30 Days of Music: 07 A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain Event

Hard-Fi – Tied Up Too Tight (Youtube)

In 2005, I worked part-time for a building society.

In July 2005, I was doing some extra shifts while university was broken up.

On 7th July 2005, I was working on the counter.

I had one link to the terrorist attacks in London that day, and that link let me know it had happened. Matthew Sheret had moved to London the previous year for university, and was right in the thick of the chaos the day brought. He texted me, essentially telling me he was fine and to turn my television or radio on. I’ve forgotten his exact words, but the image of a decimated Tavistock Square, helicopters overhead, sirens blaring and panic he conveyed will remain with me forever.

In truth, I have no idea how I would have reacted had Matt not contacted me first, and it’s not a thought I’d want to consider. Chances are I would have fallen apart. I was in Hampshire, miles away from the capital and I still needed up to the minute news on his safety – phone networks began to crumble as people with more pressing concerns did likewise.

I remained numb for the rest of the day, until 5PM reared and I made my exit, eager to reach a television. Eager to understand. I didn’t listen to the radio on my way home, instead putting my MP3 player on shuffle.

Tied Up Too Tight is a song about escaping the commuter belt, about leaving Staines behind for the bright lights. It’s not a song about violence at all.  Then the chorus.

Straight out of west London

Just like a loaded gun

At that moment, the full enormity of what had happened that day hit me, and I stopped walking. I don’t know how long I stopped for, but I stopped, and thoughts of pure fear and worry began to run through my head that I had managed to block until then. I don’t remember the final steps home, or turning the TV on for wall to wall coverage, but I remember those words, and I remember what they did to me on that summer afternoon.

Music can do a lot of things, but sometimes it can touch you in a way you couldn’t imagine. Hard-Fi aren’t my favourite band, but for that fleeting moment they allowed me to understand, and that’s a moment I’ll never forget.