Week 50 – Think Bensonium

Day 350: To the Island, Crowded House

Roderick Benson — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 00:00:06 +0000

OK we shall finish the week off with a song from the band Crowded House. Now this song was only published last month so for once I am citing song which are up to date rather than my usual living in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Poor old Neil Finn is looking a lot older than I remember him in the days of Split Enz. I’ve only listened to the song a few times but it is pretty good with what I would describe as a fairly laid back feel to it. The video clip is also pretty interesting with lots of evocative images in it.

Day 349: Cheap Wine, Cold Chisel

Roderick Benson — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 00:00:50 +0000

Another song from the Aussie band Cold Chisel is well overdue. Once again this band nicely captures the slightly melancholic existence of most blokes who have reached middle age and have experienced at least a few life knocks. Probably the most poignant lines in this song are:

had a friend, heard she died
On a needle she was crucified
Baby that was years ago.

Day 348: Real Men, Joe Jackson

Roderick Benson — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 00:00:54 +0000

This song is long overdue for Covid Island Discs. A song which is particularly relevant if you grew up in a place like Sydney in the 1970s. Certainly, in those days, the definition of what was acceptable, in terms of being an Australian male, was extremely narrow. Fascinatingly, the strong homophobia that was present in Australia in the 1970s resulted in a very strong gay movement in the latter decades I guess as the pendulum swung back the other way trying to find its equilibrium. The lines I particularly like from this song are:

Man makes a gun, man goes to war
Man can kill and man can drink
And man can take a whore
Kill all the blacks, kill all the reds
And if there’s war between the sexes
Then there’ll be no people left

Sounds about right to me! Sadly the audio quality on this video is a little poor.

Day 347: Goodnight Siagon, Billy Joel

Roderick Benson — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 00:00:26 +0000

So yesterday I posted my first Doors hit “Riders on the Storm”. Today’s song, “Goodnight Siagon” by Billy Joel mentions the Doors in its lyric: “We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes and it was dark so dark at night.” Another song about the terrible human cost of the Vietnam war.

Day 346: Riders on the Storm, The Doors

Roderick Benson — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:46 +0000

Wow can’t believe I got all the way to day 346 without a Doors song. I guess this is probably one of their most famous singles. Citing a Doors classic reminds me of a Billy Joel Classic which will be the subject of tomorrow’s Covid Island Disc.

Day 345: She moves in her own way, The Kooks

Roderick Benson — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 00:00:03 +0000

Returning to English music to finish Covid Island discs week 48. This is a little number by the indie band the Kooks. After hearing this song I bought the album. I do like the Kooks and Luke Pritchard’s accent gives the band a unique sound. Not entirely sure the accent is a genuine Northern one

Day 344: Love Story, Taylor Swift

Roderick Benson — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 00:00:38 +0000

Wow we’ve made it to week 50. It is incredible to think that in the UK we have pretty much been in some form of lockdown now for nearly a whole year. OK so here goes: I have resisted Taylor Swift for long enough. Although she is a bit of mega star, I must confess I’m not a great fan of most of her music perhaps it is her very strong country American accent that comes across in all her music (not sure really). Songs like “Teardrops on my guitar” feel just too easy to parody (“Dreeeew loooks aaat meee .. Dreew taalks tooo me, I laugh because heeees sooooo foonny”). However Love Story is one song that I can listen to. Won’t say it is at the top of my playlist but it is a fairly decent song.