Earworms

We watch a movie – it’s got quite the soundtrack.

We buy an unusually small bottle of gas – and call it baby gas (do do do do do doo baby gas).

We sit in a bar – and hear a song we haven’t heard in years.

We enjoy a leisurely coffee in a kiwi surf town – and listen to the best Sunday chilled out tunes you could ever wish for.

We lie in bed in a (nearly) deserted Austrian forest campsite, with the only other campers having the loudest rave you’ve ever heard until 3pm, with their young children screaming along to the lyrics.

We sit down at the end of a long day at a dingy bar on a cobbled street and hear an unexpected track from our (totally not mis-spent) youth which makes us smile from ear to ear.

And then you sit on the bike for 7 hours the next day with only your thoughts for company (granted, Sarah and I do talk – but it’s mostly about food, toilet stops, route choices or aching body parts). And into that void creeps those songs that you’ve heard – joyfully accompanying you up a mountain, feeling like a leaf on the wind as you fly down it or maybe even angrily repeating a ditty as you plug away into a headwind (do do dooo baby shark). Welcome to the concept of earworms.

We’ve tried to embrace them by making a playlist on Spotify – it’s grown and grown over the course of the trip. It captures specific moments that we enjoyed (or were terrorised by), time in bars, TV shows and catchphrases that became songs.

There’s PLENTY to judge us by in this, but thought some of you might like to have some different music to listen to for a change. Or see what we’ve been listening to. Every song has some kind of story or moment behind it – I’ll explain a few below, but if any of them pique your interest feel free to ask in the comments and I’ll share.

I’m pretty sure you’ll need a Spotify account to properly listen, but the button below might work for some of you non-Spotify folk. Enjoy (and skip away, as there are some shockers in there!)

Proud Mary (Tina Turner) This started one day on the Danube, rolling down the river… the lyrics speak for themselves, we’ve followed plenty of rivers and our big wheels keep on turning. Rollin’ rollin’…

Keep the Car Running (Arcade Fire) An absolute tune – but it went on the list as we’ve spent far too much time sat on the floor outside convenience stores scoffing food, often inhaling the fumes of cars left running as the owner runs inside leaving their cars left unattended. Infuriating!

One Day More (Les Miserables) Arrive, tent up, make beds, cook dinner, wash up, relax, sleep, pack tent, back on the bikes. ONE DAY MORE! This became especially true on our final day of effort to get to Istanbul.

California Dreamin’ (The Mamas and The Papas) Planning for the US of A this was an obvious song which wormed its way into our ears!

The Power of Love (Celine Dion) Because we spent a week cycling with some French Canadians in Japan, so this made sense.

Down Under (Men At Work) Such fun lyrics that you just need to sing along… “He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich”

Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O’Connor) She died, so it felt sensible.

When I Get Old (Chung Ha) K-Pop at its finest, and we heard it a LOT in Korea!

Home (The Magnetic Zeroes) Two reasons this went on; after reaching the bottom of NZ, it very much felt like we were starting our journey home. Plus the lyrics are based around US states, which we’re now learning more about!

Shima Uta (The Boom) A 90’s Japanese classic that was a karaoke centrepiece whilst I lived in Japan in 2006/7. I’d forgotten the lyrics, but I could just about keep up reading the Japanese on screen in 2023 – proud!

Bubbles (Biffy Clyro) I’ve spent far far far too long finding air leaks in my inflatable pillow, my inflatable mat and bike inner tubes. BUBBLES.

The Office Theme (US) Purely because we demolished every single episode (100s!) on this trip. It was our friend on many a cold, wet and dark night in the tent! Big laughs, and far better than the UK version!

Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks) Another TV addition, we’re midway through David Nicholl’s One Day on Netflix at the moment. Full of great music!

Pompeii MMXXIII (Bastille) We ‘found’ a way to watch the 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing last Autumn, and a real earworm was the Hans Zimmerman/Bastille performance of this song, which was the theme tune to Planet Earth 3. We’ve really seen the wonders of this world on this trip, and this song somehow captures that awe.

Baby Shark No. This song is not on the list. It can’t go on. It’s too much of an earworm to re-enter our ears if we’ve ever managed to rid our ears of it.

Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac) A classic moment in super rural NZ. A guy who must have been about 70, walked across the supermarket car park on a sunny day, into a highly polished 2010 Jag, wound down all the windows and slowly drove off to the intro music to Rhiannon. Dude.

Beautiful Dreamer (Bing Crosby) Not a lot I want to say about this one, except it’s a beautiful piece and it makes me think about a special someone. It’s amazing how music can conjure up moments and thoughts.

Bennie and the Jets (Elton John) We met a lovely couple called Bennie and Jennie. And then Elton John crawled into my ear and started singing this song. A LOT.

Weather With You (Crowded House) One of New Zealand’s finest exports, and we try to take the weather with us on this trip. Usually headwind.

Saturday Night (Whigfield) We all kind of know the moves to this a little bit, but my sister in law Naomi knows the moves HARD. Good memories of all being together for my Mum’s birthday last August.

Keep on Keeping On (Curtis Mayfield) Not a song I knew, but the refrain from this song is gentle encouragement that two people have given me on a number of occasions (Alex T and Daniel A). I didn’t know the song, but love it!

Call on Me (Eric Prydz) A university classic, and I heard it nearly every day in a row in Europe. So it had to go on…

Thomas the Tank Engine Quite left field, but we met a lovely guy with a name which nearly matched Thomas Tank to the letter. And he could SHIFT it when on his bike, mostly on the hard shoulder of a motorway… head down, bottom up and storming his way to Istanbul. Not our way of doing it, but kudos to how he did it!

My Silver Lining (First Aid Kit) The lyrics to this song probably justify a whole blog in itself. It’s a song that Sarah and I have listened to a lot over the last few years – different lines have resonated at different times, and taken on different meanings. One things for sure – when the sun is shining, the trees are green and you’re swooping down a hill… this song plays in my head LOUD.