Day 13 - We Love it When Our Things Become Successful. And if They're Local, That Makes it Even Better.

Although many of my favourite musical artists are from outside of the UK, there is an intangible innate understanding when listening to those who grew up in similar surroundings. Implicit evidence that you share a base-level of experience, even if vague and existing only as a background part of your cerebral development, it is there in some form of unspoken understanding. Which is cool when "rock stars", so to put it, are usually elevated to a status superior to mere normal humans.

(In some of this I'm conscious I might border on annoying hippie territory, but I'll try to keep my suit on and live in the real world where magic and romance are STUPID!!! There are other probably obvious things I'm conscious of too but I'll qualify those later.)

The realisation became most apparent during the last World Cup when I decided I would only listen to English music until we got knocked out. The Fall, Pulp, The Smiths, The Streets, The Kinks, The Libertines, Massive Attack, The Stone Roses etc etc. There is an immediate clear vibe, which if you are from round 'ere, you identify with these songs in a different way to those of other bands.

Being a member of the loony left, now is time for the obligatory and unnecessary overexplanation of why what I'm saying is fine. This isn't some jingoistic nationalist "we are the greatest", "we have the best music" rant. We don't have the best music. It isn't pride. It is familiarity. And outside of music, in general we are largely the worst in many ways. I just think its interesting, or maybe not even interesting but at least something, that even without the lyrics, there is such a specific type of intimate unquantifiable connection with certain songs based on being from a specific part of this big rock. It can even include music I dislike. Noughties landfill indie, 90s landfill house music etc, they all strike a chord somewhere.

I do not long to be standing by our flag not feeling baneful, racist or partial, as someone once said. I forget who. "I seem to have stumbled across a jangly man" he mused, contemplating his future. Anyway I imagine people from other countries feel the same about bands from their countries. "He's one of our own!" and all that. People love it when things are from near where they are from.