"...Why that's very nearly an earful!"

Eddie Mair | 12:20 UK time, Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Would you like Freddie Mercury in your ear and a needle in your vein? Veteran blood donor Richard Irving has emailed us to say no thanks.

"It is bad enough having your name, address and date of birth asked for about five times and being stuck twice for blood, but Queen at full blast for the duration of a donation?"

Piped music at the blood bank seems to be a bugbear for many, according to Pipedown,a campaign group promoting silence.

The National Blood Service for England and North Wales says there's a good reason for playing Queen. Hear it on iPM.

In the meantime, join in everybody, what should be on the blood donor playlist?

Our suggestions:

-Let it Bleed.
-You're so Vein.
-Ruby, Don't Take Your Blood to Town.
-If I Were a Rich Tea Buscuit Man.
-You're a Pink Toothbrush, I'm A Rhesus Negative.

Leave your suggestion....and, if you fancy, a word about your own blood donor experience...

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1. At 12:59pm on 11 Nov 2008, mittfh wrote:
How about the Blood Group Rockers classic hit The Blood Group Song?:
An AB+
An AB+
O negative
And an AB+

I'll get my coat... :)

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2. At 1:04pm on 11 Nov 2008, UptheTrossachs wrote:
If it must be Queen, make sure it isn't "Who wants to live forever"....

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3. At 1:08pm on 11 Nov 2008, allanlewis wrote:
Ask the producer of "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" - or, indeed, Barry Cryer...

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4. At 1:32pm on 11 Nov 2008, gossipmistress wrote:
All you need is blood?

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5. At 1:35pm on 11 Nov 2008, ingeniousCliff wrote:
Red Cells in the Sunset.

Talking bout my penetration

Dont clot me know

Bleeder of the pack

Truly ashamed of those, bye

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6. At 1:36pm on 11 Nov 2008, The Intermittent Horse wrote:
I'd like to hear that Dean Martin classic 'Antibody Needs Somebody Sometime'.

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7. At 1:49pm on 11 Nov 2008, mygloriousleader wrote:
Bon Jovi Blood on Blood?

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8. At 1:50pm on 11 Nov 2008, mygloriousleader wrote:
The 'can can' sung by
Buster Bloodvessel

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9. At 1:56pm on 11 Nov 2008, The Intermittent Horse wrote:
Although if it HAD to be a Queen number, I suppose the only logical entry is: '(Can Antibody Find Me) Somebody to Love'

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10. At 2:17pm on 11 Nov 2008, justfloating wrote:
They don't time the injections to the music "can anyone find meeeeee, some one to love"

However: "Got no feel, I got no rhythm , I just keep losing my beat"

Losing the beat, is exactly what happens to me when they take blood. I end up on a heart monitor and wake up to find the doctor dripping with sweat in a panic after I swallowed my tongue. I hope that doctor still has nightmares for ignoring my warning. Idiot.

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11. At 3:37pm on 11 Nov 2008, mittfh wrote:
Just don't play "Don't Stop Me Now" - especially if from the POV of a blood cell...

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12. At 4:08pm on 11 Nov 2008, millerqueen wrote:
Anything by Type O Negative obviously

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13. At 6:17pm on 11 Nov 2008, TheDrBen wrote:
There was no music at the blood donor session I attended last week. Were we not important enough?

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14. At 00:09am on 12 Nov 2008, Frances O wrote:
How about 'Oh, Donor'?

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15. At 00:10am on 12 Nov 2008, Frances O wrote:
Or, re gossymrs (4), 'all you needle is blood''?

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16. At 00:13am on 12 Nov 2008, Frances O wrote:
Or David Bowie Knife's 'Blood Pressure'

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17. At 00:15am on 12 Nov 2008, Frances O wrote:
A: you're so positive
B: you are negative
Oh, oh, oh....

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18. At 01:10am on 12 Nov 2008, gossipmistress wrote:
I gave it through the dripline

Stand by me (I'm feeling faint)

What's blood got to do with it?

50 ways to bleed your liver

Papa don't leech

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19. At 08:40am on 12 Nov 2008, Areopagite
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
20. At 08:48am on 12 Nov 2008, Areopagite wrote:
Request to Dr Ben:

where was this session as the NBHTS(National Blood and Human Tissue Service) assures me that they play music at all sessions? I should like to point your evidence out to them and assert mine that they never used to at the sessions I used to attend

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21. At 10:46am on 12 Nov 2008, TheDrBen wrote:
Reply to Areopagite:

I cannot say for certain as I was not listening out for music. This was at the town hall in Skipton, North Yorkshire. All I am sure of is that if there was music playing it was too quiet to be heard over the general chit-chat of the crowd and thus presumably ineffective for whatever purpose its there for.

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22. At 11:07am on 12 Nov 2008, TheDrBen wrote:
Thinking about it more carefully I can remember seeing a CD player at previous donation sessions (not the last one though) but could never really hear the music. This could be nothing more than an issue with the acoustics of the hall.

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23. At 1:23pm on 12 Nov 2008, Rupert Allman - Radio 4 wrote:
How about:

"Rhesus to Be Cheerful"

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24. At 2:46pm on 12 Nov 2008, Areopagite wrote:
Since my first post has not made it through premodding, I can only suggest a novelty hit from 1956 by Nervous Norvus called 'Transfusion' which finishes with the line 'Hey buddy, make that Type O'. The lyrics are mildly amusing and easily found on the web.

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25. At 3:29pm on 12 Nov 2008, UptheTrossachs wrote:
An internet search reveals almost 12,000 sings which have 'blood' references. Many of them seem to be heavy metal type songs (e.g. 'If you want blood you got it' AC/DC, 'Blood Brothers' Iron Maiden)
Some songs you might not want to listen to whilst giving blood:
'Give me blood or give me death' - Diabolos Rising
'We suck young blood' - Radiohead
'Blood on the floor' - Fleetwood Mac

and one which could have been written for this thread:
'Blood makes noise' - Suzanne Vega

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26. At 6:03pm on 12 Nov 2008, Areopagite wrote:
Amazingly, no one has mentioned Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks' yet which is exactly what this whole blog is about,
I believe

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The programme that starts with its listeners. Join daily discussions online and contribute ideas for a weekly programme presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey.