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Win a £100 Waitrose voucher and a copy of Greatest Hits! **NOW CLOSED**

(605 Posts)
LauraGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 16-Mar-18 14:08:03

In our latest competition with Orion, we're giving you the chance to win a £100 Waitrose voucher and a copy of Greatest Hits by number one bestselling author Laura Barnett, a story about the power of reflection and how much our memories mean to us.

If you could choose just 16 moments to define your entire life, what would they be? That’s what Cass Wheeler must do. A musician born in 1950, Cass is now taking one day to select the 16 songs in her repertoire that have meant the most to her.

And behind each song lies a story - from the day her mother abandoned her, to her passionate first love, to the moment she lost everything. The dreams, the failures, the second chances.

So, what are the songs that mean the most to you, and evoke your most precious memories? Perhaps it was the first dance at your wedding, or the song repeated on the radio throughout your first holiday, or the only music that would rock your baby to sleep. Tell us in the comments below for the chance to win an £100 Waitrose voucher and a copy of Greatest Hits! We also have 25 copies of the book for runners-up.

Greatest Hits is published by W&N, an imprint of Orion, and is available online and from all good booksellers.

Please post your entries below by 11am 16 April.

Usual T&Cs apply.

cake17uk Wed 28-Mar-18 12:35:41

So many songs, Let Your Soul be Your Pilot by Sting, Eloise by the Damned, Streets of London by Ralph McTell - all bring back different memories, happy, sad - amazing how a piece of music can take you back to that time in an instant

Vhall254 Wed 28-Mar-18 14:18:48

Jolene by Dolly Parton, I remember going on a big family holiday in a caravan, this came on the radio and we all started singing it, even the men!

langelei Wed 28-Mar-18 15:15:10

My dearest, late husband had been rushed into hospital on Boxing Day morning after collapsing the previous Christmas night. Alexandra Burke's version of "Hallelujah" was being played constantly, having just won for her. I remember driving home, through the ice and snow, in tears 13 nights later, at 2.00 a.m., having said and given my final farewell kisses to him. He had died at 11.45 pm on the 8th - at the age of 80 and one month exactly.

Bethaneeee Wed 28-Mar-18 17:10:21

Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show. Me and my younger brother would blast this song on every road trip we had, reminds me of him now as he has sadly passed away.

Crandally Wed 28-Mar-18 17:19:28

Franki Valli's Oh What a Night is a 'thing' between me and my husband. They used to play it every Friday night when we went dancing, in the days when we had just started going out. He had the CD at home, and this was track 18. Every time it played he would say 'what number?' and I would say '18'. We still do this every time we hear it, 26 years on!

billythequiche Wed 28-Mar-18 17:31:23

Everlasting love was ''our song''.

labazs Wed 28-Mar-18 17:51:47

Hotel California That song came into my life around the time I was between being a girl and woman that odd transitional time at the time I was unaware really what it was about but whenever I hear it I remember a warm summers day I was sat in the garden enjoying the sun my late mother was sewing and my father reading the Sunday papers it was such a lovely afternoon now my parents are no longer here it is one of those odd but treasured memories

Lynne810 Wed 28-Mar-18 17:52:18

Like most kids my siblings and I liked to pretend we were famous singers and spent many happy hours clutching our hairbrush ‘microphones’. A particular favourite was Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’ and recently my brother and I got up and sang this on stage (much to the astonishment of our children). That song took us right back to our youth.

joywork40 Wed 28-Mar-18 17:55:47

Somewhere my Love -Lara's theme from Dr Zhivago and we are still in love & happy together 50 years later.

wendybiv Wed 28-Mar-18 18:17:05

"Pretty Woman" holds fond memories for me as my mum played it all the time!

pamelacook Wed 28-Mar-18 18:47:53

Moon River - when first engaged, eons ago, this was our song. We did NOT get married but this song still brings back many happy memories

MichD Wed 28-Mar-18 19:22:26

Gosh, so many to choose from but Bryan Adams' 'Everything I do' is mine and my husband's song. Then Season's In The Sun always makes me cry because it reminds me of my Mom who died when I was 12.

rachelkanga Wed 28-Mar-18 21:31:59

I have a couple which represent special moments for me. Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi - school friend and I danced for hours to this, haven't seen her in years as went separate ways after sixth form.

LAINEANN Wed 28-Mar-18 23:39:59

Run Rabbit Run, Saturday evenings with the mat rolled up, parents and aunties and uncles dancing, me on my Dad's feet.

wallers5 Thu 29-Mar-18 06:42:33

Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. After a horrid divorce.

karinahen83 Thu 29-Mar-18 09:35:51

so many songs and memories.....
bleeding love by leona Lewis reminds me of my beautiful daughter and kodaline the one was my wedding song. Very emotional when i hear either of those

sue01 Thu 29-Mar-18 11:10:03

Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan.... the song during which our daughter was conceived... but don't tell her !!

GilliW Thu 29-Mar-18 11:16:40

Fields of Gold by Sting. I never knew until he had died that it was one of my Dad's favourite songs. My Mum told me that whenever it came on the radio he would stop whatever he was doing and listen to it. We played it at his funeral, and now I can never hear this beautiful song without my heart aching.

Sulis Thu 29-Mar-18 12:37:27

Whiter Shade of Pale, Procol Harum, for memories of the 60's and when I modelled
Baby Love, Diana Ross, memories of 1st husband
Don't let me be Misunderstood - Eric Burdon and The Animals - memories of 1st husband
I will Survive in the 70's when my 2nd husband dumped me
Silent Night - singing my baby to sleep in 1989.

Lisananny Thu 29-Mar-18 15:28:22

My favourite song is James Blunt Goodbye My Lover. It was played at my husbands funeral. When the words, I'll be the father of your child, played, I looked at our 16 year old son and felt proud, grateful and glad to be alive. The song always reminds me of deep sorrow tainted with exquisite joy.

HarrysDaughter Thu 29-Mar-18 22:06:03

Whiter Shade of Pale - remember a slow dance with someone very special when at Uni 40 years ago - it still makes me weak at the knees

Grumpygran5 Fri 30-Mar-18 08:51:32

The most memorable time of my life was when Monty Python were very popular. I met the man of my dreams and we spent whole nights listening to the Lumberjack song! Another memorable song for different reasons was by Hugh and Tony Williams: "we know it just the same". I remember my daughter sitting in the corner singing along with this playing an imaginary eukele just after her father had left.

Jinty64 Fri 30-Mar-18 11:26:31

Lady in red, sung by Chris de Burgh, brings back memories of my college days and my many student friends most of whom I haven't seen since we all went our separate ways.

marktuc Fri 30-Mar-18 12:09:08

Move Closer by Phyllis Nelson which takes me straight back to my first love
Cloudbusting by Kate Bush which was playing on a screen at a memorable lunch with two great friends
The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) by Cher which was playing everywhere on a holiday in Malta in '91

walnutwhip Fri 30-Mar-18 12:09:46

Rod Stewart's song 'I am sailing' from 1975, when I was very young. Reminds me of a summer without my dad as he was away for three months for work. I missed him so much and this song seemed to be on the radio all the time. I can remember his return home so clearly. It was wonderful.
This track is so evocative- every time I hear it I get a lump in my throat.