A cool way to include something blue for the bride
Everyone knows this English wedding rhyme. The bride is supposed to have
Something old
Something new
Something borrowed
Something blue
Put a sixpence in your shoe.
These items were originally gifted to the bride, usually by her mother. Today many brides purchase their own. But whatever the provenance most brides are keen to follow what the rhyme tells them to collect. OK, perhaps it’s just a rhyme, but somehow we all feel it will bring the couple luck in their road ahead. Besides it’s another bit of fun to sort out in the run-up to the big day.
If, as Mother of The Bride, you’d like to offer your daughter something blue and you’re looking for something a bit different why not give her a song – or indeed a whole set of songs? I’ve picked out my favourites in the lists below. They’re not current hits but then the rhyme has been around for a hundred years or more so it seems fitting to choose something that has stood the test of time.
Retro classics
- Blue Suede Shoes, Elvis Presley
- Blue Bayou, Roy Orbison
- Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, Crystal Gayle
- I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues, Elton John
- Forever In Blue Jeans, Neil Diamond
- For You Blues, The Beatles
- Tangled Up In Blue, Bob Dylan
- Blue, Joni Mitchell
- Roadhouse Blues, The Doors
- Understandably Blue, Procol Harem
- Kozmic Blues, Janis Joplin
- Still Got The Blues, Gary Moore
- The Bluest Blues, Alvin Lee
- Married to the Blues, The Nortons
- Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Blue with Elton John
- I’ll Play the Blues for You, Daniel Castro
Jazz favourites
- Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
- Blue Rondo a la Turk, Dave Brubeck
- West End Blues, Louis Armstrong
- Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin
- Blue Monk, Thelonius Monk
- Nina’s Blues, Nina Simone
- Billie’s Blues aka I love My Man, Billie Holiday
- Blue Moon, Ella Fitzgerald
How to quickly check which song you like
I use YouTube. Input the name of the song at the top and you will see various recordings. The quality may not be perfect but it’s a quick way to zap through a lot of songs. You’ll recognise almost all of the songs once you hear the first few bars even if the name did not strike a chord (pun intended!)
Once you’ve decided on the musical something blue you want to give, you’ll have to buy it and send it.
Ah, remember those long evenings of making compilation tapes for your friends? Or drooling over the cool LP your boyfriend lent you? Well, stop dreaming. That’s not what happens today.
How to buy and give music.
Amazon and iTunes have millions of albums and individual songs. If you have Amazon.co.uk Prime lots of music is free. Find free Amazon.com Prime music here.
The easiest way to gift music is to buy a gift card (available from almost everywhere but look by the checkout in your local supermarket) and to enclose a note with the songs you hope your daughter will buy with it.
If you prefer to send her the music you can do this on Amazon like this:
Search the Digital Music Store by going to Amazon, click on Department, click on Music, Click on Download Store. Here’s the UK direct link to buy music from the Amazon store. And here’s the US direct link to buy music from the Amazon store.
When you find the song you want to buy select More Options under the Buy button.
Select Give Album or song as a Gift
The music will be attached to an email sent to your daughter.
Your daughter can download the music to her computer or play it from the Amazon Music app on her phone or other compatible device.
To download the gift:
Open the email and select Get your gift now
Select Download your Digital Music Gift and sign in to your Amazon account if prompted
On the order confirmation page select Download to your computer.
Your music is charged through your Amazon 1-Click account.
If you want to send individual songs in the UK it’s best to use iTunes.
Download and open iTunes and select Store at the top of the screen.
Find the music you want to buy and use the drop down menu next to the price to select Gift.
Enter your daughter’s email address, a message and the date you want it delivered.
It will be charged to the credit or debit card you have registered on your iTunes account.
Well, I’ve had a fun few hours researching this list and I hope you have as much fun listening to the songs and picking one you think is right for your daughter.
How will she use it on the day? As part of the ceremony? At the reception? Or as she’s getting ready? Music carries so many wonderful memories and emotions that it makes a very special gift to someone you love.
My personal all-time favourite? That’s difficult as I love all these tunes. But if I had to pick just one? Aw, it would have to be Blue by Joni Mitchell. I must have listened to it a hundred times in those far-off times of boyfriends, love, disappointment and hope.
Happy listening!