Soundtrack of South Africa

Reactions to the soundtrack of my round-the-world trip was all in all positive. And since music always rocks the important moments of life, it obviously ties itself to some memories... like those we make while traveling.

So here is the soundtrack we used to energize in our Ferrari (a Chevy Sparklite really) for almost two weeks. For those who think Africa is the land of tam-tam... welcome in the 21st century.

Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Starting with a big one! May I remind you we can't choose... For an unknown reason, old success are popular in South Africa. This song would be played at least once a day. And I'm not talking about the ones from Cindy Lauper...

Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It
Here you go! In the same category, Tina Turner invited herself in our holiday. A retro song, a modern pop song, a retro song, a modern pop song... So often we prefer to forget.

Diamonds - Rihanna
When you talk about a song that stays in your head simply by playing over and over, and forces itself in your memories...

Million Voices - Otto Knows
This is probably the most significant one. The one we "sang" at least 350 times a day. That song is everywhere on the radio stations. The roads of South Africa, the ticket for speeding we still haven't received and hope we won't get, those doors we forgot to lock, that morning we woke up too early (or the night before where we went to bed too late) to watch the animals in Addo, all those images are labeled with Million Voices. Enough that we could predict when it would play on the radio.

Scream and Shout - Will.I.Am et Britney Spears
Song that stays in your head number 2, thanks to the pop radio station. When you drive with hundreds of elephants all around, zebras and warthogs too, and all you have in your head is "I want to scream, and shout, and let it all out", you know it's time to listen to silence for awhile.

Flying Without Wings - Rubben Studdard
To be polite, let's thank (!) South Africa for bringing back singles from old American Idols we were forgetting about. And some others too. Special mention to Clay Aiken and Jordin Sparks. One taxi driver really liked a station playing the first songs the Backstreet Boys recorded.

Soundtrack of My Life

Music lulls most of our life, if only because the radio screams in the background while we live pure moments of joy or sadness. In some ways, the songs make the soundtrack of our life, because hearing those songs again brings memories back.

I have already posted the Jason Mraz song Details in the fabric, which came randomly while I needed something to comfort me. "Hold your own, know your name, and go your own way" the song says. I had listened to that cd but couldn't recall that song. But one night, watching the sunset, the song made its way into my souvenirs box.

Same for the Coldplay song Fix you, heard at some funerals where I was troubled. To see a 20 year old guy leave for the cemetery, I knew I needed to realize my projects while I could.

Strangely, towards the end of my trip, in the village of Paraty in Brazil, the radio was just emitting noises to me when I heard Fix you. That song wasn't even a single the radios played. The driver had decided to play the cd...

The next day, still in Paraty, I spent the day on a boat. While we were stopping in a bay, the speakers were giving us Details in the fabric. Still not a single. Still a cd. What was the chances to hear both significant songs in 24 hours.

For those interested, here are ten songs that are now in my souvenirs box, which makes the soundtrack of my trip. Luckily or not. You can't choose these things.

Living in the Moment - Jason Mraz
The album Love is a Four Letter Word came out while I was traveling. Living in the moment, the essential of the message of the song, really appealed to me.

Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
Without any doubt the success of the summer, Call Me Maybe, caught most people attention. Was impossible not to hear it. Like it or not, lots of my friends ended up singing it. When I hear it, I still smile.

Aujourd'hui ma vie c'est d'la marde - Lisa Leblanc
I totally fell for Lisa Leblanc's album. I listened to it a lot, especially in Brazil. Her song with very colourful lyrics made me smile.

We Are Young - Fun. 
I admit I did not listen to the lyrics. I only know the title, which they repeat in every chorus. And the melody got engraved in my soul. I was watching those backpackers who were discovering life at the same time they were discovering the world, some were 18 years old, some were 23, and they had fun without thinking of the next day. Because they had time. Because these are the moments they will look back at saying to themselves they lived while they could. And living in the moment, while we can, can make us young too.

Ho Hey - The Lumineers
To be honest, I had never heard of the Lumineers before. That song is the perfect example of a soundtrack playing in the background and making us nostalgic.

Février - Vincent Vallières
Listening to Vallières sing Février (February), on February 29th (for a short month that never ends, like the song says) in New Zealand (around the end of summer in the southern hemisphere), it's really funny. And comforting. When I hear it, I see mount Tangariro getting further and further through the bus window. And me, laughing alone in a sea of anglophone tourists who wouldn't understand the song if I didn't explain.

Your Home - Alanis Morissette
When you have a lot of time to listen to music, in planes, in trains, in buses or while you're trying to cover the noise, you rediscover songs you had never listen to carefully before. That hidden track on the Jagged Little Pill album is a good example.

Home - Phillip Phillips
Strangely, the songs talking about home, about knowing where we're from, wanting to get back to our native land, are always close. Strange in a trip where the notion of the place we call home is blurring... When we're telling ourselves home might not be in a specific place.

I Will Remember You - Ryan Cabrera
Here is another nostalgic touch that reminds me of those people I met randomly and that I now call my friends. Impossible to forget them.

Geneviève Jodoin
When I wanted to listen to french music, I was often playing Geneviève Jodoin G's album.

On my way to Ayutthaya

I'll write on my impressions of Bangkok soon. While you wait, I'm slowly making my way in the backcountry in Thailand. On my way to Ayutthaya, Lopburi and Chiang Mai. Temples in the first city, monkeys in the second one, elephants, rafting and maybe tigers in the third one. And if we look further, I now have my ticket for Amman, Jordan...

For those who are wondering what there is to see in Ayutthaya, part of the music video for that 90's success was filmed there...

Rainy season interlude

The rainy season has started in south-east Asia. It reminds me of this song, while thunderstorm is taking over Siem Reap.

It usually rains for 30 minutes here and the sky turns blue again after. The temperature doesn't always get cooler in spite of the rain...