Singing the perfect song at choir

My all time favourite band is Queen so I was absolutely beside myself on Monday night at choir when Annie played the new song reveal. Within seconds, by the end of the first few notes, most of us had got it and were all joining in with ‘Toni-ight, I’m gonna have myseeelf, a real good time, Ah feel a-li-i-i-ive. And the wuuuuurld.....’ – aw man, it was just brilliant!  Not only were we singing one of my favourite songs by my favourite band, we were singing the song that’s another of our kind of family anthems.

I’ve been a fan of Queen ever since the seventies, when I used to stand in front of the mirror with a hairbrush and belt out the (lesser-known) songs from their first few albums. In 1982, Alex and I saw the band perform live at Ingliston Showground. No concert will ever top it. And, through the years since, various Queen songs have been special and significant for many different reasons. This would turn into a very long blog post if I was to start on about every Queen track I like, so, I’ll get back to our new choir song!

Our kids love Queen too (they never really had a choice...) and, at many a family ‘do’, Gemma and I have battled it out over ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ on Sing Star. Needless to say, Gemma usually wins – and I’ve got even less of a chance of beating her from now on; while Gemma hits nearly every note, I’ll be jumping around aimlessly between the tune and my new low harmony part! However, it’s a small price to pay for the pleasure of singing the song at choir and hearing the result of Annie’s fantastic arrangement. ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ is such a ‘feel-good’ song and it just couldn’t have been a better choice on Monday night – not only because I love the song, but because it just seemed so apt considering the few days that had preceded choir...

Last Friday, I put the phone on to speaker so that Alex and I could share the moment as our very emotional daughter told her very emotional maw and paw that she’d been offered a summer internship for next year down in London with JP Morgan. Gemma had attended an interview the day before (actually, interview doesn’t really cover it; she had to assess and present a case study, participate in a team-work exercise and demonstrate her numerical skills before being grilled during two separate interviews, all in one day) and we’d been waiting anxiously to hear from her. Gemma's been working really hard towards this, in many different ways, for the past year and a half and we’re just so chuffed, delighted and proud that all the hard graft and effort she’s put in has paid off. Someone said to me recently that it's a lot easier for young folk that are naturally bright to get on in life. Gemma's done well in all her exams - but she's in no way gifted! She's worked hard for every exam she's sat (hence her pretty average results at Uni, where partying became more appealing, at times, than studying!) and she was interviewed along with a whole bunch of pretty high falutin students. Hard graft, a positive attitude, drive and commitment play a huge part in succeeding in things - no matter what the thing is. Great results on paper alone won't get anyone very far, especially nowadays. And even the hard graft, work experience and all the rest of it sometimes still isn't enough. If you do put in a lot of effort and hard work though, you're hopefully more likely to be rewarded. That's what's happened for Gemma and, I reckon, there'll be just no stopping her now!

On Sunday Alex competed in a scenic 10K road race, with part of the route taking him over the Forth Road Bridge and back. While he was warming up for the event, he stumbled over on his ankle. Now, a sensible person would’ve kicked off their trainers, gone and asked for an ice pack to reduce the swelling and accepted that the game was a bogey - as far as running was concerned - for a few days. But, when it comes to running, Alex’s not sensible. So, he ran the race, then got into the car and drove to Grangemouth Stadium, put on his spikes and competed in the 3k steeplechase. Yup, that is the one that involves running round the track jumping over big barriers and a water jump. He’s been hobbling around ever since, but “it was worth it to get the points for the team”.  When it comes to being daft about running, there’s just no stopping him.

Ross was also representing the club at the Men’s League in Grangemouth, but his event was the 10k. There aren’t many opportunities to run a 10k on the track – especially at his age - so he’d been delighted when coach asked him to do it. To be honest, I actually found it really difficult to watch. It’s  a psychological battle, as well as a physical one, but Ross stepped up to the mark, finished in a good time and won some valuable points for the team. For twenty five laps round the track, there was just no stopping him.

And as for Gordon, well he went back to school on Tuesday so, on Monday, we’d nipped into town to get some last minute essentials (like trousers and shirts – talk about leaving it till the last minute!). I had a few lump-in-the-throat moments, as I always do at the end of the school holidays, and was thinking a lot about just how much less Gordon really needs his auld maw now. As he blethered to the sales guy in Slaters, I was thinking about how mature he is in his attitude and that, no matter what the future holds for him, his amiable personality will help see him through (Gordon’s personality I mean – not the guy in Slaters!). Having said that, this time last year, Gordon was pretty de-motivated at school and didn’t think he’d do very well in his fourth year exams. He managed to rise above that though and - with a little bit of gentle encouragement - get his head down to achieve a great set of results. Hopefully there’ll be no stopping him doing the same again this year (‘You can lead them to the water but can’t make them drink’ definitely springs to mind here..) however, I’ll be proud of him no matter what news the Postie brings next August, just as long as he’s tried his best. And I’m pretty sure there’ll be no stopping him doing that.

So, all of that together made ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ the perfect song for me to be singing at choir this week. I loved the way Annie had arranged the song, I loved watching the soloists sing those famous wee lines and I just had a brilliant time. In fact, I didn't want the night to stop at awwwwww-awwwl, na na na na naaaa, na na na na.....