PLAIN SONG and eight gramophone records

This song was broadcast on the radio just before Christmas as one of Nick Parks' (of Wallace and Gromit) eight gramophone records on Desert Island Discs. The musician doesn't have a recording contract but PLAIN SONG has notched up thousands of hits on youtube since it was first heard on Radio Four.
I like it. I like the way he uses an ancient form and makes it his own and the way the voice become another instrument. I like the feel of it but I realise it might seem an odd choice because this is a blog about writing and it is hard to catch many of the words. But that doesn't mean they don't matter. The way they sound and work together contribute to the mood...see what you think



I missed the original programme but I've been listening to Desert Island Discs since a child (it's been going since 1942 so I was a late starter). Just the phrase eight gramophone records is enough to send me back to the days of checked school dresses and socks held up with garters made out of elastic...
If it's not already part of your cultural heritage tune into Radio Four and give it a go. The idea is simple. Each week the guest has to choose the eight records they would take with them if shipwrecked on a desert island. They can also take one luxury which is not allowed to aid their escape and one book, in addition to the Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare which have already been washed ashore.
One or two guests have chosen all their own records. Maeve Binchey wanted to dance around the island to the sound of The Ride of the Valkyries. Bob Geldof chose a pack of three as his luxury: 'just in case' .

Even though I've been listening so long, I still haven't come up with my eight gramophone records...thinking of seven New Year resolutions is a doddle in comparison...