Nobody Calls Me Nobody

I'm a funny one. The only way I can boost my mood to the point of productivity sometimes is to submerge myself in my favourite upbeat (and usually musical) songs. It's almost guaranteed to fire me up. I have a playlist on my iTunes called 'Musical Favs Etc' which currently runs to over 700 songs. If I'm in a mediocre mood I let the playlist run and see what effect it has. If I'm in a terrible mood I'm forced to select the songs which will most improve my mood. These are some of my current favourites:

• 'Birdhouse In Your Soul' - Kristin Chenoweth & Ellen Greene from the soundtrack to Pushing Daisies.
• 'We're Gonna Be Alright' - Julienne Marie & Stuart Damon from Do I Hear A Waltz?
• 'A Parade In Town' - Angela Lansbury from Anyone Can Whistle.
• 'Thank You Very Much' - James Head from Scrooge.
• 'It's A Lovely Day Today' - Donald O'Connor from Call Me Madam.
• 'On How To Be Lovely' - Kay Thompson & Audrey Hepburn from Funny Face.
• 'The Life I Never Led' - Katie Rowley Jones from Sister Act: The Musical.
• 'I've Gotta Be Me' - Glee cast version.
• 'Walkin' My Baby Back Home' - Bing Crosby & Judy Garland.
• 'A Little Priest' - Angela Lansbury & Len Cariou from Sweeney Todd.
• 'Old Friends' - Ann Morrison, Jim Walton & Lonny Price from Merrily We Roll Along.
• 'One Brick At A Time' - Glenn Close from Barnum.
• 'Down The Lane' - Toni Palmer from Blitz!
• 'Out There' - Jim Dale from Barnum.
• 'Just Around The Corner' - Bebe Neuwirth from The Addams Family.
• 'Another Little Victory' - Sarah Lancashire & Reece Shearsmith from Betty Blue Eyes.

As you can tell from that list, Stephen Sondheim inspires me quite a bit with four songs from his pen. There are many many more songs in my playlist that fire me up. 'A Little Priest' may seem a bit of an odd choice but it's full of energy and venom - sometimes all you need to be inspired. I go through phases with them, relying on various songs to drag me out of different types of doldrums. 

My latest love is 'Nobody' from Betty Blue Eyes, a musical I didn't get to see but I fell in love with the soundtrack at first listen. 'Nobody' is sung by Sarah Lancashire's character, Joyce, and pretty much embodies the lift I need to give myself at times. Take a look at this live performance:

She's right - nobody gets the privilege of calling me nobody because they don't know the first thing about me. Any wonder this song is currently my favourite?