So I forgot that Laurie is technically on holiday this weekend and I was meant to do all the Shambletracks. Erm. Woops. But I’m here now so it’s totally fine, and boy oh boy woah check it out wham bam thank you ma’am have I got a treat for you sonny Jimbo. It’s here, it’s now – it’s TV On The Radio.
Ever since I emerged from my bio-egg as a tumbling cub (/happy-go-lucky scamp) I have been filled with a yearning – an insatiable thirst for something to wow me. I frolicked for years, heading from port to port (not sailing, just tumbling) trying to find a seemingly unobtainable high. It never came.
UNTIL ONE DAY.
I was stood outside The Star (a sleepy pub just off Cowley Road in Oxford), having one final pint with my brother Walter before I boarded the bus to move to London. I was scared as I had lived in Oxford my entire life and the prospect of moving to the big smoke was in equal measure tantalising and petrifying. You know when you’re sort of unsure about whatever you are about to do, and as a result you end up making your current task last as long as possible to try and procrastinate your way to not having to face the inevitable? I was doing that. I’d been nursing the Guinness for a good 45 minutes when my brother approached.
“I have something for you, you know, to listen to on the bus.” He grinned and handed me a mix CD, and suddenly everything was fine. You see Walter always accents big moments in my life by making me mix CDs. He gave me one every Christmas as I grew up, every exam period, every birthday, every failed relationship and every major accomplishment. The mixes were always there, helping me on my way, and they were always fucking sensational.
I remember this one so, so clearly. I listened to it all the way to my new flat and I fell in love with every single band on there. It had some storming tracks on it (Sin (Live) by Nine Inch Nails, It Fit When I Was A Kid by Liars, Televators by The Mars Volta, Last Nite Of The Proms by Youthmovies – and many more gamechangers) but one in particular stood out for me: Love Dog by TV On The Radio. It genuinely made me smile, and suddenly everything was going to be okay. Sometimes songs resonate in that very special way – this was one of those times.
Love Dog is a restrained, heartfelt and honest song, with perfect harmonies and haunting strings pulling it all together. It draws inspiration from Persian poet Rūmī’s ‘Love Dogs‘ (the final lines of which read “There are love dogs, no one knows the names of. Give your life to be one of them.”) and manages to become a topic for debate in its true meaning – the main question being is it about falling in love with partner, or is it about finding God. Give it a listen and draw your own conclusions – I truly love this song.
I know this has been a bit of a serious one, but hey I spend so much time dicking about it’s actually quite nice to show a different side of things sometimes. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Without further ado, I present TV On The Radio‘s ‘Love Dog‘ from the album ‘Dear Science‘.
That’s it from me today – I think the Hamburglar/Corporal #coolmoves/Magic Magic Johnson/CrumpetKing1000 (Laurie) will be back tomorrow!
Big love,
Paddy XX