Day 10: 13 Songs that changed Cheryl's life

Cheryl Lawrie is our glittering celebrity entrant for Day 10. Another personal statement of eclectic tastes, urbanstone is proud to welcome Seven Stories/Tall Stories onto the musical historograph - indeed, as fine a south australian export as coonawarra red, Scott Burns or Cheryl herself!

"I’m not sure whether these songs changed my life, or whether they were playing while my life was changing…

“Chop chop” by The Sweet, from Blockbuster. The Sweet defined year 12 for me (well, them and Air Supply, but I’ll try to save some face by not acknowledging that publicly). I remember bouncing around the kitchen with my friends Anne and Jo, playing air guitar with saucepans and singing into our tong microphones… those were the days… and when we’d get to the chorus we’d all stop and do our chopping dance in unison... too much information?

“My Father’s Eyes” by Amy Grant, from My Father’s Eyes. I remember listening to the song for what was probably the thousandth time, when it suddenly occurred to me that it was absolute crap. It was my first moment of critical theological thinking. My mother had just offered to pay for me to go and hear Amy Grant, so I told her U2 were a Christian band and she paid for me to go and hear them instead.

“Reckless” by Australian Crawl, from Phalanx. Aussie Crawl were my first pub gig. It was during the summer we tried everything for the first time, and somehow survived it. This song smells of west coast cooler, the sea and blue mascara… I still know all the words to all the songs from this album, which is no mean feat, given that it’s James Reyne singing… (honourable mention to Hoodoo Gurus “Other Side of Paradise” at this point)

“I put a spell on you” by Nina Simone, from I put a spell on you. I bought this album when I was about 18. I think it was the first record I bought because I loved it, not because it was cool… I still love this album (you have to listen to it on vinyl, it’s crap on cd).

“Kicking against the bricks” by Seven Stories, from Judges and Bagmen. I was a groupie from the time they were Tall Stories. They were our weekly youth group activity: Friday nights at the Flagstaff Hotel. They were angry and grungy and gorgeous, so we pretended we were too. Seven Stories had a very strong influence on my politics, much to my parents’ horror. I picked this particular song because I’m in the filmclip…

“The Internationale” by Billy Bragg, from The Internationale. It was 1997 and I’d been living in Warrnambool for a year. I think I’d cried from loneliness at least every second day since I’d moved there… I had to go to a meeting at someone’s house, and when I walked in I heard this song playing… and I knew these were the people I’d missed in my life. And I think I realised at that point that liking Billy Bragg would always be some sort of prerequisite for friendship…

“I’ve got a plan” by My Friend the Chocolate Cake, from Brood.
“I've got a plan,
Let's take off in the blue station wagon,
And find the open road to salvation,
Away from here…”
I first heard this a couple of years after leaving Adelaide. We went to hear MFTCC in a dingy pub in Fitzroy… and I knew at that point I belonged in Melbourne.

“Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls, from Indigo Girls. I’ve taken this cd on every road trip I’ve done for the last 10 years I think… here and overseas. Every time I listen to it – no matter what’s happening in my life – it fits where my life is. How can that be? I picked this song for the absolute wonder of these lyrics:
“darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
and lightness has a call that's hard to hear”

“Release” by George, from Polyserena. This song was my anthem through the year my life turned upside down and I started living again...

“I need love” by Luka Bloom, from The Acoustic Motorbike. I spent 3 months living in Glasgow in 2003. I chose five cd’s to take with me (it was in the days before ipods!). I didn’t take any Luka Bloom, and about three days into the trip I realised what a terrible mistake I’d made. Luckily they sold him in Glasgow too. I could have picked almost any of his songs off almost any of his albums, but I chose this one because it also reminds me of one of my all time favourite concert moments.

“Better Days” by Lisa Miller, from Car Tape. From the same trip... this song was playing… we were arguing about whether all country music was crap, or just most of it… and I realised, all of a sudden, that I’d fallen in love… (honourable mention to Sarah McLachlan’s “Icecream”, at this point…)

“Untitled 3” by Sigur ros from ( ). This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard. It makes me want to be a better person every time I hear it. And it signals the change from the time when I thought a song needed words to say something… which in itself represented a turning point in the whole way I looked at the world...

“Hallelujah” by kd lang, from Hymns from the 49th Parallel. I wrote my last letter of resignation to this song… It was the perfect accompaniment to an action that was simultaneously taking control of my life and taking a massive step in faith…"