A journey without music is no journey at all, as far as I’m concerned. There are many famous aphorisms about music, some so famous and true that they’ve become cliches. “If music be the food of love, play on”, wrote Shakespeare. Nietzsche went further: “Without music, life would be a mistake”. For me it was Dick Clark, US television’s equivalent of John Peel, who summed it up: “Music is the soundtrack of your life”. My journey would have far less meaning without it.
I cannot agree more with Mr Clark, music is indeed the soundtrack of your life. It can transform even the most mundane trip into a cinematic adventure, whether you’re the protagonist, the neutral narrator, or a mere interested onlooker. Travelling through a landscape with music in your ears can dramatically alter the mood of any scene regardless of whether one is a participant or an observer.
Before I set off I needed a playlist, something to keep me company during the long hours of solitude in the many locations I passed through. As before, I asked my friends to suggest songs for it and the outcome was a beautiful 8 hours of the most eclectic music imaginable.
Taylor Swift tussles with Tina Turner. Big Country sit happily alongside Black Stone Cherry. The Gossip and Garbage mingle with Glen Campbell and Gordon Lightfoot. And REM’s Shiny Happy People are only too happy to party with Rebecca Black on Friday.
Several of my friends suggest some of the same artists more than once, without colluding. Saxon, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Iggy Pop, Paul Simon, and Peter Gabriel all fall under that category. And then there is the range: esoteric electronica from the likes of Beak> and Archive, classic rock from Foreigner, and joyful funk from Jackie Wilson. There are numbers I’d struggle to classify, like ‘This is What it Looks Like’ by PJ, modern folk perhaps?
‘Ventura Highway’ by America, ‘The Mexican’ by Babe Ruth, and ‘Down in Mexico’ by the Coasters fit in perfectly with arid Spanish landscapes; ‘Auberge’ by Chris Rea and ‘All Right Now’ by Free are ideal for zooming along a French motorway at the speed limit of 130km/h (a little over 80mph). ‘All Night’ by Parov Stelar, ‘We Got the Moves’ by Electric Callboy, and ‘Banquet’ by Bloc Party come on in my headphones with immaculate timing as I wander the streets of Barcelona late in the evening.
I’ve written on the difference between solitude and loneliness before. In that sense my trip in 2023 is not so different to how it was in 2018. After the recent tour of Normandy where I was with dozens of veterans and volunteers with no time to myself, there are later moments of intense joyful interactions with friends and family as I catch up with them in various parts of the continent. There are also some important professional connections, meetings and events once I reach Spain. But these valuable and necessary occasions are interspersed with thousands of miles of riding across beautiful but often barren landscapes, as well as more than one evening on my own in an unfamiliar city, with barely an internet connection and no phone signal, doing my best to explore and understand a new place without having my loved ones there with me to share the experience with. But of course they are there, in my ears and on my mind as I make the most of the opportunity to make strange lands known to me.
The weekend before I depart I’m staying with my friends SP and Country Al. Country Al is the first to suggest a tune for the playlist: ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ as performed by Hank Snow. The song, though it is the first on, somehow manages to set the tone not only for the playlist, but for the whole journey.
“I’ve been everywhere, man
‘Cross the deserts bare, man
I’ve breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I’ve had my share, man
I’ve been everywhere.”
“A journey without music is no journey at all”. Hang on, is that an aphorism? You can have that one for free.
You can enjoy the “Blac Ridere Europe 2023” Spotify playlist here
Blac Ridere 