#atozchallenge: J is For...

I started out making my list of songs with only two blanks in the list; J and Q. Q has remained a bit of a sticking point but once I actually started thinking about it, I soon found several 'J' titles which I really like.

Jam Side Down - Status Quo

This is one of the more modern Status Quo songs which is up there on my list. Most of the older ones are on the list because I've grown up listening to them and have formed happy memories from them. I like this one because it's upbeat and fun, the video is quirky and it makes for a fun driving song. Yet another one I like purely because you can sing along to it at the top of your voice.

Jimmy Newman - Tom Paxton

When I was little I had a tape of Goin' To The Zoo by Tom Paxton which is really hard to get hold of now (but which my Uncle managed to get for me which I'm eternally grateful for). In its absence I was given a tape of Tom Paxton's greatest hits and this is one of the songs from that CD. It's one of those songs you have to listen to the words of. It's a song about young men being invalided home from war and a man tried to wake his friend, Jimmy Newman, so he can go home. It's quite chilling and I can't believe that I listened to it several times before I realised exactly what Paxton was singing about.

Jennifer's Rabbit - Tom Paxton

Yet another Tom Paxton song, as I said before these are all songs that I heard from a very young age and they stuck with me. It's a lovely fun little song which has elements of Alice in Wonderland about it, a little girl following a rabbit to a mysterious place where she meets other animals for a tea party. It's a little like a lullaby and completely in contrast to Jimmy Newman above.

Jai Ho - A.R. Rahman

I really enjoyed the film Slumdog Millionaire, particularly the music. I grew up in a fairly multicultural street (in a single row of houses we represented England, Thailand, South Africa and India) and I love hearing music from around the world. When I found a copy of the film soundtrack in a charity shop I had to have it.

Jai Ho is the song that plays over the end credits with the cast dancing to it. Part of the reason why I've included it on my list of favourite songs actually comes from a trip to Ayr I took with Mr Click. We made up a CD of favourite songs to listen to on the way and this was one of the last ones to play. Mr Click heard the lyrics as 'Tally Ho' and now I can't help but hear that myself when I listen to it. It's actually better as tidying and organising background music around the house rather than driving music because there's something about it that makes me want to get up and move. Tally Ho indeed!