My anti-depressant song list

Stanley – Thursday

Just as I sat down to write my blog yesterday, I turned on the TV to distract myself – a typical writer’s ploy.  I shouldn’t have done it because there was breaking news of another mass shooting in the USA.  This time at the unlikely place where San Bernadino County in California helps people with developmental disabilities.  At that time, twelve people were feared dead.

Another mass shooting?  The 355^th one this year.  Yes, more than one a day.  How depressing.

And there was more breaking news: ISIL had just beheaded a Russian journalist as an up-yours to Putin.

And Putin had just accused President Erdoğan of Turkey, of helping ISIL by allowing the sale of oil through Turkey.

How the hell, I wondered, does anyone know whose side anyone else is on?  Do we even know whose side we are on (whoever ‘we’ are)?

I sank further into depression.

Then I read that the UK parliament had okayed the Royal Air Force to bomb ISIS targets.  And just the other day, the USA had increased the number of on-ground combatants to fight ISIL.  Don’t we ever learn? I thought.  Isn’t that what these madmen want?  More excuses to recruit more people looking for virgins in heaven.

My depression deepened.

Then I wondered what I would do if I were Obama or Cameron or Merkel.  Easy to criticize, I thought.  Not so easy to come up with a solution.  I’ve no idea what I would do – much easy to know what not to do.

As I became more and more depressed, I gave up all thoughts of writing.  It would end up making me even more depressed and would likely be unreadable.

So I did what I often do when I am down and deep in a hole.  I listened to music I loved a long time ago.  Thank goodness for YouTube!

Here is my anti-depressant playlist, pretty much in order of when I fell in love with them.  Do they do the same to you as they do to me?  

Click on each of the titles to lift your spirits.

1.  Bill Haley and His Comets:  Rock Around the Clock.

     One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock, rock.

2.  Sheb Wooley’s The FlyingPurple People Eater.  Who can resist the lyrics?

     I said Mr Purple People Eater, what's your line?
     He said eating purple people, and it sure is fine
     But that's not the reason that I came to land
     I wanna get a job in a rock 'n roll band.

3.  David Seville’s The WitchDoctor with his Chipmunks.

     Oo ee oo ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang

4.  Allan Sherman’s Hello Muddah,Hullo Faddah – It’ll be in my head for days now.

5.  The inimitable Flanders and Swann with Have some Madeira, M’Dear.  One thing missing from this recording was part of the line, "He slyly inveigled her up to his flat - to see his collection of stamps - all unperforated", that all all unperforated was delivered in the raunchiest tone imaginable!

6.  Again Flanders and Swann with their Kubu song:  Mud, Mud, GloriousMud.

7.  Mozart and the Papagena Papageno duet.  Actually almost any Mozart cheers me up.  Even his Requiem.

How can one not feel better after that?  Thank goodness.  Now I can write my blog.

What would your anti-depressant song list be?