1001 Songs Challenge #972: One Day Like This (2008)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenge of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post every day (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be… legendary!

 

Elbow – One Day Like This (2008)

 

 

It’s time to say au revoir to 2008. We’re leaving the US today and making our way across the Atlantic and back to the UK. We make our way into the north half of England and to the town of Bury. Formed in 2001, Elbow specialised in various types of rock and their career began steadily. We join their story in 2008 with the release of their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid, and from there 1001 Songs have gone with the second single released from the record – One Day Like This. 

One Day Like This began with lead singer, Guy Garvey, who had a lyric penned years before and sitting in a diary that was brought to life in this song. The track itself is a testament to falling in love and being in that moment, that epiphany as your emotions are a rollercoaster but you become addicted to the feelings flooding through your soul. The narrator describes waking up alongside someone, this person that he has fallen for. These emotions are new to him but he sees the world differently now. Looking outside, he is in awe of how beautiful a day it is and he not only wants it to continue, but he yearns for a full year of days such as this one. 

I recall hearing of Elbow when The Seldom Seen Kid was released and gained not just critical acclaim but landed them the Mercury Music Prize as well. This accolade, coupled with winning further acclaim at the Brit Awards, saw the group’s album climb the charts while One Day Like This rose to the UK Top 10. The group continue to perform and have now notched up eight albums.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)

U2 – One (1991)

Radiohead – Paranoid Android (1997)

Snow Patrol – Run