The Winners List!

Well, that's it! The competition is over and can I just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's work here. There have really been a lot of amazing stories within this challenge. I can't believe I got so many responses to be perfectly honest with you. I have probably read most of them (if not all of them) three or four times now and well, you do make choosing winners difficult and so...

I have added 3 honourable mentions to the list whom I thought were really close to coming into the top three... ❤️

Here's the winners list...

1st: "Society" by Imola Tóth

The story behind this song choice felt like I was witnessing a great change happening. A story of a woman's growth and realisation in a time of crisis. It is a wonderful, heartfelt, sometimes heartbreaking and yet, redemptive story of how the power of a song can take you back to a time when you decided on something very important. This writer tells the story of how leaving your old self behind can also mean you're taking parts of her with you - you're just changing her story to suit the life she wants, not the one she thought she wanted. I must have read this several times. You can tell something like this comes straight from the soul.

2nd: "At Last" by Tim Carmichael

Anyone who claims they didn't tear up whilst reading this is lying. When I first read this piece I thought to myself: can you imagine a more perfect moment with a more perfect song? Absolutely not. There is something about a single moment, a single evening and of course, a single song - that can change your life forever. This writer bears the moment, its memory and the way a song can take you back to all of those feelings both beautiful and vulnerable at the same time. I'm not going to lie, I inhaled this piece. To really make it have its full impact, try playing the song whilst imagining that atmosphere - it is gorgeous.

3rd: "Once We Were Unstoppable" by Diane Foster

The song is fantastic and the story behind it is just incredible. This is a story of a woman who lived the experience. I loved the whole atmosphere of this piece, the way she described hearing the music and seeing it being performed - the way she described falling in love and remembering that music. She goes from someone in the crowd who accepted a flyer to a manager, a partner and so much more. The music always remains there long after she makes the heartbreaking admission that cancer is involved in it no longer being performed live. Be that as it may, the music is still there and always will be. It is a wonderful, personal and such an emotional piece. Each time I read it, it just left me in wonder every time.

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And now for our honourable mentions...

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4th: "Desolation Row" by Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred

This is probably a song that means a lot of things to a lot of people, but someone who has communicated the emotional experience of listening to Desolation Row by Bob Dylan the best is this writer right here. I think more often than not, we are all in awe of Mike's connection to music and his ability to give us whole new reccomendations that we dig out of his stories (I've found maybe five or six songs I had never listened to and added them to my playlist), but there is something I have always thought about this one song that I could never put my finger on. Then Mike did it for me. This is one writer I turn to when I am listening to music, because for some reason - he always knows the words I'm thinking with the feelings I cannot articulate. And here they are:

"...you are in some otherworldly western town as unseen observers..."

Otherworldly.

Unseen.

Yes. That is just it.

5th: "She's Always a Woman - and That was the Problem" by Ulf Ragnarsson

After reading this, I don't think I'll ever listen to that song the same way again either. Now we get dark with this entry about a relationship that wasn't just sour but I think this counts as abusive behaviour. Our writer delves into his soul and pulls out a past love, a woman who was an embodiment of the term 'machiavellian'. He covers what is an in-depth experience of his feelings at the time, looking back on how he ignored red flags and often tried to reason with himself as to why someone would be so callous. But, in the present, he realises how wrong he was and how much he needed to be rid of her entirely. When walking into this piece, I didn't know what I was going to get, I honestly did think it was going to be the 'she's a handful' (as the writer puts) but instead, it got pretty dark in there. This is a brilliant, heartbreaking piece that way more people should read. When I tell you I cried... I cried...

6th: "Graves into Gardens" by Cathy (Christine Acheini) Ben-Ameh

When I was reading this piece, I could almost feel it in my bones. Not only because it talks about some very heavy topics, but also because I was walking past the tram that would take one to the station at Ashton Under Lyne at the time - the place mentioned in the piece. I ended up looking about me and thinking 'wow, I'm here' - not in a realisation way, but in a way that I knew I would be reading something very emotional in a minute. I would be reading a happening, and a becoming. I tried to think about the phone call the writer mentions in the piece, being told from countries away that her father has passed away. So I traced the steps. I too walked into the city centre and back to where I was standing. I listened to the song. There is definitely something about this story where grief turns into hope and the writing of the piece felt like something deeply personal - like I was sharing in someone's memory with them.

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Conclusion

Thanks to everyone who entered this competition, I mean it was the hardest thing I've done for while to choose winners and that's why I added people to the list. If you want to read all of the entries (and I think you should because there was not a single entry I didn't enjoy reading), I will attach the link to the challenge down below. But I will leave you with a small anecdote: a friend of mine found out about this challenge and asked me what song I would choose. It's not my favourite song. Not even close. But it is a song that definitely brings me closer to my mother because she loves it and it means something quite special to both of us. If you want to check it out, the song is called: Love of the Common People by Paul Young.

Anyways, here's the challenge link and thanks again for entering, reading and checking out the stories of others who entered. All of these pieces were incredible reads.

All my love.

- Annie x

PS: I've got another challenge in the works at the moment. Maybe in a month or so...