Stuff On My Phone (20)

This particular post is very current, as I only downloaded the track in question this week. The tune is about four or five years old, so maybe I'm not any sort of up-to-date, happening, finger-on-the-pulse, music aficionado. But here's the story of the serendipitous sojourn which brought the song to my auditory cortex.

On Tuesday morning, I received an email from a blogging colleague, which contained a few links to things I would find interesting. One of these links was to a short film of lightning storms, shot with a super high speed camera (1000 frames a second). I wasn't able to watch it immediately but, later that evening, I remembered the email as I was sat waiting for the overnight ferry from Orkney to Shetland. So there I was, at 11pm, staring intently at my phone screen in a dark car park at Hatston terminal. It was quite arty, very crisp, nicely sound tracked and I did indeed find it interesting. If you want to marvel at the cinematography and technical expertise, here's the link but, mind on, due to the content, it does contain flashing lights.

Now, there's a couple of other things you should know...

The music on that film isn't what this post is about. And my phone was set, to my chagrin, to play the next video of Vimeo's choosing.

As it turned out, this was another super high speed movie, by the same photographer, which featured a motor bike stunt rider, fireworks and ticker tape. All very impressive when shot using this equipment. Unfortunately, these weren't the only subjects of the film, as centre stage were several scantily-clad ladies... on trampolines. Now there's an image that will be difficult to unsee.

However, it was the accompanying music which grabbed my attention, and before boarding the ferry I had already downloaded the song, 'Dernière danse' by Indila, from her 'Miniworld' album of 2014. It was a huge hit around Europe but, I guess, less so in the UK and USA as it is not sung in English.

Being a lad from County Durham, quite interested in the history of my region, and not one to usually bear a grudge, I must admit that I have struggled with France. At school, we were taught all about the Romans and the Vikings, but then skipped to European history of more modern times. It was only later that I discovered about the Harrying of the North which took place after the Norman Conquest in the 11th Century, when William and his troops laid waste to much of northern England, including County Durham. Some historians have described this episode as genocide.

So, on one level, for no particular logical or personal reason, I have struggled with all things French (and, yes, I do appreciate that the Normans were just another bunch of Vikings).

Laying these ghosts to rest has taken some time. However, the novels of Joanne Harris have certainly helped, the film 'Chocolat' was an absolute delight, I then had a bit of a setback with Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland in 2009, but 'Dernière danse' has completed the healing process.