Singing Their Hearts Out

I'd like to think i have a pretty varied taste in music, at one point my iTunes goes from the Foo Fighters, to the Four Tops, to Frank Hamilton, which i kind of love. I have, and enjoy, plenty of music which is simply fun and almost slightly throwaway, but the songs i love, the ones that get played over and over again are the songs with real emotion and passion within them.

Songs where you can tell that the musician cared about the song they were making, put real thought into the lyrics, wanting them to truly mean something to someone.

Songs where the emotion and message seem genuine rather than forced. Songs which draw in your full attention, not an easy task when most people, me included, very rarely sit down and just listen to an album, instead usually on their computer, or reading, or at least texting.

It's those things that set songs apart for me. I reckon it's why i've never properly got into the dancier and more electronic ends of music. As good as many of those songs are, and as much as i can enjoy them if i'm in the right mood, i find they rarely carry the weight of meaning that other genres achieve and it is that weight which tends to be the reason i begin to really like a song.

When i say songs with emotion and passion i'm not just talking about heart wrenching ballads. Rock songs, indie songs, folk songs and acoustic songs, pop songs, blues songs, rap songs, soul songs and classical pieces,all these genres and many more have songs within them which have struck me as powerful.

Sometimes a powerful song isn't what i want, sometimes i want a song which to use an inadequate adjective are simply more 'fun'. But the songs that matter, at least in my opinion, are the ones which clearly mattered to the person making them.

I reckon there are two types of serious music fan; lyrics people and instrument people. Pretty much everyone will lean towards one or the other. For some people it's the lyrics that make you love a song, for others it's the tune and the rhythm. That's not to say a lyrics person can't love a particular guitar riff or that an instrument person can't connect with a particular set of lyrics, merely that for anyone it tends to be one that matters more, that is the catalyst for them becoming passionate about a song.

I am definitely a lyrics person. If i like a song i pretty much inevitably try and learn at least some of the lyrics, precisely because it will be sections of those lyrics that drew me to the song in the first place. My dad on the other hand is very much an instrument person, he likes certain lyrics, but they're very rarely the defining feature of a song for him.

The inspiration for this whole post came in two parts, or more specifically two musicians. First up was Adele. It's not a situation i'm all that used to, where an artist i am really loving, someone who i feel sings with real passion and emotion, is also top of the charts and getting played everywhere, but i'm glad in this instance it has happened. I've never quite understood some music fans attitudes towards there favourite artists gaining success and mass-popularity. I guess they feel like their losing some of their connection to the music, it isn't 'theirs' any more if everyone is listening to it. You only have to go on Youtube and have a brief look at almost any popular artist's videos to see a selection of the fans boasting about 'having liked them before they were big' and making the assumption that popularity means that they've 'sold out'.

I'm perfectly happy to admit that though i'd listened to Adele's debut album, and liked a few of the tracks, i'd never really been passionate about her music until i heard the new album, particularly the now insanely popular "Someone Like You". It's one of those rare songs that makes me want to stop what i'm doing and just listen, precisely because it feels so personal and intense. Watching the live versions from the Brits and the BBC Live Lounge, watching the emotion of the song so clearly displayed on her face, it's a wonderful counter-weight to songs like 'Dirty Bit' by the Black Eyed Peas. This is a woman who managed to make a Cheryl Cole song classy and soulful (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czwlth4mx5Q), two adjectives rarely associated with the X-Factor judge.

The other artist that inspired me to write this blog, is Tim McIlrath, or more accurately his band Rise Against. Now they're not exactly the kind of band a lot of people would expect me to like, but i definitely do. There's something so passionate about their songs, yet they also carry an intelligence and political message in their lyrics, which sets them a little apart from many of the other rock/punk/metal/whatever genre you want to put them in bands. On their last album they had a song with at times almost uncomfortably honest and open lyrics about the loss of innocence of an American soldier serving in Iraq called "Hero of War", on their new album released this week, there's a song about the prejudice and fear that can be the life of many gay Americans inspired by the suicides of several gay American boys in September 2010 (the names are read out during the song in the background). These are songs about real issues, rather than songs about bizzare dance moves or lives lived solely in the pursuit of wealth and 'bling'.

I don't consider it at all naive to suggest that these songs can really matter, that a song can make a difference to someone's life. There's plenty of songs which have got me through some pretty bad days, or given me the motivation to enjoy some really good ones. Songs are like stories, they're subjective and because of that they have the potential to mean a huge amount to an individual, they are capable of meaning so much more than the simple combination of vocals and melody would suggest.

If you want to read more about just how important i believe both songs and stories to be, have a read of two of my earlier blog posts. Here's the one about music and here's the one about stories, personally that's one of the posts i'm most proud of, so i hope you enjoy it.

As always i'll finish this post with a song recommendation. Today's is fittingly a song which i've always loved, because of the passion involved and the lyrics which manage to capture emotions most people will have felt at some point. Also it proves my point that songs with passion aren't just ballads in my eyes, The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love.

As a footnote to this blog i'll put the set of lyrics that are arguably my favourite, by anyone, right now. They're from Frank Turner's song "I knew Prufock before he was famous".

"And i know i'm not the one who is habitually optimistic

But i'm the one who's got the microphone so just remember this.

Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings

About fire in our bellies and about furtive little feelings

And the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a flickering

And help us with remembering that the only thing that's left to do is live."

Too Cool To Care?

It seems to me that a lot of the time it is cooler to dislike something than to like it, to be bored by something than to show an interest, to love something rather than hate it. I've never really understood that, why disinterest and disdain are so desirable. It's not something new, actively choosing and embracing a negative outlook on most aspects of life seems to be a uniting thread throughout the generations. You only have to look at sketches like the '4 Yorkshire men' or listen to the majority of conversations in any pub, regardless of the participants to see that it is considered much more respectable to adopt a quite miserable view of the world. "You miserable bugger" is more often a term of endearment than a stinging criticism.

There are few things that annoy me more than someone reacting with sneering disdain for someone's passion or enthusiasm about a subject. It depresses me a bit that i have probably done it myself a few times, but i do make a conscious effort not to think like that, not to be dismissive of someone else's interests, even if they don't match up with my own.

It's for that reason that at least so far as music, films and tv etc are concerned, i'm going to try and use this blog to praise things rather than criticise. If you want angry, sarcastic criticism of stuff, look elsewhere, there's plenty of corners of the Internet and TV schedules devoted to exactly that.

On that note, here's a brief review of two TV shows out there that i've really enjoyed for the past couple of months. Sadly they both finished this week, which is a shame, but they were two shows i tuned into every week.

First up is Being Human on BBC 3. It's a show that's hard to sell with description, much like the E4 show Misfits. The story of a vampire, a ghost and a werewolf trying to find a place in society and just as the title suggests be human. It's an idea that could very easily be utterly crap, yet the writing has remained sharp enough throughout that it became excellent. Darkly comedic, genuinely powerful in places and engaging it has run for 3 seasons so far and each has been as good as the last. It's looked at social prejudice, loss, friendship, betrayal, grief and murder, all without ever spooning on the message heavy-handedly. I'd definitely recommend people start from the very beginning and watch through.

Second is another BBC show, Outcasts. Now this wasn't anything hugely special, it was always a little bit too average throughout to truly become a favourite show. However after the first series it was an enjoyable sci-fi about the last members of humanity trying to start afresh on a planet called Carpathia after the Earth has become uninhabitable. It has some really good ideas (the relationship between humans and clones, the concept that what is 'super-natural' on one planet, may simply be natural on another) but never quite manages to pull them off. The acting is decent without any real stand out performances.

I've deliberately kept this blog a bit more light hearted than last night's post about the situation in the Ivory Coast. I want to keep writing about those kind of issues, but i don't want this blog to become solely devoted to highlighting political situations that i wish i could change.

As usual i will end this blog with a song that i've listened to twice already today, a song i'm really loving right now off of the recently released 4th album by Elbow. I've not actually bought the album yet, i'm having to wait until my scholarship comes through for that and several other albums, but i heard this song a while ago and it's definitely wetted me appetite for the full album. The song's called "Lippy Kids" and i hope you enjoy it.

If A Dictator Falls But The Media Don't Pay Attention, Does It Make A Sound?

This is a little side note, irrelevant to the main thrust of this blog post, but bear with me, i'll get to the important stuff soon. I've got to say i'm loving the weather we've had the past few days. I'm definitely a summer person, it makes me an almost bizarre amount happier to be able to leave the house without needing a jumper. It's a fairly arbitrary thing, i don't have any great logical reason why it is so much better, but for me it really is. Winter has it's plus points (Fresh snow, cups of hot tea held in frozen hands, the Christmas holidays, Christmas dinner and big winter coats) but it begins to drag around the middle of February and i begin to crave sunlight and green leaves instead of bare, skeletal trees.

What with the Easter holidays getting closer, this improved weather and plans for the summer seeming all the more relevant i definitely feel like i won't have to wait too much longer until the summer. It's daft how much of a difference to my initial mood waking up to blue skies in the morning makes. If i manage to combine a good nights sleep, a blue sky morning and the right song on my iPod (today's song of choice was Angus & Julia Stone's song, 'Just a Boy') it really can set me up for the day. Sounds daft and a little cheesy i know, but doesn't mean it isn't true.

In other news while my thoughts are definitely with the people of Japan and Libya as they attempt to deal with utterly terrible situations, i do feel a bit of frustration at the comparative lack of interest the world is showing in what is taking place in the Ivory Coast.

In late November 2010, the Ivory Coast held a long delayed presidential election, contested by President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. The long standing ethnic and geographical divides that saw the country experience a civil war for the majority of the first decade of the 21st century had finally been calmed to a point where it was feasible to try and hold democratic elections.

The country has a long history of unrest, with their history either side of the turn of the millennium littered with attempted coups, massacres of protesters and a drawn out civil war between the north and south. Various leaders have attempted to rule and/or unite the country, utilising different degrees of violence, oppression and exploitation since it gained it's independence from France in 1960.

The elections themselves were judged to be, despite some instances of violence, essentially free and fair and for a brief time it seemed like there could be some reasons to be optimistic to be optimistic about the future of this war torn country. That hope was short lived however; when, on the 2nd of December 2010, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) released provisional results showing Ouattara winning with 54% of the vote, Gbagbo and his supporters declared the result invalid and refused to relinquish power.

Within a few weeks the UN, African Union, EU, United States and the former colonial power France had all acknowledged Ouattara as the rightful president of the country. Despite this Gbagbo was sworn in for another 5 year term and once again the country descended into violence.

Since the disputed election there has been violence in most major towns and cities, with supporters and security forces loyal to the two potential leaders clashing angrily. There are numerous reports of armed militia's loyal to Gbagbo roaming the cities committing atrocities and brutally suppressing any opposition supporters. Rumours of mass graves, 'death squads' and mass attacks, including rape, upon women in the region, are all seen to have a high degree of truth to them.

Ouattara is based in a hotel in Abidjan, the capital of the country, protected by a force of 800 UN peacekeepers who report that they are entirely surrounded by Gbagbo's militia, who are blockading the area, making it impossible for food, water and medical supplies to reach the hotel or surrounding areas.

A brutal leader, clinging onto power long after it has become indisputable that he is no longer the rightful ruler of the nation, brutally suppressing opposition and using militia to wage a campaign of terror and violence against political opponents and civilians alike. It sounds pretty similar to what is taking place further north on the continent, yet has received such a small amount of coverage comparatively.

Maybe it's the relative distance, maybe the lack of British financial interests in the area, perhaps just an example of what i've heard being called 'compassion fatigue' where after a certain point, people just struggle to keep caring about every issue they hear about, and in a situation like the one facing the people of the Ivory Coast, where violence and unrest is nothing new, is it simply that it won't sell newspapers any more. Personally i suspect it's a frustrating combination of all those factors, but right now my thoughts are going out to he people in the Ivory Coast, struggling for democracy just like the people we supported in northern Africa. They deserve our thoughts and the attention of our politicians just as much.

A collection of thoughts on a Sunday evening in March

Dissertation proposal done. Being Human season finalé watched. Two extremely tasty meals eaten. All in all this Sunday's turned out alright, which was far from guaranteed when i woke up.

I have to say i was more than a little nervous this morning, despite my best intentions i really didn't make the progress i was hoping for on the work yesterday, meaning that it was still seeming pretty damn daunting. Gradually though today, despite many distractions, some worthwhile, others less so, i chipped away at the word count until at about half past 8 i saved a final draft of it and made some food, chicken kiev's as it turned out. I'm quite happy with it so far, but at the same time i am glad that it isn't binding, i'm not ready to commit to the topic yet. If i'm being honest i don't think it's a question of the topic so much as just not being ready to commit to any particular future.

My parents and sister came to visit today, we went for a meal and basically just had a good catch up. We spent quite a bit of time talking about the ideas i have about what jobs i could see myself doing. I think it was partly inspired by the journalism assignment i completed, where i wrote about the challenge facing people like me, coming towards the end of their second year of university, the challenge of deciding what exactly they want to when their degrees come to an end. I've been giving it quite a bit of thought and right now there are three career paths which appeal to me, all of them perhaps slightly naively aspirational, all of them probably a far distance from where i will eventually end up.

1) First up, this kind of a continuation of a career i've had in mind for a long time, that is of course to be a journalist. I've been wanting to do this for years, i've always wanted to write for a living and i've always believed that journalists play an important role in society. It's the natural conclusion i guess to that second element that i would love to work for someone like Reuters or the Associated Press, an organisation that is global, committed to trying to present balanced and objective coverage of events. They're not perfect, they have their faults and their aims create some limits in terms of creative scope. I'd love to work in some far away country, covering events and making sure that people whose stories might never be told are heard by a potentially global audience. As aims for a future career i go i reckon that i could do a lot worse.

2) A lecturer in American Politics at university. This is a new one, a career born out of a realisation that i have a passion for the subject and that maybe if i continue to study the subject, to post graduate or masters level, i could turn that interest into an occupation. I'd find it fascinating to keep studying the politics of the country, with all it's fascinating and contradictory details. I'm less certain about that career path, i guess because it's only occurred to me as an option over the last few months. I quite like the idea of teaching, though it's hard to put that appeal into words without it sounding cheesy, even by my standards. So i guess i'll leave it at that and move on to job 3.

3) This one is certainly the least feasible and realistic, but i would love to find myself in a position where my primary occupation and source of income was writing either novels or writing screenplays for film or TV. I loved doing the screenplay writing task in film studies, and anyone who even vaguely knows me will be aware that i have some aspirations to write novels. The story i wrote when i should have been revising for my A-levels is probably the one thing i have ever done that i am most proud of, not because i have any misguided notions about the literary merits of the story itself (it was distinctly average in all honesty) but instead i'm proud of the fact i wrote something of that level, i'm proud that i followed through on an idea that i was passionate about and i'm proud that for once i managed to put one of the myriad of ideas that float around my head all the time into a more coherent and corporeal form. It was a hugely satisfying experience to print it off and hold the physical copy of my story in my hands. I still have that copy in my room at uni now, i look at it every so often just to remind myself that if, and it's proven time and time again to be a frustratingly big IF, i can maintain enthusiasm for something, maintain a degree of focus, then i'm capable of creating something i can be proud of. I'd love it if one day i could create something that lots of other people appreciate, but for now, it's enough that i am happy with it.

As usual i'm going to end the post with a music recommendation. I don't post these assuming people haven't heard of them before, or that they're the greatest thing since sliced bread, merely that they're a band or artist that i really am enjoying at the time that i write, and i believe music, like anything that can make someone happy, should be shared.

Today i'm recommending 'The Boxer Rebellion' and more specifically their most recent album 'The Cold Still', not sure how to describe it, because it is, in my opinion at least, a quite entertainingly varied album. I hear the influences of Mumford and Sons, Radiohead, Mando Diao and possibly a bit of Band of Horses. If you listen to just one song, i'd say listen to this one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj-i-5SgT4E.

Saturday 12th March - A Few Thoughts

I'm a bit tense while writing this, but that's because i'm listening on the radio to the Forest match against Doncaster and as the season gets closer and closer to the end the nerves involved in every match grow to an almost ridiculous level. In the last few weeks Forest have appeared to do their absolute best to throw away a very promising position. Thankfully none of the teams around us have been able to find any real consistency either so we're still very much in the race for promotion.

Later i'll be watching the FA cup game between Arsenal and Man U and i will definitely be supporting Arsenal; i quite like them as a team, they play good football, they always have a few exciting youngsters who are given a chance in the 1st team, Wenger has shown patience in building a team with real potential and he's been given the time to do so by the board. I felt pretty sorry for them on wednesday, if the ref had shown a little bit of common sense rather than sending Van Persie off for kicking the ball away, i reckon they'd have been in with a real chance of beating Barcelona. In that atmosphere, with such a short time between the referee blowing his whistle and the incident, 99% of players would have done exactly the same as the Arsenal striker so it seems harsh that he, and his team were punished in the way they were. Still it would all have been very different if Bendtner could actually live up to his potential for once, and had finished that chance in the dying moments. I really don't think he's good enough for a top team, he shows ability in flashes but he's hugely inconsistent and you never feel confident that he'll take even the simplest of chances. Seeing as they were also unlucky against Birmingham in the League Cup final, though their downfall in the end was of their own making, i really hope they manage to keep going in the FA Cup and chase down Man U in the league as well. It'd be nice to see someone other than Man U or Chelsea win the premiership for once.

It's not impossible that part of my motivation for writing this blog and focussing on the sport this weekend is that i'm doing everything in my power to foolishly avoid doing work. I have to hand in a dissertation proposal on Monday, it's meant to be around 2,000 words and right now i really don't want to do any more work on it, but i know i'm just going to have to man up and just get on with it soon if i want to avoid that horrible last minute scramble to meet a word count. It's kind of daunting just thinking about that particular D-word, it sounds quite appallingly grown up and serious. I'm sure i'll get this proposal done in the end, just need to find a bit of focus.

I've always been pretty bad for procrastination, but in the last few months i've been even worse than usual. I don't know what it is, why i'm finding it that bit harder to muster the energy to do work or why it's taking longer than usual for the fear to take hold and force me to work. There's really not much time left in this semester of university, so i just need to actually get on with my work, however the difference between acknowledging that fact and acting on it are very different.

I'm kind of loving this song right now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y . It's called 'Home' and it's by the brilliantly named 'Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros'. From the whistles in the intro, to the slightly odd but kind of heart warming conversation in the middle, to the conclusion it's sheer feel-good music, the kind of song you put on when the sun's out and you're walking somewhere.

That's all for today but i'm sure i'll write again tomorrow when i want a break from writing the proposal.

Friday the 11th of March

This post is mostly going to be about music but i felt that it's only right that i start it by saying that right now my thoughts are with two sets of people half the world away this evening. I hope the news coming in from Japan doesn't get any worse, that the situation at the nuclear plant resolves itself and the men and women of Japan are able to begin to get their lives back on track soon after this earthquake. The footage that has turned up on the internet is shocking and awe inspiring in the worst possible way; the raw power of the earthquake and the tsunami that followed it have proven that even the most technologically advanced societies on earth are still vulnerable to the sheer power of a natural disaster. The other people on my mind are the Libyan rebels; fighting and dying for every town and city as Gaddafi attacks his 'people' with a brutal disregard for human life. Meanwhile the UN debates and discusses faced with the minefield of international diplomacy and a situation where there is no indisputable right answer. Personally i'd support the creation of a no fly zone over Libya, recognising the council in Benghazi as the legitimate government and offering them advice and weapons (seeing as we've helped arm most of the other powers in the region it would be nice if for once we gave our weapons to the good guys).

On a lighter note, i've been enjoying doing the 30 day song challenge on facebook (basically a set of rules which require you to post a different song, chosen on a different set of criteria, each day, and post it on your wall) it's been an interesting experiment and posed me several almost unanswerable questions; how on earth am i meant to choose my favourite song for example? It's a question for which the answer changes on an almost hourly basis, depending on my mood and where i am. As it was i chose my favourite Bloc Party song, This Modern Love as this has been pretty consistently up amongst my favourite songs. I've found it really entertaining trying to work out which songs fit which categories, though some have definitely been easier (favourite band) than others (a song that makes you happy - there were a lot of options).

It's also been good fun to go on the main page for the challenge and scroll through what other people have put. I find it fascinating to look at which songs other people find happy or sad, which songs carry particular meaning and which bands they simply can't stand. It's been a great reminder of just how subjective music is, how one person's favourite song can be another's most hated, without it saying anything critical about either person.

Music has some objective value, like any art form; there are some pieces which require more skill than others, some which challenge the audience more, but in the end the most important aspects; whether you enjoy it, whether it takes on some meaning beyond that of a simple 3 minute song or whether it captures peoples imaginations, all that is subjective and i'm incredibly glad for that. I love the fact that despite the hyper-socialised world most people of my age group live in, where peer pressure can be implemented on a national or global scale via the internet, music, and the arts in general, are still so wonderfully subjective. You may say you like one song or another to impress someone else, but deep down you have opinions on that songs which are entirely personal and i'm intensely grateful for that.

The experiment was one of a whole host of reasons why i've decided to change my own attitude to this blog. I'm going to try and post more frequently, instead of only writing when i have something that has been bugging me for days at a time. I'm going to try and write most days, even if it's just to post a song or two which i think people should listen to, recommend a tv show or film i think people should watch or just ramble about what is on my mind.

So today (it's technically tomorrow, or yesterday depending on your perspective, i'm too tired to care either way) i'm going to recommend a band from New Zealand called 'The Naked And The Famous'. If you're going to go on a night out, or just want a song or two to get you in a more upbeat mood, check them out. I'd particularly recommend 'Punching In A Dream' and 'Girls Like You' if you only have time to listen to a couple.

I think i'll finish this blog with a brief section of lyrics from one of my favourite songs right now:

I still believe, in the need, for guitars and drums and desperate poetry

If i was ever to get a tatoo, those words would be the ones i'd get done.

Any feedback is very welcome, whether it's good or bad, plus any musical recommendations are always much appreciated.

This Country Can Be Ugly, But Isn't It Beautiful

I was sat on a train for a few hours on Monday, travelling through East Anglia and the Midlands, between Norwich and Leicester and a thought occurred to me, a thought that brought a genuine smile to my face, one free from self-consciousness for a wonderful yet brief moment. It was an idea that is sadly passed over in so much media coverage, an idea forgotten by so many people who live in England and ignored by so many who have turned pessimistic views and cynicism into a career choice. It's a simple concept really.

England is utterly beautiful. Granted it was an uncharacteristically sunny March day, but i couldn't escape the fact as i hurtled through the countryside, that regardless of all the things going wrong in our country there are so many things that are right, and it's about time they got some attention. I was sat reading a paper, the Independent, and was struck by the contrast between the England covered in the stories within the paper and the country i was seeing out of the window.

Now try not to dismiss this as merely the ramblings of a hopeless optimist naively ignoring the truth in much of what the Independent and the majority of the other media outlets cover. I have been as angry as most at the state of this country, at the decisions of our politicians and the attitude of our citizens. I was just abruptly more aware of all the things I take for granted.

I've often found myself presented with a conflict. Patriotism, a pride in your national identity, has become almost inseparable from some heavily negative connotations. The flag of St. George has been adopted by far right groups who embody all that i consider wrong with our country. I'd take a guess and say that of the many adjectives people could come up with, positive or negative, to describe me, patriotic is not one of them. That's simply not true, i'm hugely proud to be English, i just don't believe that pride has to be jingoistic or hate filled. I'm proud of the very multi-cultural England that David Cameron is so keen to dismiss as a failure. Too often the problems of 21st century England are laid at the feet of immigrants, so as to distract from the larger, more pressing issues (for example, Vodafone's billion pound tax write off from the coalition). Any government that can argue that there must be a cap on immigration because of the economic pressures it places upon us, while simultaneously letting one of their business friends ignore billions of pounds of corporate tax (and Vodafone are just one example, look at Barclays, Topshop etc.) really can't be trusted. The sad thing is that i can't simply level this criticism at the Coalition, Labour have proven to be just as bad.

I'm proud to know people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, proud to be from a country that across the world is seen as a beacon of democracy and freedom. That may sound cheesy and naive, but even the Home Office acknowledges that contrary to the reports of papers like the Daily Mail and The Sun, the large majority of immigrants (especially, but far from exclusively Asylum Seekers) have no in depth knowledge of the British benefit system. There's this myth perpetuated that getting into England is easy. That immigration is not controlled or monitored sufficiently. If any of the people believing this myth took the time to look into the realities of applying for a visa or work permit in the UK, read any of the related web pages (http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier2/ or http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier5/), or heaven forbid, actually talk to a genuine immigrant, they would realise that to get the chance to work in the UK, if you are from outside the EU at least (which let's be honest, it's the immigrants from these areas that face the most hostility) you are required to jump through a series of ever narrowing hoops.

I got a little sidetracked there, but it was an important track to take. Carrying on with my list of things i love about England, i love the passion of the people, the quality of the arts that we produce (a quality that is threatened by the Coalition's cuts, but that's another post, for another day) and the welfare services available to people. If i was forced to choose one thing, right now, which i held up above all others as an example of the things our country has got right, it would be the NHS. Even the most cursory glance at the US healthcare system makes me incredibly glad i was born this side of the Atlantic. For a country which prides itself on the concept that 'All men are created equal' they've fought tooth and claw to maintain the idea that a person's access to good quality healthcare should be dependent on the money in their wallet. In my politics lecture on American politics i learnt that it costs the average American nearly $12k to insure a family of four for just 1 year. It is that kind of figure that really makes it hit home just how lucky i am to have grown up in a country with the NHS. It's far from perfect but it is abundantly clear that we as a nation often seem to fail to appreciate just what it is that we have.

Another sidetrack, also important, deal with it. I live in Leicester, a city renowned and in some cases mocked for it's ethnic diversity, and contrary to Cameron's belief that this multi-cultural society is eroding our national identity, i consider myself almost exclusively English. I am also British, European and human, but these are all distant secondary identifications. There are only a few things that sadden me more than the fact that it feels like to be proud to be English there is some requirement or assumption that i must also be suspicious of change, borderline racist and revel in narrow minded nationalism. England is a mongrel nation, invaded time and time again, made stronger by immigrants over the last 400 years, a nation that thanks to it's incredibly questionable colonial history has links all over the world. I refuse to accept that to be proud to be English means i should distrust or openly dislike immigration. How paranoid and insecure do you have to be about your own identity to feel so intensely threatened by immigration? There needs to be serious discussions about immigration, about what levels are practical for a nation our size. But they are debates that have to be conducted based on facts rather than prejudices, debates which have to be open and honest rather than manipulated by politicians and media figures for their own ends.

The basic point of this rant is to say that the English people are inherently tolerant, that England is incredibly beautiful and that we really need to start appreciating all the great things we have, rather than letting the national discourse become so unrelentingly negative.

This was a rant inspired by a 3 hour journey across the English countryside, a rant inspired by just how happy it made me to look out over the countryside on one of the first sunny days of spring. It was an over simplistic, idealised happiness, but i realised it was one i should cherish.

So here's to a reasoned debate on immigration, an appreciation for the beauty of the English countryside, a beauty which must be preserved, and most importantly, reclaiming the idea of being patriotically English from the thugs, fascists, bigots and scum that give our incredible, diverse and fascinating nation a bad name.