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A Year In Music

A Song For Every Month (And A Few Extras)

By Reija SillanpaaPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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I welcomed January with open arms

Kicking 2019 and cancer out the door

I was feeling hopeful, strong, invinsible

2020 was going to be an amazing year

Little did I, nor anyone else, know what 2020 had in store for us

As we welcomed the year in and

Linking arms - oh those days when we could touch each other -

Sang Auld Lang Syne

January came and brought with it whispers of trouble

A virus, in China out of control

But it was still far, far away and nothing to worry about

Or so I thought as I embraced life after cancer and danced the night away

To Dancing Queen and Proud Mary in The Two Brewers

February brought spring winds but the storm clouds gathered

The virus was spreading

It had crossed into Europe and now Italy was in trouble

But yet, naively we thought, it could not happen here

As we carried on as normal

Even in March, when the warning sign were plenty

We somehow thought, it would not be like that here

As we rocked at a charity concert for the Royal Marsden

Where Rick Wakeman wowed us with Eleanor Rigby

And we all joined in with All You Need Is Love

Turns out we all needed a little extra love this year

When we faced the harsh realities and locked down countries

We wowed to stand together, strong in the face of a lockdown

We clapped our nurses and doctors and other key workers

And took Captain Tom into our hearts.

We listened to We’ll Meet Again and revoked the old Blitz spirit

While the lockdown strechted on and on

Once more Captain Tom raised our spirits singing

You’ll Never Walk Alone

And we thought, if he can weather this storm, so can we

As people stayed at home, the sun came out to play and

Treated us to a glorious April

We spent our days on the balcony, drinking cider,

listening to Massive Attack and Happy Mondays

May arrived with some good news

The virus was losening its grip of the nation

And we began to talk about life returning to normal

With some reservations

As spring turned to summer, the rules relaxed and crowds gathered

Outside pubs selling takeaway pints

We joined them, keeping our social distance

And later, at home we chilled out to new music from John Legend

and an actual legend, Bob Dylan

By July, life felt almost normal again

Hairdresses, gyms, pubs and restaurants opened their doors

And we were able to mix with other households

Within limits of course

Oh, the excitement

When, for the first time since the lockdown,

We ventured outside our local area and got together with some friends

We drank vodka and coke like good old times

Got out the disco lights

And danced to Little Mix and Pussycat Dolls

In August we still felt free as birds

Though the strom clouds gathered again

Scientists warned of an autumn spike but we all hoped it wouldn’t come

We embraced the last of the summer warmth

Dined out and had picnics in 0ur hideway spot in the park

We drank wine and mixed Moby with Bob Marley

And hope he was right and everything really would be alright

As the days grew shorter

September came and we hang on to normality

Like to our dear lives

But we knew it could not last when the cases began to rise again

As October and darker nights were upon us

The autumn blues kicked in and the news were full of doom and gloom

We cheered ourselves up with songs from LaLa Land and

Impromptu discos where anything went from Abba to ZZ Top

When November arrived we could no longer deny it

Things were bad and the country was closed to business again

It was tough

Way tougher than the first time

There was no sun or upbeat Instagram parties to cheer us up

December brought no relief with Christmas being cancelled

But we had weathered the storm that was 2020 so far

We could do so a little longer

While Robbie Williams and

the NHS choir with Justin Bieber released Christmas songs

We geared ourselves to meet the new year

As we count down the hours left of 2020 and

Reflect on a year we shall never forget

We hope 2021 will bring some light

and join our hands virtually to sing Auld Lang Syne

***

I hope you enjoyed my eclectic choice of music for 2020.

10% of what I earn on Vocal goes to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, so show your love by giving my piece a like or even by leaving a tip.

Thank you and Happy 2021!

***

Here is the playlist on Spotify

playlist
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About the Creator

Reija Sillanpaa

A wise person said, "Be your own audience". Therefore, I write fiction, poetry and about matters important and interesting to me. That said, I warmly welcome you into my audience.

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