Thursday 14 October 2010

Songs for Chilean Miners!

Hurrah, the miners are safe! Those 33 plucky human moles have been rescued and brought to the surface in a  heart-warming saga we've all shared. Just for once, good news actually made the news around the world. We've watched the drama unfold, witnessed the happy ending, now perhaps we can afford ourselves a little humour by considering the soundtrack the miners might have enjoyed (or not) during their enforced sojourn in the underworld. What were they humming or singing to keep up their spirits? What well-known songs crept into their heads and refused  to go away?
    Obviously, Lee Dorsey's  "Working Down a Coalmine"  is a starting point we can't ignore. Descending half a mile below ground they probably had their daily sing along to "Down, Down (Deeper and Down) by Status Quo", or perhaps "Going Underground" by the Jam was a favourite with some.   
    After the rock fall and the terrifying realisation they were trapped, they must have gone straight for "Help" (Beatles) followed quickly by a frantic "We Gotta Get out of this Place" (Animals etc). But as hours rolled into days without contact from the surface their plaintive thoughts may have turned to "Don't Leave Me This Way" (Communards, Gloria Gaynor) with the growing sense that  there "Ain't no Sunshine" (Bill Withers, Michael Jackson) and "Black Night" (Deep Purple) was indeed a long way from home. One or two of the lads may even have been humming Aretha's "Rescue Me"as they began to appreciate they were truly "Stuck In the Middle  With You" (Stealer's Wheel).
    As they realised they were in for "A Hard Day's Night" (Beatles again) the phycial aspects of life in a cave must have become more and more pressing; the "Yellow River" (Christie) a constant problem! And the psychological pressure must have been intense,  to the point where denial set in and  one miner may have burst out "I Don't Wanna Talk About It." (Crazy Horse, Nils Lofgren, Rod Stewart).
    Once contact was made with the surface things improved immediately. Yazz and the Plastic People provided the new anthem "The Only Way Is Up".  From there on the rescue operation moved so quickly it was almost plain "Sailing" (Sutherland Brothers, Rod Stewart again). 
    When then Phoenix capsule arrived in the cave the first miner leapt in and sang  out "Start Me Up" (Rolling Stones). As he slowly ascended his thoughts turned to his wife and family and  the comfort and joy waiting for him above after all those days among his grim and gritty compadres.Yes, he was thinking about "Love in an Elevator" (Aerosmith). 
   Finally, He reached the surface, emerging to bellow "I'm Free" (Who, Daltrey) before he realised his wraparound shades were insufficient protection from the fierce sun.
"Doctor, My Eyes" (Jackson 5, Jackson Browne) he gasped, but then smiled as he saw his wife and realised that,finally,he could "Reach out and Touch Somebody's Hand"(Diana Ross).

   The miners' ordeal is bound to become a Hollywood movie before too long. I see it as a Baz Luhrman musical a la Moulin Rouge and I think we may have already given him a few ideas to get working on!      

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