This is the last in my triple bill of tag response posts to finish off the year. And this is the Colours Of The Rainbow tag by Luke Sam Sowden, which asks for the meanings that you associate with various colours – red, yellow, pink, green, orange, purple, blue, black, white and brown. So I thought it would be something different and fun to do, and I tag anyone else who wants to respond to it as well. I hope you enjoy my answers!

What does Red mean to you?

Red is a very warm colour, and can mean things like heat, danger or love depending on its context. It’s also the colour of London buses, significant to me as it’s been my first year inthe city, and it’s a common colour at Christmas, which is topical right now too. I also love the sitcom Red Dwarf, and I have a red t-shirt to wear in the summer.

And one of the stranger photos I have is of me wearing a red wig at a friend’s birthday 10 years ago. Can’t remember why my friend had it at the time, but it made for a fun picture for each of us!

My favourite songs with Red in the title are Red, Red Wine by UB40, Red Sky by Status Quo, Red River Rock by Johnny & The Hurricanes, andRed, White And Blue by Lynyrd Skynyrd. And I also like a few songs by the band Simply Red, particularly Holding Back The Years.

What does Yellow mean to you?

This is a very bright colour that I associate with sunshine, which I can be quite sensitive to as a result of my eye condition aniridia. It also makes me think of lemons, especially as I’ve enjoyed using the lemon-based Montalbano Shampoo Bar from Lush this year. It could also make me think of bananas, but I don’t like those. Yellow also reminds me of the Trotters’ three wheeler van from Only Fools And Horses, my favourite sitcom, which I had on one of my Christmas jumpers this year.

My favourite songs with Yellow in the title are Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John and Yellow Submarine by The Beatles.

What does Pink mean to you?

Stereotypical though it unfairly is, it does feel like a feminine colour to me, so it doesn’t feature particularly heavily in my life. But I have used soap that’s pink in colour, and I do like pink coloured flowers, so I do like it.

My favourite songs with Pink in the title are Pink by Aerosmith, Lily The Pink by The Scaffold and The Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini. And, of course, we can’t forget the iconic band Pink Floyd, with classic hits like Another Brick In The Wall.

What does Green mean to you?

This makes me think of the outdoors, being the colour of grass and leaves, vegetables like peas and sprouts, and fruits like apples. I also wear green-tinted sunglasses, as they cancel out a fair amount of the light spectrum responsible for glare, so they’re much more effective for me than standard sunglasses. It’s also the colour of the District Line on the London Underground, which is my home line. And I also like the sitcom The Green Green Grass, which was the spin-off from Only Fools And Horses featuring Boycie and Marlene.

My favourite songs with Green in the title are Green Door by Frankie Vaughan (and later by Shakin’ Stevens), Green Onions by Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) by Judas Priest. And in relation to artist names I also like  the songs Let’s Stay Together by Al Green, Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum, and the rocking version of The Simpsons Theme by Green Day.

What does Orange mean to you?

Orange is a very pleasant warm colour, again making me think of the pleasures of summer time. Oranges have a lovely flavour and smell too, and I regularly drink orange juice or squash. Orange were also my mobile phone provider until they changed to EE. There’s also a fun Christmas special of Dad’s Army called The Love Of Three Oranges that I like.

The only Orange related songs I have in my music collection are Rip It Up by Orange Juice, from their appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test, and Oranges On Appletrees by A-Ha. Neither of which are very well known, but they’re both good tracks.

What does Purple mean to you?

Purple’s a strange colour really. It’s nice, but it doesn’t have any major significance in my everyday life that I can think of. It just makes me think of sweets with purple wrappers that you get in, say, Quality Street. But the Christmas With The Stars concert I went to recently had the stage lit up in what I would call pink and purple lighting, which looked nice.

For music, I like Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, Purple Rain by Prince and Man In A Purple Dress by The Who. And I have quite a few songs by Deep Purple of course, including the classic Smoke On The Water.

What does Blue mean to you?

This is another colour that makes me think of the great outdoors, with lovely clear blue skies. The seas and oceans also look blue, and the recent TV series Blue Planet 2 was absolutely stunning, I highly recommend watching it. I like blue for clothes as well, particularly darker shades like navy. It looks smart without being quite as dark, formal or intimidating as black can sometimes be. You also get blue plaques on buildings, marking places where famous people have lived or worked, and one of the things I want to do is find some of the hundreds of plaques all over London, as I have an app that shows you where they are.

I also enjoyed the sitcom The Thin Blue Line featuring Rowan Atkinson, set in a police station. Blue Peter was one of my favourite children’s shows, and I love Mike Oldfield’s version of the theme tune. And the opening theme tune to Bottom, another favourite sitcom of mine, is called BB’s Blues by BB King, though the version used for the show was performed by The Bum Notes.

I have a lot of songs featuring the colour Blue in my collection in fact, given that it often represents a sad emotion (as in ‘feeling blue’ or ‘getting the blues’). Blues is a cool style of music, and I used to enjoy jamming to that kind of thing when I played the keyboard a bit in my childhood, it lends itself to improvisation nicely sometimes.

Some of my favourite tracks with Blue in the title include:

• Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra
• Behind Blue Eyes and Young Man Blues by The Who
• For You Blue by The Beatles
• Union City Blue by Blondie
• Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins (and the famous cover by Elvis Presley of course)
• Blue Monday by New Order
• Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran (with great live covers by The Who and T. Rex)
• Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino
• Blue Moon by The Marcels
• Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan
• My Melancholy Blues by Queen
• A Mess Of The Blues and Ol’ Rag Blues by Status Quo
• Roadhouse Blues by The Doors (and covered by Status Quo)
• Singing The Blues by Tommy Steele
• Moanin’ Lisa Blues by The Simpsons

And in relation to artist names, songs I like include:

• Go Now and Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues
• Good Golly Miss Molly and Hippy Hippy Shake by The Swinging Blue Jeans
• Do You Wanna Dance? by Barry Blue
• Don’t Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
• Young At Heart by The Bluebells
• Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something
• Real Gone Kid by Deacon Blue
• Don’t Leave Me This Way by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
• Venus by Shocking Blue

What does Black mean to you?

Black is a very formal colour, good for smart, professional clothing. It’s also the background colour I see when using a computer most of the time, as I invert the colours on the screen to have white text on a black background. That hugely reduces the glare for me, which makes it so much easier. On the other hand, if I’m out at night and the lighting isn’t very good, then it can seem pitch black sometimes, as my eyes don’t adjust that well. But then I’m always very careful to stick to well-lit areas to avoid that.

One of my favourite sitcoms is another featuring Rowan Atkinson, this time as Blackadder. And I also love the drama sries Black Mirror, which is a very dark show in terms of its tone, and I’m delighted that it’s just come back for a fourth series on Netflix. I highly recommend watching it. It completely messes with your head sometimes, but it’s amazing and thought-provoking.

Again I have quite a few songs with this colour in my collection. My favourite songs with Black in the title include:

• Back In Black and Black Ice by AC/DC (and the same named albums they each come from are great too)
• Blackbird by The Beatles
• Black Night by Deep Purple
• Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones
• Black Dog and Black Mountain Side by Led Zeppelin
• The March Of The Black Queen by Queen
• I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
• Black And White by Greyhound
• Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress by The Hollies
• Black And Blue by Madness
• Black Or White by Michael Jackson
• Blackberry Way by The Move
• Black Betty by Ram Jam
• Black Magic Woman by Santana
• Black Veils Of Melancholy by Status Quo

And in relation to artist names, songs I like include Wonderful Life by Black, Ride On Time by Black Box, Agadoo by Black Lace and Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

What does White mean to you?

White is a bright colour of course, the opposite of black. When I’m out in the sunshine, glare often affects me the worst when it’s reflecting off white surfaces, and that’s where my green tinted sunglasses really help these days. And as I mentioned above, white backgrounds on computers are too tiring and glary to work with for long periods of time, so I prefer to invert the colours instead. Having white text on a black background shows up really clear. And also, like black, white is quite a universal colour for clothing – a white shirt goes well with a black jacket, for instance, and for my casual wear I have white trainers and white socks.

White is yet another common colour in my music collection. Songs with White in the title that I like (not including ones I’ve already mentioned above) include:

• White Wedding by Billy Idol
• A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum
• White Queen (As It Began) and White Man by Queen
• Ride A White Swan by T. Rex
• White Room by Cream
• White Lines (Don’t Do It) by Duran Duran
• White Heat by Madness
• Little While Lies by Status Quo
• White Riot by The Clash
• Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) by Offspring
• A White Sport Coat And A Pink Carnation by Terry Dene
• My White Bicycle by Neil from The Young Ones

And in relation to artist names, songs I like include:

• Pick Up The Pieces and Let’s Go Round Again by The Average White Band (I have quite a few albums of theirs)
• Here I Go Again and Is This Love? by Whitesnake
• You’re The First, The Last, My Everything and Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Babe by Barry White
• Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now by McFadden & Whitehead
• Your Woman by White Town

What does Brown mean to you?

Brown is a very earthy colour, so in some senses it can be quite a dirty colour. But it’s also the colour of wood, on the trees that grow from the earth, and consequently a common colour for furniture, doors, etc. And it can be a smart colour for clothes too. Plus, like millions of people, it’s my hair colour. And it also makes me think of delicious chocolate. And I also like watching shows by Derren Brown, he’s very clever.

As for music, songs I like with Brown in the title include:

• Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones
• Bring Back That Leroy Brown by Queen
• Golden Brown by The Stranglers
• Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
• Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue by Crystal Gayle
• Brown Eyed Handsome Man by Buddy Holly (covering the song by Chuck Berry, which I had no idea existed until I looked up the Buddy Holly video just now)
• Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter by Herman’s Hermits (which again I’ve only just learned was a cover, the original being performed by Tom Courtenay)

And in relation to artist names, songs I like include:

• Living In America and Sex Machine by James Brown
• Two Can Play That Game by Bobby Brown
• Fire by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
• Doctor My Eyes by Jackson Browne
• Stop by Sam Brown

And that’s it, that’s what each of those colours makes me think of right now. Feel free to do a post about what the colours mean to you as well, it would be interesting to see that. Thanks again to Luke for nominating me, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it!