[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by John

I was driving home from work today when a record came on that is guaranteed to hit me hard. Mike & the Mechanics The Living Years. Just after it finished I got to wonder what two records have had major impacts on you and why.

The Living Years had a major impact on me nearly twenty years after something else knocked me for six.

I am adopted and my adoptive Father was a very Victorian Father and thought nothing of hitting me for the slightest reason. My adoptive Mother wasn’t allowed to have an opinion and as I grew older I grew to hate him with a passion. So much so that I left home when I was only 16 years old.

Over the next few years I got married and we had our first child. In all that time I still never grew close to my Father, although we visited on a regular basis. There was always tension between us and I felt that even living away from him he had a hold on the way I conducted my life.

In 1969 he was taken seriously ill and died in the June. I hardly felt a thing about it until I went to the morgue to say my goodbyes and it was then that I broke down in floods of tears, guilt welling up inside of me, wishing that I had done something in the way of buildings bridges between us.

Move onto 1988 when the Living Years was released. When I first heard the record it threw me back to that day at the morgue and I broke down again. The words stating my feelings far better than I could ever say. It totally portrayed my feelings as if I had written it and whenever it is played I still get upset.

The second record hit home for very different reasons. Johnny Cash’s version of the Nine Inch Nails hit, Hurt.

In a way it is a bit of a cheat because although the record itself makes a vivid impression on me the video of him singing it really hits home hard.

When I first heard it I was at the computer. My ex was flicking through the TV channels and came across one of those music channels. Now I can take or leave Johnny cash. Some I like, some I don’t but all of a sudden Hurt started to be played and after a few words I just had to stop what I was doing and move over to watch it. I was shocked at how old and aged Johnny Cash looked. It had been a while since I had seen him but this video just didn’t prepare me for the shock of what looked a broken man singing about lost things in his life. It even had a scene where his Mrs walked down the stairs, stopped, then watched sadly over him. The words were poignant and the flash backs of his life on video were well in tune with the words and the song is very powerful and moody.

As soon as it finished I searched the net for it and found it. Straight away I downloaded the video and I frequently play it and as yet it still hasn’t lost its impact on me.

Well, a bit long winded I know, but those are the two records that have made an impact on me.

What are your two records, and why?

John

Both great songs John. First few times I heard the Cash song it really moved me- a record with so much soul, even more emotional when I saw the video. I've never heard the original by Nine-inch Nails, but was aware that had originall recorded it.