PH - something like Firestarter? I think that should meet the criteria.

Songs to cry by? Not the lyrics but the association of Drugs Don't Work by The Verve to his Grandmother.

What about This Woman's Work by Kate Bush from The Sensual World album.

Been used on a couple of TV dramas recently.


I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.
I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.

I should be crying, but I just can't let it show.
I should be hoping, but I can't stop thinking

Of all the things I should've said,
That I never said.
All the things we should've done,
That we never did.
All the things I should've given,
But I didn't.

Oh, darling, make it go,
Make it go away.

Give me these moments back.
Give them back to me.
Give me that little kiss.
Give me your hand.

Would certainly be an interesting choice in the current international political/religous climate.

OK if you want to take over the rest of the world :lol:

I can't offer a better alternative though.

I've always thought it a shame the second and third verses of our current anthen very rarely get sung.

2. O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies
And make them fall;
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all!

3. Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign;
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!

Probably a good idea that we dropped verses 4,5,6. espeacially 6

6. Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King!

As for the original thread (which has derailed a bit) "I vow to thee My Country" always makes my lip quiver a bit.

The Verve's "Drugs don't work" brings back sad memories for me.

He Hee I remember that one - especially when he did the flag carrier at the Olympic games, walking along the stage to the Archers with a real spring in his step. Dead funny. :P

Jordan....You make a good point,is it not time for the silent majority to make themselves heard on this kind of issue? To hail from England is as good as hailing from anywhere in the world to my mind.(Though of course many of my Irish fore fathers might disagree with me! :wink: )

Good thread... I suppose there's 2 ways this works... There's songs we associate with emotions, and there's songs that create those emotions themselves, if you see what I mean?

Philidelphia by Neil Young always gets me... Just that one line "I won't be ashamed of love", that's dynamite for me. Sad as it is, if I'd heard that a decade ago I'd probably have made some better decisions. And other bits... So raw. "City of brotherly love, place i call home, don't turn your back on me... I don't want to be alone"

And there's absolutely loads of Wildhearts songs that get me both ways- both associated memories and also the emotional impact. There's one song, Bad Time To Be Having a Bad Time, that has the lyric "Kiss me in the dark, I don't want to see you cry". Ouch.

Citizen Erased by Muse has a very strong emotional impact too... Always sends me right back to the Leeds festival when they played the main stage, it was basically the most staggeringly powerful bit of music I'd ever heard... Just left me utterly wrung out afterwards. And it still does the same every time I hear it. It can leave me just about euphoric, or on the edge of tears depending on my mood. Just absolutely fantastic. IMO! It's strange that it doesn't have the same effect every time, but i know it's going to get me some way. It's like a mood booster, the oopposite of lithium ;)

Oh this brings back some memories.

My mother is Irish - born in 1923 just after the formation of the Irish Free State, gaelic as first language, family generally anti-English. My father was English. Very English. Pig headed and stubborn, and generally anti-Irish. When the IRA started planting bombs in England, he accused all mother's family - mainly residents of Kilburn and Cricklewood, with only a few left in Eire - of being members of it. I wonder why they all stopped calling us. In one of the many stand-offs we had I threatened to get an Irish passport. You'd have thought world war 3 had broken out.