Trail Tunes: Day 3 on the Dales High Way

My internal DJ was kicking out the jams all day!

Welcome to the third in a series of posts highlighting the songs that came to mind each day during our hiking trip in the north of England. We’re currently on our third day in Yorkshire hiking the Dales High Way trail from Saltaire to Appleby-in-Westmoreland, a lovely 90-mile walk that we’ll complete over seven days.

Each day we carry our day packs containing our food, water, rain suits and first aid supplies. As we move from one accommodation to the next (we have three on this trail) our main bags are transferred for us. We’re staying in a selection of small country inns and it really is a joy to come down out of the hills to a hot shower, a delicious pub dinner, and a night in a comfortable bed. No wild camping for us on this trip!

Let’s jump in to the tunes that made their way through my mind, and in some cases out of my mouth, over the course of 12 miles and some breathtaking scenery.

“Father and Son” by Cat Stevens

Within minutes of setting off for the day, this was the first track I had in my mind. It’s probably my favorite song by Cat Stevens (who became a Muslim in 1977 and changed his name to  Yusuf Islam) and one that I really connected with in my youth. My relationship with my own father had its share of challenges in my younger years, driven more than anything by my immaturity, selfishness and increasingly excessive alcohol and drug use. Thankfully, with me pulling both him and my mom into my therapy sessions during the early years of my recovery, and with both of us working at it, things have improved massively and our relationship has grown into a healthy and rewarding one today.

“Physical” by Olivia Newton John

This one just completely popped up out of the blue when Tina used the word physical when describing something. I can’t even remember what we were talking about, but once that word entered the conversation, the song was in my head and the words were blasting out of my mouth. Thankfully it was just the two of us on that stretch of trail!

“Your Woman” by White Town

At some point over the last couple years an audio track started making the rounds on Instagram reels: a voice says, “No seriously, what is this place?”, to which another replies, “This is heaven” and a sample of White Town’s Your Woman kicks in (with heavily boosted bass followed by some rapping). As we made our way up into the beautiful landscapes of the Dales, I jokingly kicked off with the “no seriously, what is this place?” and my internal DJ started spinning the original track.

I absolutely loved this song when it came out in 1997. I ended up buying the album and it was kinda meh. But this song definitely still rocks!

“Blasphemous Rumours” by Depeche Mode

At one point I said something to Tina about not wanting to sound blasphemous, which is weird because I could in no way be described as a religious person (spiritually centered yes, religious absolutely no). I can’t remember what we were talking about, but as soon as the word was out of my mouth, the needle was on the record of one of the first Depeche Mode songs I ever heard.

There are only a few songs that I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard it for the first time. And Blasphemous Rumours is one of them, along with Shake The Disease. Within a week I’d purchased the compilation Catching Up With Depeche Mode on vinyl. Although I’ve enjoyed much of their music over the years, I’m not sure I’d consider myself a fully fledged fan. Having said that, I consider their two “Singles” compilations spanning 1981 - 1998 to be essential listens.

“My Name is Jonas” by Weezer

This song just came at me like a bolt out of the blue (album) and I’ve no clue why it started rattling around in my head. But I rolled with it. I loved this album when it was released and also really enjoyed their follow-up Pinkerton (as well as the Weezer-adjacent Return of the Rentals), but I lost interest quickly and never cared for much that came after those first two albums.

“Touched” by VAST

When discussing our inability to capture the vastness of the landscape in a photo, the song Touched from the the debut album by VAST immediately came to mind. This album made it on my list of 15 Albums That Shaped My Life, compiled in response to a viral album challenge making the rounds on Facebook in 2009. Here’s what I had to say about the album back then:

I knew I was going to buy this album before I ever heard it - I saw the poster in a San Francisco music shop and said to myself, " don't know what this will sound like but I know I'II love it". After listening to it I knew that Tina would probably love it even more (and she did). Wow, what an incredible album - so many influences in here. If you haven't heard of this guy (essentially a one-man band), do yourself a favour and give this album a listen and also try the later album Nude (avoid Music for People). Rich textured walls of sound, layered with diverse instrumentation, chants, industrial backdrops and fantastic vocals.

“The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment” by Father John Misty

The origins of how this one popped into my head are a little convoluted, and quite boring to be frank, so I’ll spare you the details. But I do want to talk about this album. I Love You, Honeybear was released in February 2015 and I’ll be honest, it didn’t really grab me at first. Like really didn’t grab me.

But this is a prime example of an album that grew and grew and grew on me until it ended up becoming a favorite. By the end of the 2015 it topped my list as AOTY. And it’s really stood the test of time for me; I go back to it fairly frequently. It may well be my top album of the last decade; there are certainly very few albums I’d place in the same company (Beck’s 2014 release Morning Phase and case/lang/veirs from 2016 are two that immediately come to mind).

“Put a Lid On It” by Squirrel Nut Zippers

Tina, on the other hand, REALLY didn’t like I Love You, Honeybear, which isn’t that unusual. I’d say it’s been a good year if I have 10 to 15 albums on my top 50 list that Tina likes enough to even take an interest in. And of those, only a handful each year will become part of her Spotify rotation.

As I was singing the aforementioned track by FJM she said, “Oh god, I never got that album! I never understood what you heard in it. Who was it that sang that? Little Daddy something?”

Little Daddy Something! Hilarious! I got a real kick out of that. “It was Big Voodoo Daddy,” I said before correctly naming FJM as the artist.

But it wasn’t a Big Voodoo Daddy track that came to mind. It was a song by one of their contemporaries, another jazz/swing revival band by the name of Squirrel Nut Zippers. Their first two albums (1995’s The Inevitable and the 1996 follow-up Hot) were absolute gems! Such fun albums! It was Put A Lid On It that wormed its way into my brain. And there are far worse earworms to be afflicted by, trust me! This one kept me going for much of the afternoon.

“Blue Skies” by Irving Berlin

Very late in the day, the clouds parted and we saw something we hadn’t seen in almost three full days on the trail. At almost the exact same instant, Tina and I both exclaimed, “what is that?!? Blue sky?!?” and immediately we both broke into the chorus of the Irving Berlin classic: “blue skies smiling at me, nothing but blue skies…”

And with those words ringing in our ears, we made our way down into the ancient market town of Settle, our destination for the night.

I’ve chosen the rendition by Ella Fitzgerald, one of the greatest vocalists of all time and a lovely way to wrap up today’s installment.

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Tomorrow will be what we Bermudians refer to as a “boasty” day for us. A 15 mile day from Settle to Chapel-le-Dale climbing over Ingleborough (2,734 feet), one of the “Yorkshire Three Peaks. Monday brings another 15 mile day, including another of the three peaks (Whernside at 2,415 feet). So I’m guessing I’ll have very little left in the tank at the end of the next couple days to write. But I will be taking notes along the way and before you know it another installment of “Trail Tunes “ will be hitting your inbox!

Until then, happy trails and happy listening!