Why a little piece of my heart will always belong to Bryan Adams
Ever
since I heard the opening guitar of ‘Have you ever really loved a woman’ and
the line ‘give her wings when she wants to fly’ a little bit of me inside
melted. I was only 12.
Need I say more?
My very
first cassette was ‘Can’t Stop This Thing We’ve Started’ which I bought with pocket
money for my Walkman and cherished more than my cat. I really loved that cat.
Then
when I broke up with my first ever boyfriend at 15, I played ‘Please Forgive Me’
on repeat in my bedroom and sobbed into my pillow. You know which bit I mean – the slow fade in
at the beginning… and the aching sound of the electric guitar…
Then I discovered
the ‘Waking Up the Neighbours’ album and thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
Hang on…
Just
realised there’s a lot of 'flying like birds' references in the songs. It works,
Bryan. It really does.
A
couple of years ago I fell out with someone I hardly knew, and in an attempt to
make friends, I invited her over for a cuppa.
When it turned out she was also a secret Bryan Adams fan, the music came
on, the beer came out and the neighbours were well and truly woken up. You know who you are, friend.
And
last year, I finally got to see the lovely Bryan at the MEN in Manchester for
his 20th Anniversary Waking Up The Neighbours tour. My wonderful boyfriend really wasn’t that
keen. Perhaps it was just a little bit
of jealousy about my little piece of lovin’ for Bryan. All’s fair in love and war.
But
there was one point in the night when he managed a smile too. ‘Summer of ’69’ and simultaneous crazy air
guitar by over 20,000 fans. Including me!
Need I say more?


Just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Bryan Adams (yes, the actual Mr Adams was here) for retweeting my blog - I am immensley grateful, and thank you to all the fans and their subsequent messages. Follow me on Twitter @JWilbyPalmer
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this - I'm a long time Bryan Adams fan and have been so for over 20 years now, have seen him in concert more than 120 times in 18 different countries around the world - I have lots of amazing memories, I've had some life-defining experiences (some very happy, some bittersweet), and I've made the best lifelong friends I've ever had in meeting other like-minded fans. All the songs and albums you've described above have been like a soundtrack to my life through good times and bad. It's amazing how one musician and their songs can have such an impact on your life. Things have changed a bit for me now and for a range of reasons I only go to his concerts occasionally - but I will always have an affinity with the man and the memories, and for their role in making me the person I am today :o)
ReplyDeleteDear Helen, yes good music often reminds us of happier times, and sadder times! Sorry to hear you're not getting to as many gigs as usual, but goodness me, 120 times is amazing! You must be his number one fan! (you're not his Mum are you?) ;-) Thanks so much for posting, I love it when the blog gets great messages like this!
Deletehaha not his Mum ...but he's old enough to be my Dad :D
ReplyDeleteMine too! But I still fancy him ;-)
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