Searching for something to say

Time for a bit of pure self-indulgence; I’m doing the 20-first-line thing again. Only with 25 (thanks Rob), and with a whole bunch of songs either missed out or included for completely arbitrary reasons. (So I skipped some albums which appeared in the earlier attempts, but not all of them.) The difference from the previous two attempts is essentially that this is 25 songs I actually like.

1. “When your world is full of strange arrangements and gravity won’t pull you through”
   – ABC, “The look of love” (Justin)
2. “Well I remember when you used to look so good and I would do everything I possibly could for you”
   – Love, “Bummer in the summer” (Chris)
3. “Summer was gone and the heat died down”
   – Nick Drake, “Time of no reply” (Justin)
4. “Sometimes I feel so happy, sometimes I feel so sad”
   – the Velvet Underground, “Pale blue eyes” (Larry)
5. “As I was walking all alane”
   – traditional, “Twa Corbies”
6. “You’ve got to hope for the best, and the best looks good now baby”
   – Spiritualized, “Do it all over again” (Unity)
7. “They stumbled into their lives”
   – Blur, “Fade away” (Justin)
8. “Everyone’s too nice to me, the way Vincent Price would be with midnight coming on”
   – Peter Blegvad, “Special Delivery”
9. “D’you lay with a shallow girl?”
   – James Yorkston, “I awoke”
10. “Your railroad gauge, you know I just can’t jump it”
    – Bob Dylan, “Absolutely Sweet Marie” (Alex)
11. “Who could find him, the sidewinding Indian?”
    – Spiritualized, “Do it all over again” (actualfactual)
12. “Moon is giving sunshine, clouds are full of wine”
    – Laika, “Marimba song” (Unity)
13. “Boy, do you hear me say, do you hear me say now?”
    – the Concretes, “You can’t hurry love” (actualfactual)
14. “This old world may never change”
    – Fred Neil, “Dolphins” (Jim)
15. “Sonically we’re in control”
    – Leftfield, “Original” (Unity)
16. “I want, him wants, you want, who wants, he wants, I want, him wants, I want”
    – Happy Mondays, “Do it better” (actualfactual)
17. “They’re nice and precise – each one begins and ends”
    – Buzzcocks, “Fast cars” (actualfactual)
18. “Drag boy dog boy dirty numb angel boy”
    – Underworld, “Born slippy” (James)
19. “Why this uncertainty? It’s not clear to me – would you rather be independent?”
    – Pet Shop Boys, “One in a million” (Unity)
20. “Spring was never waiting for us, girl”
    – Richard Harris, “MacArthur Park” (Lisa)
21. “So you lost your trust, and you never should have”
    – Coldplay, “See you soon” (actualfactual)
22. “It’s the darkest time of year”
    – Robyn Hitchcock, “Winter love”
23. “Thinking of all the times you missed digging it in, you can’t resist”
    – Ed Kuepper, “By the way”
24. “First time, I did it for the hell of it”
    – SFA, “Something for the weekend” (Alex)
25. “Brown Eyes and I were tired”
    – Brian Eno, “St Elmo’s Fire” (Unity)

Have at it.

Update 13th July: that’s your lot. Well spotted, all.