Some time ago I wrote about my “Computer Museum”, a collection of hardware stretching back for 35 years. I have got rid of most of it. It all took up so much space. I backed up all the files as well as I could and learnt how to remove all the hard drives. They are now sitting in padded envelopes in a storage box, probably never to be viewed again. There is no chance of anyone accessing any of my old data from the dismantled bits of kit, some of which might be recycled though it’s more likely to end up in landfill.

I have spent time going back through hundreds of my documents and spreadsheets from the last 35 years. Many of the themes that have been Blogged about here were first recorded decades ago. An Excel file called Number1, from 1997, contains spreadsheets with lists of UK #1s. These were created before I had access to the Internet, so I typed them myself. There are spreadsheets called “No. 1s with Girls’ names” and “No. 1s with Boys’ names” which developed, eventually into these two Blog posts: UK #1 hit singles containing girls’ names and UK #1 hit singles containing boys’ names.

Before I turned 40, many years ago, I created a playlist of songs from every year of my life. It wasn’t a straightforward list of my favourite songs. It contained songs that meant something to me in the year they came out. 1976 included “Misty Blue” by Dorothy Moore and “Young Hearts Run Free” by Candi Staton. 1977 featured “Janie Jones” by The Clash and “New Rose” by The Damned. There were 100 songs in all, at least two from every full year of my life, and a “1975 Interlude”: 12 songs from one of the great years for albums and singles. Tracks from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley and the Wailers all featured. I intended to produce a document to accompany the playlist, stories and explanations about my choices. I drafted it but didn’t complete it. I see, from digging around these old files from now-dismantled PCs that I did most of the work. It’s the kind of thing that I could turn into a Blog Post, for my own purposes at least. I would then be able to find the information rather more easily than I can at the moment.

One thing that I did print out at the time was a set of lyrics, a brief line or two from 91 of the 100 songs. (I only included three of the 12 songs from 1975.) I offer it here, a sample of lyrics from the first 40 years of my life. You will recognize some of them. They are ordered alphabetically by artist, beginning with 10cc and ending with The Verve.

I’d like to see you, but then again… / See me upon the road and you no call out to me / I don’t care too much for money / Ah look at all the lonely people / And I love the PRS cheques that you bring / You can always get a simple thing like love anytime / What a beautiful dream / Not a chance to be a child at all / I know you’re dissatisfied with your position and your place / Well I don’t have to be no doctor babe to see that you’re madly in love / You may see the floating motion of a distant pair of wings / But I wanted to be your Valentine / I got time for polishing doorsteps for money / Self-preservation is what’s really going on today / The sun is shining, we should be making hay / I done told you once you son of a gun I’m the best there’s ever been / He knows he’s gonna have fun with you, you lucky lady / Children saw me crying, I thought I’d had my share of that / You’ve spoilt the game, no matter what you say / When you love someone, and they don’t love you in return, When you love someone You’ve got money to burn / Feeling kind of thirsty, give me something that bites / No I haven’t heard your band, ’cause you guys are pretty new / And where do we go from here? / I cry each night my tears for you, my tears are all in vain / When I say that I’m glad we’re through, deep in my heart I know I’ve lied / Do you remember the way you cried? / She’s all the things a girl should be / I guess I’ll never know the reason why you love me as you do / This time the girl is gonna stay, for more than just a day / All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me / I’d rather lose both my eyes than never see your smiling face again girl / Now I’m determined I’m gonna get it right / Well, it took some time / Do you still think of me at all? / Your heart may be broken tonight / Pay the toll, sell your soul, pound for pound costs more than gold / She’s got eyes of the bluest skies / Did you ever see a man with no heart? Baby that was me / I think I might be happy if I wasn’t out with them / I could go on for hours, and I probably will, but I’d sooner put some joy back in / Life is a drink and you get drunk when you’re young / Well Mr Harper couldn’t be here cause he stayed too long at Kelly’s Bar again / I’ll be waiting here, with my arms unfurled / I made me a vow to the moon and stars that I’d search the honky tonks and bars / Why is the bedroom so cold? / How you gonna win if you ain’t right within? / Now that it’s over I realize those weak words you whisper were nothing but lies / I’m so glad I took a look inside your showroom doors / I find myself telling you things I don’t even tell my best friend / I’ve walked La Rambla but not with real intent / You lied to me / “The world is a bad place, a bad place, a terrible place to live…Oh but I don’t want to die” / I was ready to quit, but then we went to Croydon / A little group it’s always been, and always will / Oh no, not me, I never lost control / Lately, did you ever feel the pain of the morning rain as it soaks you to the bone? / Will you leave the smoke for a farm? / Do you moan when you’re alone? / I’m in love with all these affairs of the heart / Physical effort often causes mental harm / At the age of 13 I thought I was carrying the weight of the whole world on my shoulders / Worry, why do I let myself worry? / I want our time again / I can remember when I caught with a past time intimate friend, she said “bet you’re probably gonna say I look lovely, but you probably don’t think nothing of me” / The night is yours alone / She says that he still acts like he’s being discovered / Think of me and try not to laugh / The life’s unreal and the people are phony and the nights can get so lonely / All across the nation, such a strange vibration, people in motion. There’s a whole generation with a new explanation  / She is triple hep and blue / Call in 3 months time and I’ll be fine I know / We are the flowers in your dustbin / We’ve been out all night and we haven’t been home / So you say I‘ve got a funny face, I ain’t go no worries / On the Leeds side streets that you slip down / Will nature make a man of me yet? / You can beat me all you want, but I don’t love you any more / Shower, another shower, you’ve got to look your best for her and be clean everywhere / It’s time that I told you everything’s going to be fine / The devil came and took me from bar to street to bookie / Well I’ve been in town for just about fifteen whole minutes now  / Oh it turns you on / But I really gotta say, you look so fine / The sparkle in your eyes keeps me alive / Will I see you tonight? / I have kissed honeyed lips / Have you come here for forgiveness? / Now there’s no way out, no-one to hear you when you shout / I’ll get no sleep tonight / This is a hell of a concept / And I hope you’re thinking of me, as you lay down on your side

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