Washing to brushing, soaking to buffing, let's dust off and polish up a selection of songs that seek to purify object, body or mind
"I need to get clean," says the troubled dockworkers' union leader, Frank Sobotka, in the timelessly brilliant series The Wire, before attempting to do an honest day's work while in a mire of corruption and financial meltdown. But what does getting clean mean? And will it work?
Pablo Picasso described the purpose of art as "washing the dust of daily life from our souls". A somewhat higher concept, but while we might cleanse the soul through the spiritual practice of the brush, this master of the ethereal was also one of the wry and earthy. I therefore ponder the precise translator's art over washing "our souls".
"By the dirt 'neath my nails I guess he knew I wouldn't lie," retorts Bob Dylan in Motorpsycho Nightmare, bringing the subject neatly now into song, and reminding that a little dust never did any harm. Cleansing needs dirt, and dirt needs cleansing. And all lives have an ablutionary cycle of daily grime and scrubbing, moving between the soil and the sublime, the solution and the slime. So too can the writing and performing of music be a process of cleansing on all sorts of levels.
Cleaning, or yearning to clean, clears the vision, sheds old skin, opens the pores, filters and refines. And whether done on tooth or hair, floor or wall, through the mind or body, by hand or by machine, the physical act of washing can bring a sensual soundscape of musicality, an orchestra of ablution. The whoosh of a washing machine, the squeak of a plate, the plop of mop, the bristle of brush. The bubbling bath, the shoeshine shimmer, the fluffing, buffing up, the scrubbing, rubbing down and resultant glimmer. The soaking through, the dabbing on, the squeezing out, the dripping dry. The soapy plunge, the car wash sponge, power blowing, laundry folding.
We deodorise, cauterise, and sanitise. We absterge, edulcorate, and depurate. We expunge, elutriate and exfoliate. We shampoo, blow and winnow. We purge, polish and purify. And whether obsessively or lazily, sloppily or crazily, we might cleanse with lemon, varnish with vodka, polish with vinegar, dust with white bread in hand, stand naked in rain or bathe in sand.
Feeling cleaner yet? Spring has finally sprung in water-stained Britain, so it seems a good time to clear out your clutter and chuck out your chintz. So too can the experience, purpose and effect of cleansing be reflected in your song suggestions. But one thing to bear in mind – we're not looking for a list of songs for clean to, not songs to hoover to or do the washing up to, vacuum or polish your brass fittings to or mindlessly massage a mood to. Not the latest of lists like songs run to, songs to make love to, get married to, songs to have a shit to, do shiatsu to, songs to sit on a jury to, songs to give birth to, songs to shop to or die to.
But it is time to clean the pipes and refresh the pumps towards a new refreshing collection that from cleansing to disinfecting, rinsing to raking, and reflects any part of this clean new theme. And this week an a mystery guru will offered a spotlessly refined, filtered and extremely pure list from your suggestions on Thursday 27 March, so please place your nominations by last orders (11pm GMT) this coming Monday 24 March.
To increase the likelihood of your nomination being considered, please:
• Tell us why it's a worthy contender.
• Quote lyrics if helpful, but for copyright reasons no more than a third of a song's words.
• Provide a link to the song. We prefer Muzu or YouTube, but Spotify, SoundCloud or Grooveshark are fine.
• Listen to others people's suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist.
• If you have a good theme for Readers recommend, or if you'd like to volunteer to compile a playlist, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com or adam.boult@theguardian.com
• There's a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are "zedded", at the Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of "zedded", "donds" and other strange words used by RR regulars.
• Many RR regulars also congregate at the 'Spill blog.
by Peter Kimpton via Music: Electronic music | theguardian.com
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