My Desert Island Discs

I love Radio 4 and one of the great joys listening to it is 'Desert Island Discs'. A favourite episode of mine features fellow Ethiopian writer and poet, Lemn Sissay and I was inspired by his interview to create my own.

I would take the following 8 recordings with me and here's why:

1.

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides

As Emma Thompson said in Love Actually "Joni Mitchell is the woman who taught your cold English wife how to feel." Sans being a wife, the accuracy though...like seriously, this song gets me deep in my soul in the most bittersweet way. It has let me cry through heartbreak when I have felt unable to and smile from the security of knowing what I have overcome.

2.

Jamila Woods - Holy 

Only released in May this year, it has fast become my spiritual uplift. Such a beautiful song of self affirmation filled with upbeat gospel undertones, perfect to be sung at the church of you ! The lyrics "woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me" never fail to bring a smile to my face.

3. 

Savage Garden - The Animal Song

It is a beautiful exploration of emotions and humanity at its most raw form, the desire to escape the chaos of everyday reality for the freedom of nature. I have felt able to acknowledge and escape my thoughts listening to this whilst feeling uplifted. Highly underestimated band Savage Garden.

4. 

Blackmore's Night - Streets of London

Originally written by Ralph McTell, I love this version of the song and it is the version I play on my ukulele. I feel like this the musical equivalent of William Blake's London, a poet and poem that is one of my favourites and influenced my own work. It is a beautifully sad folk song that highlights the injustices in the world and how the world has forgotten the most vulnerable and marginalised. As an activist, this song has early roots in that impacting my life choices; it reminds me to continue to uphold a life filled with compassion for others.

5.  

The Dubliners - The Town I Loved So Well

This is such a joy to play on the ukulele, its so emotive and while I have no connection to the simple life of Derry; it resonates on a similar level of leaving a life behind in the place called home, a place you once loved that is no longer recognisable from conflict and change. I first heard this when I was 10 years old on a old cassette tape while visiting the UK from Ethiopia and it moved me deeply.

6. 

Mairi Campbell - Auld Langs Syne

I love Scotland, particularly Edinburgh which has always felt like a second home so there ain't no way that I'll be stranded on a desert island while Christmas and Hogmanay stroll around and I don't have this beautiful version get me in the festive mood.

7. 

Teddy Afro -Abebayehosh

This is how we do New Year in Ethiopia, just picture Beyonce.....you don't need to, watch the video below of her Ethiopian Millennium celebration concert in my hometown of Addis Ababa. Towards the end, she drops Teddy's version of this traditional celebration song and it is epic ! Such an upbeat song of celebration that is perfect for new beginnings. 

8. 

Johnny Clegg - Dela

I feel so in love when I hear this, in love with life and just so happy ! Plus with the tropical afro vibe beats, it is the perfect song to be stranded on a desert island with while I wait for my soul mate to join me.

Along with the Complete Works of Shakespeare and the Bible, I would take :

Jane Eyre 

This Charlotte Bronte novel I had first read as a 17 year old, helped me understand the nuances within romantic love, the battle between love and freedom. I love her exploration of a passionate love between two souls; one inverted and the other extroverted in their approach and how they are pulled together as the lines begin to blur. I admired Jane, her independent and determined spirit despite the adversity she faces was deeply attractive and relatable, yet I was also frustrated by her in equal measure at what she was prepared to endure. I still admire Jane and I am far kinder to her these days; I know exactly what a love like that can do.

Luxury item

I would take my ukulele so I can play all the music I can't bring with me to entertain myself....and the odd island critter.

When you give your trusty musical companion a photoshoot
just because....

If I could only take one recording out of the 8 above, it would be Jamila Woods - Holy. If all I have is my company then I sure as heck I'm going to treasure it by listening to this to remind me as the wise lyrics say that "I'm not lonely, I'm alone, and I'm holy on my own".