34. 10 Songs by the Super Furry Animals ...

... which I have, at some point, considered the greatest, most uplifting song in the world

Northern Lites
She's Got Spies
Calimero
Ice Hockey Hair
Juxtaposed with U
The Man Don't Give a Fuck
Fire in My Heart
Turning Tide
Helium Hearts
Juxtaposed with U

These wouldn't necessarily be my favourite Furries songs at this point - there are so many contenders - but these are the ones which have, at some point, been out and ahead, with the biggest chorus, the best tune, the most thrill.
My current favourite is Ice Hockey Hair - I've had a long journey with Ice Hockey Hair. It's about 10 years since it came out, and I always liked it, but it's taken me till the last couple of years to appreciate its full grandeur. I daren't even describe the whys and hows of my love for it, but those that are unfamiliar with the point 4 minutes and 10 seconds in where they first sing "Now that you're here, tell me you're a non-believer" are, for me, lucky that they still have one of life's greatest moments still ahead of them.
I read a very good review of the Furries' latest album recently, in The Word I think, where the writer really got to grips with the Furries and why they weren't the biggest band in Britain and why, though he loved so many of their songs, they weren't his favourite band. A point he concluded with was that, unlike the truly great bands, none of these songs really "meant" anything. This is where the two of us deviated. It's the same kind of point I've heard when someone says the Coen Brothers' films don't "mean" anything. To me, these works mean as much as anything can possibly mean, and if you're looking for greater meaning and think you've found it elsewhere, you've found something untrue, a feeling, a "depth" that will pass, a remedy that will be exposed as placebo (cue joke about Placebo). The Furries and the Coens, they work on the surface, they disavow earnestness, they make jokes, allusions to others and themselves, they dazzle, they can be accused of putting virtuosity for its own sake to the forefront, but for me, listening and watching, if the question is asked "Is this all there is?" the answer is Yes - humour, warmth, brilliance, hard work, humanity, eclecticism, self-awareness. This is all there is.
They are, I think, the best British band ever. I'd be hard-pressed to explain why they're better than the Beatles, I admit, and it would be even more pseudish than I'm already being to try.

Here we go for further grand statements and wanton connections. The great cultural triumvirate of modern Britain are three Welshmen of the left. Hoho, not Neil Kinnock, Nye Bevin, Rhodri Morgan. Hoho.
Gruff Rhys, Ryan Giggs, Joe Calzaghe (I think if you did a study of this blog you would find the most used word would be Giggs - how could it be any other way, really?).
These have obviously all been favourites of mine for a long time, but the similarites and links really are striking. All, like I say, left-sided (Gruff plays guitar left-handed, Giggs obviously, and Calzaghe's a southpaw), all between 35 and 40, all started their careers in the early/mid 90s and have produced consistent, undefeated quality since, with very little of the tales of darkness and trauma which usually go hand in hand with legendary status in their respective fields.
Consequently, it has become customary to write them all off as in some way lightweight, possessed of excellence but not the nebulous quality that is "greatness". Nebulous as Greatness is, in my head I have repositioned it (or given it its rightful position) exactly in accordance with this three's achievements. For me, Giggs IS the greatest footballer of the last 20 years, Calzaghe IS the greatest P4P fighter of his age, and as I said earlier, the Furries are the greatest British band of all, in as much as more obvious contenders for each post, say Zidane/Matthaus, Mayweather/Jones Jr, Beatles/Stones let themselves down by not being more like Giggs, Calzaghe, Rhys. Well, having said that, I guess even by the standards of Giggs, maybe Paolo Maldini outGiggses Giggs. Maybe ...
They have all been accused of having slumps, going out of form, not living up to early form, though what they were producing would stil have been deemed high class if produced by others. Calzaghe never lost as a pro, began as a thrilling youngster, became a World Champion with a superb win over Chris Eubank, then continued to win, year after year. However, some of these wins were underwhelming, not against the highest level of opposition, and, like Giggs, he was castigated for not seeking out fresh challenges overseas, for not performing at the highest level. (by the way, I'll mainly talk about Giggs and Calzaghe now, just cos it's easier to draw direct comparisons across sports, but similar lines can be drawn in how the Furries have performed/been viewed) Both, in these down times, were hampered by persistent injuries to their greatest asset which no one gave much sympathy or consideration for, Calzaghe repeatedly breaking bones in his left hand, Giggs suffering persistent hamstrings strains which mean he thinks he has not run absolutely flat-out since his early 20s. But they were still producing the goods, Calzaghe churning out the wins, often with excellent underrated performances (Richie Woodhall, Omar Sheika, Byron Mitchell), Giggsy still helping Man U to title after title.
Then, for both, late on in their career, vindication and the kind of universal acclaim they had deserved all along, Calzaghe with his wins over Lacy, Kessler, Hopkins, Jones, Giggs with his breaking of Charlton's record, goal on the last day of the 2008 season, and PFA Player of the Year award for 2009.
When Giggs collected that award, who was there to present it to him but a happily drunken Calzaghe - a great moment. They went for the cliche of soundtracking it with a Welsh Male Voice Choir singing Land of my Fathers. How tremendous it would have been if they'd got in the Furries to play, I don't know, The Undefeated, or Rings Around the World (changing it to Running rings around the world - see what I've done there).
So, Giggs and Calzaghe have had their Rocky moment, their grand vindication, and you mark my word it will happen for the Furries too, whether it be the Mercury Prize, a crossover Number 1 single, whatever. As I once wrote and will happily have as my epitaph as it says everything I want to justify my existence on this planet

I was right about Ryan Giggs
it's no surprise to me.