As I was striding along the Carn Dearg massif heading toward Ben Nevis last week, the grandure and splendid isolation brought beethoven's ninth symphony to mind.
However, a few hours later, crossing the Arête, (a 1km long, narrow ridge of rock) in thick mists and with a gale trying to blow me to my doom, I suddenly found myself whistling the Belfast hornpipe. I continued to do so all the way to the freezing top of the mountain and "safety"...
So, what tunes have sprung to mind when your life has been in peril then?
I know that one. Anyone who's ever surfed off the front of Napier beach (NZ) which only gets going when it's big will understand how deadly the undercurrent is. I was trying to make it into shore with a broken surfboard in 15 foot surf and getting dragged back out in less than six inches of water whistling "Follow Me Up to Carlow" (my Granny's song) thinking this is the last tune I'm ever going to hear.
Hiking without a watch and losing track of time caused me to end up climbing solo out of the Grand Canyon one moonlit summer night. I didn't even have a flashlight. My heart was pounding like a bodhran in my ears and throat as I barely found the trail. Instead of a tune running through my head, my mantra became a series of profanities to the rhythm of my bodhran "heartbeat."
Tunes when in peril
Tunes when in peril
As I was striding along the Carn Dearg massif heading toward Ben Nevis last week, the grandure and splendid isolation brought beethoven's ninth symphony to mind.
However, a few hours later, crossing the Arête, (a 1km long, narrow ridge of rock) in thick mists and with a gale trying to blow me to my doom, I suddenly found myself whistling the Belfast hornpipe. I continued to do so all the way to the freezing top of the mountain and "safety"...
So, what tunes have sprung to mind when your life has been in peril then?
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by stripthewillow
Re: Tunes when in peril
Is it relevant to distuinguish between the sub sets of "peril through no fault of your own," and "deliberatly putting onself in peril"?
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: Tunes when in peril
Apparently the film "Finding Nemo" has scenes containing "mild peril". This could be used to calibrate a perilometer.
Then there was Beryl the Peril.
Perhaps it's the other way round though sometimes. I probably put myself in peril when playing. Only time will tell; never the least.
Glad you got back safely, by the way. I always did like the Belfast.
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by cyber-bullying is a criminal offence
Re: Tunes when in peril
I am dissapointed as I thought this thread was about the suggested tunes for the australian cricket team .
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by bazouki dave
Re: Tunes when in peril
I used to roll out of the gate in Ramadi, Iraq singing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round."
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by jwvansteenwyk
Re: Tunes when in peril
I like that Jason. Nice change of pace from "Ride of the Valkyries". I can see Robert Duval saying "...I love the smell of crayons in the morning..."
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tunes when in peril
Hmm. In peril, as in 'whistling past the graveyard'?
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by Michele Sims
Re: Tunes when in peril
Was talking politics in bed once with a girl called Margaret and she fell asleep. Found myself whistling Drowsy Maggie as I crept down the stairs.
# Posted on July 20th 2009 by Free Reed
Re: Tunes when in peril
I know that one. Anyone who's ever surfed off the front of Napier beach (NZ) which only gets going when it's big will understand how deadly the undercurrent is. I was trying to make it into shore with a broken surfboard in 15 foot surf and getting dragged back out in less than six inches of water whistling "Follow Me Up to Carlow" (my Granny's song) thinking this is the last tune I'm ever going to hear.
# Posted on July 21st 2009 by Patkiwi
Re: Tunes when in peril
"Politics"? Was this young lady the Margaret who became our leaderene? Private Eye recommends Ugandan discussions in such circumstances.
# Posted on July 21st 2009 by RichardB
Re: Tunes when in peril
Hiking without a watch and losing track of time caused me to end up climbing solo out of the Grand Canyon one moonlit summer night. I didn't even have a flashlight. My heart was pounding like a bodhran in my ears and throat as I barely found the trail. Instead of a tune running through my head, my mantra became a series of profanities to the rhythm of my bodhran "heartbeat."
# Posted on July 22nd 2009 by Leendah