Trail Tunes: Day 2 on the Dales High Way

Water, water everywhere!!

Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever taken note of the soundtrack running through my head on a day out on the trail (or anywhere for that matter). I enjoyed reflecting on the music last night and had a lot of fun putting the post together (despite staying up way past my bedtime to do so!).

This morning Tina, who’s my biggest supporter in all things, told me how much she enjoyed my post. “Your writing is so smart, witty and accessible” she said, which I took as a massive compliment. When I told her that I’d recently been described as one of the most exciting new voices on Substack, she was suitably impressed.

“That’s awesome babes!” she replied.

“Well, it was me doing the describing!” I said, “to myself. In my imagination!” We laughed and continued getting ready for our second day of our walk. And in that moment I decided that I’d go ahead and give it another try today.

No Illusions

The weather forecasts from my go to apps made it pretty clear that today was gonna be a wet one:

We went to bed last night and woke up this morning knowing what today had in store for us. And the conditions were exactly as promised. Here’s how our trail was looking by mid-afternoon:

But for us? This is fun! Don’t get me wrong, of course we’d prefer to be hiking in beautiful weather. But we love the great outdoors and taking whatever Mother Nature throws at us is just part of the deal.

Anyways, on to the music!!

“Ray Ray Rain” by Bettie Serveert

When I awoke this morning this song was already on repeat in my head. I’d gone to bed with rain on my mind and clearly nothing had changed overnight. This is the second track from Lamprey, Bettie Serveert’s second album, released in 1995. This was a great time for music for me. Newly clean and sober, I finally found myself with a bit of disposable income for the first time in a while. And I found myself diving back into the music scene and acquiring CDs again. Perhaps a little addictively for a few years, but certainly a better place to put my money than the alternative.

The years 1995-2000 remain a foundational period in my musical journey with so much fantastic music being released and so many wonderful albums intertwined with magical and life-defining memories.

“Misty Morning” by Bob Marley

While Ray Ray Rain was on my mind when I awoke, as soon as we opened the blinds and peered outside, the vibe shifted and it was the strains of the horn intro to Bob Marley’s Misty Morning hitting my inner ear. “Misty Morning, can’t see no sun. I know you’re out there somewhere, having fun…” One of the standout songs on Kaya, one of my favorite Marley albums.

“Tie a Yellow Ribbon” by Tony Orlando & Dawn

I think I might’ve said this yesterday, but it bears repeating: I often have nary a clue why a given song starts playing on my internal jukebox. This morning, after setting out on the trail in Addingham, the first needle to drop landed gently on Tony Orlando & Dawn’s Tie a Yellow Ribbon. I’m a romantic at heart, and a sucker for a good love story and this one always hits me in the feels. By the end of the song I’m there cheering right along with “the whole damn bus” as our recently released ex-con sees not one but a HUNDRED yellow ribbons tied round that ole oak tree! Cheesy? Yeah a little. But hey, it was the 70s! And it remains a classic to me.

“Take My Breath Away” by Berlin

When Tina and I hiked the Coast to Coast trail in 2012 the scenery took my breath away (both physically and metaphorically). For years afterwards when watching documentaries, particularly about the Lake District, I would literally gasp at the naked and rugged beauty of the place. Over the years the Dales have captured my heart in a similar manner and about 30 minutes after leaving Skipton, shortly after entering the National park, I was once again reminded of that breathtaking beauty. This is the song that came to mind.

It’s a classic song from a classic movie, one that also featured heavily in the most embarrassing moment of my life (but that’s a story for another day).

“Pass The Dutchie” by Musical Youth

As the day wore on, and the paths morphed into streams and then rivulets and later raging torrents, we found it increasingly difficult to find a path that allowed our boots to stay dry not get waterlogged (we’d end up giving up by the end of the day but hope, as they say, “springs” eternal, especially early in the day).

On one particularly boggy stretch of trail we had to choose a side to shimmy along, and the right side seemed like the decent, drier candidate. Until it didn’t. At which point Tina paused to survey the scene and said “I don’t think it’s any better on the left hand side”. To which I replied, “well, at least you can pass the dutchie over there!” Ba dum bum tss!! Thank you very much, I’ll be here all week! And that was all it took for this Musical Youth classic to enter the fray!

“Last Train to Trancentral” by The KLF

Early in the afternoon we came across a herd of cattle sheltering from the rain (am I in an Emily Brontë novel here?). I thought (or perhaps even said) “aww look at the moo moos!” They were lovely. But they were also in our path. As they begrudgingly began shifting themselves out of our way, I found myself presented with a veritable plethora of songs from which to choose! Because moo moo had become Mu Mu! Had become The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, or the JAMs if you will. Are you still with me?

The JAMs were the forerunners to The KLF. And that’s where my brain was taking me for my next (and what turned out to be final) track of the day. The KLF’s 1991 album The White Room was a revelation to me. Unlike anything I’d ever heard before, I couldn’t get enough of it. Marisa Fox of Entertainment Weekly had this to say in her March 1991 review:

In The White Room the group has managed to combine its spacey club sounds with some real soul, sweeps of melody, and choruses that wail and wander. Jarring high-tech beats set the pace for the fast first half of The White Room, but the surprisingly serene, soft harmonies of the second half will turn your head into a bubble of bliss. The KLF call their sound ”ambient house,” implying it’s atmospheric, airy, and yet highly danceable. But their diverse music is too rich to be labeled.

It’s an album I haven’t gone back to in a long time, something I’ll need to rectify in short order. In keeping with the moo moo / Mu Mu theme, I just had to go with Last Train To Trancentral as the Mu Mu’s name check themselves throughout.

And with that, the tunes were over for the day! The rest of the afternoon was spent navigating the increasingly muddy and slippery terrain and battling the heavy rain and strong winds that closed out the last couple hours of the walk.

I wonder what my inner DJ has in store for me tomorrow (on what promises to be a dryer day)!

Happy listening and happy trails!!