; the latter so aptly captured in the song’s lines:

And can you tell me doctor why I still can’t get to sleep.
And why the channel 7 chopper chills me to my feet.
And what’s this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it means.
God help me! I was only 19

Day 331: Heaven, Bryan Adams

Roderick Benson — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 00:00:39 +0000

I remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard this classic track from Brian Adams. I was working in a Woolworths shop in a place called Manly (Sydney Australia). It was a University vacation job and I was working on the back cash register (from here it was about a 3 minute walk to the glories of Manly beach). If only I appreciated the beauty of that wonderful place as I do now. For some reason I associated this song with a girl I used to like at the time even though the lyrics were completely inapplicable because we never actually went out. Ironically, the line in the song that resonated with me (and which now brings a smile to my face) is the line “thinking about our younger years”. I first met this girl when we were both at school in about ’82. Apparently the song was released in 1984 although I definitely couldn’t have heard it on the Aussie charts until 1985 as this was my first year at the University of Sydney. As a very young 19 year old, 3 years was like a lifetime ????.

Day 330: Dreamer, Supertramp

Roderick Benson — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 00:00:03 +0000

Time for another song from one of my all time favourite bands Supertramp. Dreamer was one of their hit songs from their Crime of the Century album and it certainly made the Aussie singles and album charts. When I listen to this song it always makes me feel a little sad because in many ways it summaries my own life. I definitely was a man with many dreams which would never be fulfilled. I do feel a much wiser course of action as a younger person is to set realistic goals so you don’t set yourself up for crushing disappointment.