By Ahmet Abdulaziz….
There cannot be two views about the part music plays in our lives, more specifically in my life.
In fact in the whole of my life so far, music has remained my passion. Unfortunately due to my various conflicting activities, I do not get much time to enjoy music, but almost everyday I do get some time, however meagre that may be, to listen music.
My choice of music is unlimited. Of course The Beatles, Boney M, ABBA, Bee Gees, Tom Jones, Rolling 
Stones, The Ventures and The Shadows were always my favourites, most obviously because they were the top ranking stars of the music world, when I was a young teenager, trying to learn to enjoy music. All of them are still my favourites, but frequently when I listen to music all of a sudden I come across such a song, that I have listened to and enjoyed in the past, but have forgotten the name of the singer over a passage of 40 plus years.
“It never rains in Southern California”, by Albert Hammond, is also one such song, which I had forgotten. Just a few days ago, as I was jumping from song to song on youtube, this song came up all of a sudden. As I started listening and watching the video, I really enjoyed it more than ever before. It is interesting that now I understand the words much better than before.
But this is not just one song, that I just came across by chance. There is a list of quite a lot of many such songs, which I found just by chance, and are now in my “must” list of daily music sessions.
“Tie a Yellow Ribbon round the ole Oak Tree”, by Tony Orlando is one such song, which always take me to a totally different world. I simply like the words of the song. They are so realistic and effective, which builds a wonderful story, of course plus the fantastic tune and music.
How can I forget “I love you more than I can say”, by Leo Sayer. As in most of the cases I usually do not remember the names of the singers, but do remember the tunes of the songs. This is also one of those such songs. What I like the most in this song is the way the bass guitar has been played. Wonderful pieces of fantastic music.
“Beautiful Sunday by Daniel Boone has got a special place, along with “One Way Ticket”, in my musical life. These were the first two songs that I had practiced, when I was trying to form a very amateur sort of musical group, in 1969. Both these two songs were perhaps the easiest for all of us. The drum beats were simple. The guitar chords are simple, and the music simply flows. All of my friends liked these two songs and we always played them whenever we performed in family get togethers and functions etc.
“Country Roads”, by John Denver, also is a song that frequently falls back into my memory, and then all of a sudden jumps back to the driving seat, and makes me swing along, singing “Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong”, and I just close my eyes, and start running along with the song on the country roads.
I always say to myself, that I can never forget “Those were the Days”, by Mary Hopkin. But this wonderful song came up all of sudden, after a long period of time, and I start listening and enjoying repeatedly, until I come across some other forgotten song.
How can i forget Gloria Gaynor singing ” I will Survive”. Indeed none of my generation can forget this wonderful song. Everytime when I listen to this song, it leads me to be much more realistic in everyday life. I always feel myself motivated when I listen this one. I believe strongly that “I (too) will survive”.
Then comes the mysterious singer Donna Summer. I do not know why I always found her songs mystical. The music of her songs was very different, and simply engulfs me and I feel myself locked out of my environment, in the totally different music created by guitars and the non-stop drum beats.
Apart from all other songs that I like, there is one single song that really “kills” me. This is sung by Roberta Flack. “Killing me softly with his Songs”. The words of this song, coupled with the lovely voice of Roberta Flack, is always sufficient to create a totally different sequence for me. The more I try to understand the words, the more I like it. Just a fantastic song, in top placement of my personal chart.
Whenever I come across “Have you ever seen the rain” by John Stewart, I instantly move next to “Raindrops keep falling on my head”, by B.J. Thomas. Though both of these are totally different from each other in every respect, but for me these two songs just make a wonderful pair.
Of course there are many more songs, which I listen to, as they come up just all of a sudden, although I had forgotten them for quite some time. They once again take me back to my past, which I love the most. I believe that the friends from my generation like to pay a quick visit to their past and to remember the enjoyment that they had in those unforgettable years of their lives.
There are very many more songs, which I would like to include in my list of favourite songs. But for today, it’s up to this point.
See you folks, next week.
