The thing is, if I was to sit you down in a room, lock the door, and present to you the full synopsis of my journey, I guarantee you would get bored, sleepy, and generally frustrated. You would most probably laugh at my naivety and groan at my relatively pedestrian recounting of experiences and you would ultimately sum up the 5 days for yourself in one, direct, condensed sentence, "Ben walked around a lot, looked at nice things, drank some beer and then came back".
I know this because I would do exactly the same. We all would, I guess.
Don't get me wrong, my time in Cologne was far from boring and was actually full of exciting experiences, wonderful encounters, interesting new friends and subsequent long lasting fond memories. It was the first time I'd travelled solo outside of the UK and I was initially shitting bricks about the prospect of completely jettisoning out of my comfort zone and braving the unknown by myself. Oh, the naivety! In short, this journey built my confidence immensely and reshaped my perspective on my current state of life. It has also encouraged me to embark on further solo ventures.
Bored yet?
In that case, I felt it best to create a playlist, to fully explain and narrate the story of my travels. This will hopefully add more colour and texture to my tale, where my words would otherwise fail and induce snoring. The title of my playlist, 'Elevate Myself', aside from being a direct reference to the Grandaddy track of the same name featured, completely sums up my mentality and general life perspective before, during and after my experience in Cologne.
Some of the tracks featured were songs that initially encouraged me to set out on my adventure, while others remind me of my time in Cologne; either because they were played on the local radio, at a gig, or were recommended to me by the very influential people I met there.
Why the need in making a 'travelling' playlist, if your experience was so profound, I hear you ask? I view this playlist as if it were a scrap book, with each song sparking a memory. And in the passing of time, and the subsequent fading of memories, I intend to use this playlist to rekindle the finer moments of my journey, and feel better, or 'elevated', once again. I sincerely hope you experience a similar effect, or at least, allow this playlist to enhance your future travels and adventures.
Feel free to let us know of your own desired 'travelling tracks', or the songs that would feature on your 'Official Holiday Soundtrack' (or 'Holiday OST'), as we'd be happy to hear them.
Elevate Myself playlist: Elevate Myself Playlist
Track listing -
1) Leave Them All Behind - Ride
The title and presence of this song on the playlist is self explanatory. It represents the literal departure from England, as well as the separation between me and everyone I know, as I embark upon my own journey. It made sense to open the playlist with this track, due to the strength of which it delivers this sentiment. Naturally, the song popped into my head when I was standing on the deck of the P&O ferry to Calais, watching England gently slide away.
2) Rear View Mirror - Grandaddy
Ok, so Grandaddy feature quite heavily on this playlist. I'd spent the summer listening to their album, Just Like The Fambly Cat and this song fast became one of my favourites from the collection. It emanates a bold positive sound, whilst remaining melancholic in tone and message; a common trait with Grandaddy. The song appears to be about tying to escape something and constantly looking behind you, just to make sure you're definitely leaving. This is evident in the lyric, "What the hell, now I've been trying to drive somewhere real and nearer", which suggests the frustration of wanting to progress, but never achieving this. I completely identify with this sentiment on a daily basis, but especially in the weeks leading up to my trip.
3) Europe By Train - The Divine Comedy
So, I've begun my annual obsession with The Divine Comedy and have subsequently begun working my way through their back catalogue accordingly. I was listening to their 1993 album Liberation the week before I left for Germany and the penultimate track on the album 'Europe By Train' stood out. I actually caught the ferry to Europe, as mentioned previously, but hey ho. As with all of The Divine Comedy's work, this track (no train pun intended, honest!) is rife with high quality arrangement and musicality, creating the sound and image of a train plodding along.
4) Before Cologne + 5) Cologne - Ben Folds
Need I say more about the existence of these tracks on this playlist? I'd decided on posting the track 'Before Cologne' to Facebook the day before, er, heading to Cologne, as well as subsequently posting the track 'Cologne' once I'd finally arrived in the city, before I'd even booked my hostel room, way back in April. I'd always admired the way in which the delicate orchestral introductory 'Before Cologne' complimented the track 'Cologne' wonderfully on Ben Folds' 2008 album Way To Normal and felt the tracks added a light sensitivity to the otherwise chaotic album. The tracks feature on my playlist for the same reason, as well as for the obvious.
6) Red Lights - Delphic
I'd listened to Delphic's album Acolyte when it was released in 2010, but only really listened to it properly when I was last in Germany in 2013, whilst touring with the band, Stressechoes. I'd find myself aimlessly wandering around the city of Bremen, with Acolyte on constant play in my ears. The album for me, therefore, symbolises being in Germany and exploring somewhere new. I chose the track 'Red Lights' for my playlist, as it depicts the idea of not stopping for anything, to get what you want. This was a mentality I shared, having set out on my journey to Cologne. This rhythmic and pulsing track, along with the track 'Counterpoint' on the album, will always remind me of staring starry eyed up the Rhine from one of the many bridges that cross it.
7) Come Alive - Eternal Summers
One of my favourite experiences of my whole journey was actually an experience I had partaken in many times in England....On the Monday night, I went to see a band in an indie club in the city. The headline act was Surfer Blood, but it was the support act, Eternal Summers, who really caught my attention. The Virginia based band played 40 minutes of warm and wafting indie-rock-shoegaze, which to me paralleled the likes of Howling Bells or Yeah Yeah Yeahs in strength and grandeur. Standing in the crowd watching this band was one of the many moments that week I felt safe and anything but lonely. I highly recommend this band!
8) True Faith - New Order
I ventured out to one of Cologne's many indie clubs, The Rose Club, on the Tuesday night, as I'd seen their 'indie-disco' advertised in my hostel. After many beers, I entered the club at 10:15, walked through the partition curtains beyond the coat room, and was greeted with this track. The track's great anyway, but I will now always associate it with walking into The Rose Club, with a huge grin on my face.
9) Antitaxi - La Femme + 10) Free Falling - Florrie + 11) Ripple Effect - Blancah + 12) Karma Game - Pentatones + 13) Instant Rudment - Krispaglia (Laolu remix) + 14) Moving On - Hird + 15) High Noon - Kruder & Dorfmeister + 16) Suzuki - Tosca
All of these tracks (from 9 to 16 on the playlist) were songs I either heard on the Hostel radio station, or were kindly recommended to me by very well informed individuals (They know who they are!). I felt it important to feature the tracks on the playlist, as they mark the element of discovery and exploration in travelling, as well as reminding me of my time there.
17) Birch Tree - Foals
I recently picked up a copy of Foals' 4th album What Went Down and gave it a fair listen whilst walking around Cologne. 'Birch Tree' is one of my favourite tracks on the album, as it presents itself as unassuming, but is actually rich in substance and character. Also, the song's refrain "Come meet me by the river, see how the time it flows" sums up my sense of abandon when walking along the Rhine in the sunshine.
18) Don't Look Down - The Divine Comedy
Again, with The Divine Comedy?! Hell Yes! I found myself listening to the band's 1994 album Promenade on many occasions during the week, especially when going for evening strolls over the cobbled stones near the city's Dom, or once again along the Rhine. I really enjoy this song, as it's full of energy and charm and I'm, again, marvelled at the expertly crafted musicality ever present in the song. I've always been inspired by the work of The Divine Comedy, but found myself lost in the sheer excellence of this album over the week. The album also made me take in my surroundings differently and helped me to make sense of what would otherwise be an alien atmosphere. It was certainly a great travelling companion!
19) When You Leave - Maps
This bitter-sweet track from Maps' 2007 album We Can Create manages to perfectly sum up my feelings of leaving somewhere great, only to return to normality. The refrain "When you leave, are you coming?" encapsulates the morose realisation of having to actively walk away from something that's changed your life, towards a new reality. It suggests that you naturally leave part of yourself in that place and that you're not fully whole upon your return home. This is certainly a sentiment I shared when I got back to England on the Friday.
20) Elevate Myself - Grandaddy
There is no better a song title to collectively sum up my attitude and mind set at the end of my 5 days in Cologne. Again, 'Elevate Myself' had been one of the tracks from Just Like The Fambly Cat that had stood out for me on the album and, therefore, couldn't be absent from my journey, and indeed this playlist. The song speaks of pushing oneself towards greatness, or, just simply to not allow oneself to settle for normality. It goes without saying that this fuelled my decision to travel to Cologne by myself in the first place, as well as my mentality now that I've returned. This was the last song I listened to, whilst gazing out across the Rhine, the sun bouncing off the bridges and water, on my last day in Cologne, before heading to catch the bus home....The bus back towards normality. It was a time for revelations, now is the time for change!
Nuff said!
Ben.
