Don’t Forget the Songs-365: Mach Dos: Day 155
Tues. June 12, 2012
“The Shining”
Badly Drawn Boy
2000
“♫ And suddenly you’re in love with everything […] ♫”
Two years ago today, in front of all of our family and friends, my wife made me the luckiest guy in the world when she said I do at Chapel of the Flowers. Definitely, our wedding day is one of the most memorable days of my life. After so many missteps, I finally found my one, my true love—mi esposa – my Michelle.
I just remember our wedding reception when my good friend Paul, came up to me and said. “I just spoke to your wife…” To hear those words it felt amazing—“You just said my wife, you’re the first person to call Michelle my wife.” It’s a moment that I will never forget.
Also unforgettable we walked down the aisle to our wedding song—Badly Drawn Boy’s “The Shining.” So many friends and family members asked us what song that was after our ceremony. [Badly Drawn Boy’s Clark Kent alias] Damon Gough’s “The Shining” was the most perfect song for our nuptials.
What we love most and why we chose “The Shining” was its timelessness. Ever wondered what’s the origin of the album title Bewilderbeast? One of Damon’s band members came up with the term, something he said, while touring in Japan. Gough explained—
“I feel like a Bewilderbeast’, you know, a bit bewildered, and that name just stuck in my head as a picture of what I wanted the album to be about. I wanted this to be our hour: not just mine, but everyone who’s ever had that underdoggy feeling. Basically, it’s a way of describing someone as human and vulnerable no matter how much they come across as being confident and cocksure.”
Damon also discussed the goal of The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, winner of the 2000’s Mercury Prize for Top Album of the Year in the UK. when he said—“I don’t mind if it takes 20 years for people to realize how good an album this is. I totally didn’t write it to fit in with what’s going on, or is accepted, right now. I just wanted it to be considered as a classic piece of work.”
It took me ten years and meeting Michelle for me to appreciate the beauty of “The Shining” which coincidentally has topped many best songs lists of 2000’s. Damon discussed his mindset while writing and recording the Bewilderbeast. “I’ve been trying to make sense of the world for as long as I can remember—The first album being called Bewilderbeast is a reference to my not knowing anything, not understanding everything. It underlined a naivety.”
That’s exactly how I felt before and after “The Shining.” Badly Drawn Boy has this way of crafting songs like his hero Bruce Springsteen that connects heart strings with his acoustic strumming’s. Gough explained this to Under The Radar when he said.
“As long as people are sensitive to the writing, it works […] I’m not a technically gifted singer. I play and sing from the heart. All those things have to sound right for it to sound like a record by me. You can hear the heart and soul in the music when it’s somebody who isn’t that gifted but they’re trying.”
Badly Drawn Boy playing and singing by the heart is the reason Michelle and I chose “The Shining” as our wedding day song. Whenever I hear those opening strings, smiles and happy tears appear bringing me back to our day. Thank You Damon Gough for being the soundtrack to one of the most momentous and joyous day of our lives.
Happy Anniversary, Baby! This one’s for us!