It’s Spring here in England. A time for the grass to grow, the flowers to blossom and the birds to build their nests. Right on cue, a pair of blue tits has taken possession of the nesting box on our garage wall. Like them, Mrs Crotchety and I are making a new home for ourselves and I can think of no more appropriate track of the week than Travis’s Flowers in the Window.

Travis is a Scottish post-Britpop band. Following in the footsteps of classic Britpop bands like Oasis and Blur (both musically and chronologically) they adopted a style closer to traditional rock while retaining a strong emphasis on melody. In company with bands like Stereophonics and Coldplay, Travis helped to define the post-Britpop genre in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Flowers in the Window is a typical track of the period – equally at home on pop, soft rock and indie radio stations. It tells of a man who was once cold and isolated but has now found love and set up home with his girlfriend. Judging by the sound of seagulls in the background their house is by the sea. For him it’s a dream come true and the flowers on the windowsill provide the perfect finishing touch.

Wow look at us now
Flowers in the window
It’s such a lovely day
…
You are one in a million
And I love you so
Let’s watch the flowers grow

When Crotchety Man moved to the Leicestershire countryside we were given several bunches of flowers as moving-in presents. Mrs Crotchety put the daffodils in a vase and displayed them in the dining room window. The flowers have long since died but we still have the photo and we can still listen to Flowers in the Window to remind us of our own little patch of heaven here on planet Earth.