Intermission, or, doing a meme

Dear comrades and friends, I have been invited by a friend to 'do a meme', which apparently is not something illegal but simply means following the instructions below:

'List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.'

I don't really want to do the 'tagging 7 other people' bit in such an open fashion, but I thought I would inflict readers of Histomat with 7 songs that 'shaped my spring' as it were. My musical taste is notoriously appalling in its primitivism, but don't worry, I won't do this very often. This is an intermission - not a regular thing. Anyway, my seven songs are as follows.

1. First We Take Manhatten - Leonard Cohen
2. Dance of Death - Iron Maiden
3. Paper Planes - MIA
4. Guns of Navarone - Skatalites
5. Sinnerman - Nina Simone
6. Spring Rain - The Go-Betweens
7. Ring the Summer Home - Ewan MacColl

Sadly Ewan MacColl's song is not on YouTube - but take it from me it is a brilliant folk song about the English Peasants Revolt of 1381 that lasts about 10 minutes. The others I have posted as videos below. I suppose I should really apologise in a way for the Iron Maiden song - but I like the way it is reminiscent of Spinal Tap's classic 'Stonehenge'. And in any case, I am not alone in thinking Maiden rock. The clue to Maiden's genius lies I think in the following snippet from an article about the band recently in the Guardian:

The bassist [Steve Harris] is quiet and focused, talking in detail about the surprise influence of Jethro Tull and how he incorporated the structures of English hymnal music and medieval tunes into Maiden songs.

Anyway, these 7 songs are my meme - readers of Histomat can feel free to do their own memes if they feel suitably inspired by my example...I'm off to check out Jethro Tull...