Hi all,.
It appears that this is the most intelligent branch of the Thorn Tree so I thought I'd try this question out...
For those that have been on fairly long trips, I'm sure there was many a time when you were stuck on a bus/train with yourself, a book and a walkman. The book subject has already been covered, so now I ask: what music/albums did you listen to that really meant something to you, the ones that bring back a flood of memories when you listen to them now? I'm planning another epic-long trip and I'm interested in what people have to say...
Personally, I travelled through Europe and the Middle East for several months in 97/98 and I had a few albums that really just bring me back when listened to now (I guess I just drilled the albums into my permanent memory after so many listens!)...the Verve's Urban Hymns, and Radiohead's OK Computer. Many more, but I'd like to hear your choices!
Cheers!
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Jill Jones is fantastic although it's really hard to get a
copy of.
and also his sledgehammer album
I can't hear Andean pan pipe music without being reminded of
a time spent driving around deserts in the interior of
Iceland. It's just so evocative of the rough tracks through
a rocky landscape almost empty of human presence of even
vegetation.
Urban Hymns is pretty good too.
...that's how I still feel several years after spending
much of my many months in India listening to Tom Petty.
Although I must have listened to him so many times on those
endless 30-40 hour train journeys one memory stands out.
On a marathon train trip, I was looking through the barred,
open windows of second class and the train was travelling
even slower than usual across the northern plains...it was
late in the afternoon and the sun was that wonderful before-
dusk colour, I was looking out in a dream. We passed a
level crossing where a group of about 10 people stood
waiting for the train to pass. There were the usual men on
bicycles and a few children. And also several women with
crop bundles on their heads, after a hard day's work in the
fields. It was a beautiful moment frozen in my mind
forever. It was fleeting for me as I travelled away on the
train but those women are still crossing that same crossing
every day, with those heavy bundles, with aching backs
after a day's labour so hard I can only imagine. Tom Petty
brings it all back.....
I was in Germany visiting a friend of mine, and was
introduced to the Portishead 'Dummy' album. So relaxing
and comforting, not to mention it drowned out the voices of
two testosterone ladden Americans sitting infront of me,
making sexually inappropriate comments since they knew I
spoke English.
Only had one cassette left by the time I got to India so it has to be said that I became rather tired of listening to it (!), but every time I hear The Doors Greatest Hits it reminds me of long nights on Indian sleeper trains, tossing and turning on the delightful plastic couchettes! And of course the essential cups of chai ...
The Cocteau Twins made an album with Harold Budd - The Moon
and The Melodies. It was the best music I had while
travelling as its lack of sensible lyrics made it interesting
to anyone I played it for.
I found that that only music I don't want ot destroy after,
say 40 hours of train time is stuff like U2, or Paul Simon,
or B. Joel. I played Rattle + Hum, Graceland and Greatest
Hits 1-3 so many times that they now sound like tortured
cats, but ah the memories
I usually listen to the radio a lot wherever I go. The most memorable time was in the carribean (Aruba): travelling around with steel drums in my head. Exactly right.
I heard it playin' as I was doing just that whilst in Thailand. To this day, it evokes the sights, the smells, the sounds of that tropical paradise.
For music to bring, I like mixed tapes of lively music.
I spent two months (split in the middle with a month in
Thailand) surfing and exploring the outter reaches of Bali.
Every time I hear Sting's "Fields of Gold" I'm brought back
to a sticky afternoon, bummbling along in a public bemo (I
was the only non-Balinese) as he sang "You'll remember me,
when the west winds move, among the fields of Bali..." As he
sang these words into my ears for the 800th time, I giggled
to myself as I gazed out the bus windows---at the west winds
moving...among the fields of Bali. Probably one of those
personal moments I should best keep to myself....but hey,
you asked!
while on the above I listened to a recording of some tibetan
monks playing their incredible horns and chanting prayers,
the former which seemed to reverberate against the mountain
sides...
When I was in California, I used to hear many things at the
Amtrak train between Davis and Martinez (Walnut Creek). I
enjoyed from classical music (Carl Orff's Carmina Burana
sounds perfect !), RUSH, to Brazilian music - Legiao Urbana
and Marisa Monte (as I was homesick!!!). If I were
travelling today, i'd include Verve's Urban hymns too (guy,
you shouldn't forget this one). I like vocal jazz too, so
I always carry some Manhattan Transfer's cds. Depending
how long are you travelling, I think 4-8 cds is a good
number (you may want to their boxes at home). I am sure
you'll want to buy some cds from local places you are
visiting. Have a nice travel, Lucia Sider, from Sao
Paulo, Brazil (very far from the jungle !! :-))
I believe that music makes monumental changes to an
experience. Try listening to Tom Petty's 'Free Fallin'
while riding a moped along the cliffs in Portugal's Algarve
region. Or spending the early evening wandering through
Paris with Gabriel Faure's 'Requiem' sifting through your
ears. Those two moments I will remember forever for their
emotional imprint. You'll want a good mix of uplifting with
lots of retrospective, instrumental music. Soundtrack
scores are terrific also; try the Braveheart score in
Scotland ... the English Patient is beautiful also. You can
maybe borrow some of these for free from your local library
and 'record' them. I guess the most important thing is
don't forget to bring relaxing music; your head will be
filled with your own thoughts and experiences much of the
time and it will give your mind a chance to relax. To safe
and happy travel, Amy.
Each time I go travelling, I do this:
-record 'save space' few tapes with favourite songs, music
from each style for each of my 'moods' reflective, hi
energy, happy, sad, etc etc
-listen to 'local' eg africa radio and learn re music
culture in that country...record samples from that, what I
like
-music, familiar voices I listen to when homesick
worked great for each trip in the past. Only 2-3 tapes.
I saw the above - Gabriel Faure's 'Requiem' - and I agree.
So peaceful - it worked for me. Then my cassettes were
stolen in India and I replaced them with whatever I could
find...
Then I learned I muight get a chance to work in Nepal and
before it had had a chance to sink in I was listening to
Finlandia....wow....it worked for me like it had never
worked before...!
Other memories. Also Sprach Zarathustra - Sunrise - and the
Annapurna Base Camp. Elgar's Cello Concerto in the Khumbu
Himalayas .. a bit hard to explain, but it felt right. Also
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Memories when I was recovering from
the theft in India.
I remember a lodge in Nepal where someone else had some
magical folk music which was playing quietly just as we
were settling to sleep in the dormitory. regrettably I
never found out what it was although I told the owner how
much I appreciated it.
Whatever you do , don't travel without music. It feels like
a luxury when you set out, but it is much more than that...
When we went to Eastern Europe, my travel companion and I
agreed not to take music so we wouldn't get to wrapped up
in something we could do at home any ole' day.
I had fun just keeping my ears open in the various places
we went. I've always loved Ella Fitzgerald, but now
hearing her takes me back to a coffee shop in Warsaw.
Poles evidently have a thing for Ella...she was
everywhere.
Mozart - very relaxing but also uplifting. I agree about
Radiohead, U2, Portishead comments above, also, it's a
love/hate thing but I enjoy listening to Tori Amos and/or
Kate Bush, particularly Little Earthquakes and The Sensual
World albums. Other music I have enjoyed on past trips
includes The Beloved, Phil Collins, INXS, Fleetwood Mac,
Stevie Nicks, Simple Minds, and always U2..... Happy travels