Dear Doctor, my boyfriend and I are moving in together. Can you give us a soundtrack for this special moment?
Rarely is there a more exciting chapter than setting up home as a couple. It’s a time before squabbles, sulks and resentments over cleaning; a time when hope, laughs, easy love and lust fill the air.
And so to the climax – no, not that, but the moment when two record collections become one, as the Spice Girls once sang (it was about music collections, right?). The Doctor takes it for granted that you’ve already checked out the partner’s collection: this should be the first thing you do, before even holding hands.
On the day of the big move, carry in your mighty stereo (with its fat speakers) and set it against the main wall. Start with a dance to Kai Winding’s Comin’ Home Baby; its relentless bass line will encourage industrious unloading. Then put on Lowell Fulson’s beast of a song, Welcome Home. His deep, sonorous voice is something else, as he sings, “Now all my troubles have gone… no more dreadful days and nights, I don’t have to be alone.”
As the sun starts to wane and it begins to sink in that this homemaking thing really is happening, how about I Got A Home by T-Model Ford, who just repeats the ecstatic, “I got a home, I got a home, I got a home!” over raw drums and guitar. Perfect for a demented dance together on the sofa.
There’ll be ups and downs, socks will stray and so might peace. Here’s a great song to sing together through testing times: Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton’s Better Move It On Home. Besides a great soundtrack, the one thing you need for a long, content life together is a laugh.
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