Growing up, moving on, leaving your youth behind: all more serious than you might think. You don’t leave your twenties without being damaged. At some point, your heart will be shattered, you will scar and never heal, you will spend your nights wasted and your days in bits, you will lose your certainty in everything you thought was true – love, friends, talent. But that’s OK. It’s just the way it is.
Soon after the release of this album, I split with a long-term boyfriend and got together with the man I’m now married to. It wasn’t easy; it was tough and dark and devastating. But worth it, for all involved. So, if you’ve ever come down hard, seen the havoc that love can cause, then picked yourself up and tried to move on – 13 is for you. If you know how terrible it is to grow apart from people and still try to be friends – 13 is for you. It pin-points that awful desperation in trying be happy when you’re not, that desire to be out of the house and out of your mind when you’re all messed up. And it shows that, if you really work, beauty can come out of chaos. It aims high – musically and emotionally – and, for me, it’s an inspiration.
13 sounds like the grown-up I would like to be. I really, REALLY love this album; abstruse, romantic, bloody-minded joy that it is. Especially when the guitar kicks in on Trimm Trabb.
My favourite album: 13 by Blur | Music | guardian.co.uk
This might all sound overly sentimental, especially when you’re not sharing the feeling towards said record. ‘13’ is my favourite album* as well though, so reading this makes my heart warm a little…
(*It used to be a toss between this and Dog Man Star; if pressed though I’d go for 13.)
Source:
