I rarely get too political, but luckily Muse do it for me!

I don’t want to make too many observations about this one, other than to say I think it works better as a “call and response” song, where one part is sung by those who are abusing their charge of a place, regime, party, or organisation, and the other is sung by the general population or organisational member who are subject to the whim of those in leadership.

I loved 1984. I think it was my first real experience with dystopian literature and worlds. I think there’s something in those things that get written, or filmed that we go on to consume that make us believe their fantastical and gold for the world we live in, but if they’re really good then there’s something about them that make us just a little bit afraid of what could be…
​
Muse used 1984 style vibes and influences in their 2009 album “The Resistance”, and I loved it.

​I took the kids to see Sing 2 at the cinema and was reminded that Scarlett Johansson doesn’t just kick ass but also has a fine set of lungs on her… Trading her Black Widow leather cat suit for a porcupine-tailored rocker’s leather jacket, for me she steals the show!

As a result I jumped on Spotify and looked up what she’s done outside of films, and I stumbled across “Iguana Bird.” Further Google rabbit-hole wanderings confirmed magnificent creature pictured above doesn’t actually exist, and I have absolutely no idea what the title is in reference to. That said, the simplicity of the whole song, tune, rhythm and lyrics drew me in to hearing God’s voice speaking to me.

Dolly's never really been on my radar. I mean, I know who she is obviously, but I've never paid attention to her music (I know that on the off-chance someone reads this, they might just think that's a sin, but I'm ok with that!).

But doing some research for an assembly on "Faith" I stumbled upon Dolly Parton's collaboration with Galantis:

The following is a quote from Chapter 22 of "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness, which was part of my holiday reading material...

The story to this point is that Todd believes all women to have died out on his planet, due to a disease which also meant men could read each other's, and animals' thoughts as "noise". Nothing was private because "noise" was everywhere. Todd is due to go through his coming of age process when he discovers things might not be as they seem. The long and short of it is that he ends up running away from his home town with his dog (Manchee), and finds a girl (Viola)... a girl with no "noise".
As we join the story with this quote, Todd has witnessed destruction of newly discovered towns and truths at the hands of the army who are chasing him. He's tired, injured, hungry, and confused, and finds himself staring down at a plain of legions of unknown "creachers", in a herd as far as the eye can see.
The noise coming from this herd is different to what he's heard before:

"Dexter and Sinister" - Elbow

An advert flashed up on my Facebook feed for the Elbow album "Giants of all Sizes", with single lines playing from a few of the songs.

Perhaps understandably the line that jumped out at me was the one above... "I don't know Jesus anymore."

A quick Ecosia search and I found the song and had a listen, and the disappointment flowed out of me...

"I Want to know what Love is" - Foreigner

In a reverse to normal process with these posts, this time it started with some theology related reading, and I thought "There's a song for that..."

"World in Union", with lyrics by Charlie Skarbek, is a theme song for the Rugby World Cup that attempts to capture the spirit of international friendship which pervades rugby union culture the world over.
The melody is "Thaxted" — the stately theme from the middle section of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity", a movement from Gustav Holst’s "The Planets". (from Wikipedia)

There's something special about Rugby. I love it. I'm far more familiar with the international game than club rugby, but I really don't think there is another sport quite like it: the brutality, physicality, fitness, and skill; the passion, ambition, blood, sweat and tears; the inherent respect for the referee, the sight of people working together in such tight units... I could go on!

And then there's the fan culture, more akin to crickets than football, with the conflict staying on the pitch, pints being consumed alongside rival fans, and the love for the game triumphing over anything else.

The other factor that comes into play in the international scene is the pride for country, the tribal dances, and the national anthems.

"World in Union" is a fitting anthem for bringing it all together

"Ruin My Life" - Zara Larsson **

It's interesting what you hear when you first listen to a song, when you don't know what it's called, and you just find yourself singing along to the radio in the car...

That's what happened with this one, and it was one of those "accidental worship" moments, when all of a sudden I'm belting out:

"I want you to rule my life, you to rule my life, you to rule my life, yeah..."

And now that I know they're not the right words, I still can't help but here them...

**  Another "Potty-mouth" warning here... Along with the "Scantily-Clad-Lady" warning

**Potty-mouth warning, for the easily offended

That said, this is well worth a watch!

The wife and I have watched right through "Orange is the New Black," and it's cracking telly, with its raw, honest, political observations of serious and comedic value, alongside a cracking soundtrack which I have playing on loop at the moment.

This scene from the third season is one of my all-time stand-out "God moments" from television. It's beautiful, and says everything I need to regularly be reminded of. In it, Cindy is trying to convert to Judaism, and trying to convince the Rabbi that it's about more than just the better meals that Kosher prisoners get with real vegetables: