I’ve never been much of a dancer.

There are more than a few reasons for that.

General lack of coordination.

Near complete lack of interest in getting better coordinated for dancing.

These days, lack of desire in general.

And even when I was hitting the dance floor on a regular basis, I can’t really say anything particularly graceful ever happened. Not on purpose, at least.

My theory has always been, “Yeah, I look ridiculous. Just like most of the other people out here.”

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a tune or two that pulls me toward that space where all the spinning lights are…

A song that makes you want to dance

As I’ve mentioned before, I was born in the 70s. That means I remember all of the 80s and a wee bit of the 70s. To the point: I remember when disco was the thing. Solid Gold was on TV every Saturday (even though I really didn’t watch it) and Saturday Night Fever was still fresh in the public’s mind.

Pretty much any show on TV in that time, at one point or another, touched on the whole disco thing (also on the heavy metal/hard rock thing… but that’s another story) and it was on the radio all the time. All. The. Time.

I’m not really a fan of disco.

But, dammit, if it isn’t fun. Especially the kind of crappy stuff that was overplayed. Over the decades, it’s become more of a parody. Or, at least, referential to silly things (thanks to how it’s been used in movies and TV shows over the years).

It’s also got an infectious beat. And some of the most ear-wormy hooks outside of a Disney tune.

Try as I might, much like Kevin Klein’s In and Out character, I just can’t help it. And it looks just as ridiculous.

Especially when The Village People’s YMCA comes on.

Because you know you’ve got to spell it out with your arms.

Runners Up

• Rob Zombie, Dragula – Sometimes you just need to thrash about a bit. I find anything by Zombie (Rob or White) works well for that. Granted, that usually means I can’t move my neck the next day… but it’s usually worth it.
• Fatboy Slim, Weapon of Choice – I first saw the video to this one on a TV at a Hard Rock Cafe. With the sound off. I had no idea what was going on and had to track it down after the fact. It’s a wonderful bit of Walken, if nothing else.
• Rick James, Superfreak – Or, really, anything suitably funky. A bit more gritty than disco, but equally irresistible dance floor draw.
• OK Go, Here it Goes Again – I could add a number of other songs to this list, but I’ll just stop with this one. Because it’s got an awesome video. An awesome video that you’ll never see me trying to reenact, because I don’t want to end up in the hospital.

When I first glanced at this list, I thought, “Oh! That fifth one should be easy! Especially after that fourth one!”

And then I realized that my criteria for cranking a song is, more or less, if I recognize it or not.

So… that really didn’t narrow things down much at all. Since, y’know, I’m not going to be listing songs I don’t know here.

Which means I’m going to have to be a little more analytical about this one.

A song that needs to be played loud

Now, there’s lots of music that’s great loud. I’ve been out to enough concerts and clubs to be able to appreciate that. (I’ve got the tinnitus to prove it!) And there are definitely some music that, in and of itself is loud. (If it’s already loud, does it need to be played loud?) And, thankfully, there’s some music that really doesn’t do well when cranked to eleven. (At least not for me.)

When I think back over all the music I can remember, there are a handful that literally just scream at me. They say “You believe in this! Let’s shout it to the world!” (or, at least, “Dude! You know this rocks, turn. It. UP!”)

I guess I’ll just grab one of those semi-randomly.

The Beastie Boys’ (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party) is one of those semi-modern classics. (Or is it an actual classic now… I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it on what passes for a classic rock station recently… crap, I’m getting old.) It’s raucous, it’s got a great hook, and, man, does it tug at those teen angst strings that were woven all around its target market back in the day. Okay, not just back in the day. Today, too. Some things never change.

There’s anger at the hypocrisy of adults. There’s the whole, “Screw this, I just don’t wanna!” idea. There’s the ultimate realization that we’re all bound together by one driving urge: To just ROCK OUT!

I’m not sure if this one’s more counter-cultural or sub-cultural, but it’s got a lot in common with similar songs (a couple of which I’ll drop in the “Runners Up” section… if you’ve got more, drop them in the comments and we’ll make a totally bitchin’ play list).

As a side note, License to Ill was pretty much the first (and perhaps only) time I’ve been ahead of the curve music-wise. I’d caught Fight for Your Right on MTV at some point and then picked up the full cassette without knowing much else. Listened to it a lot, lent it out to a person or two. A few months later, the Beasties were all the rage, everywhere.

And, of course, no one seemed to remember I’d been there first.

Not that that stopped me from rockin’ out.

Runners Up

• Twisted Sister, We’re Not Gonna Take It – Another classic youth protest song. One that’s been used for much deeper reasons than just rockin’ out.
• Joan Jett, I Love Rock n’ Roll– Because, really, how can you not? Most of Jett’s stuff falls into the “Turn it UP!” category.
• Basil Poledouris, Anvil of Crom – Or, really, the entire Conan the Barbarian soundtrack. What is best in life? Cranking this epic music.
• The White Stripes, Seven Nation Army – I just love the beat and the guitar hook, especially when it’s loud.

If the last few of these were tricky, this one especially is.

Why?

Because it specifically asks about something I just don’t do.

I know it’s common practice–even recommended at times–but, well, I made a lot of choices in my life a long time ago to not follow a number of those normal rules. By and large, that’s served me well. Especially in the case of this one.

A song that reminds you of someone you’d rather forget

See, I think it’s really, really important to remember the people in our lives. Even the ones who’ve done us wrong or hurt us.

I think doing so challenges us to figure out what kind of positive things to take away from the situation. To remember what we learned, about ourselves, other people, or the world around us. To note how far we’ve come since that moment when we wished that other never existed. To be able to tell if the pain from that experience is still holding us back… or if it’s opened up opportunities that would have otherwise been closed.

That’s not to say that you let yourself get walked all over in the name of self-knowledge. On the contrary, if you’re going out looking for problems… well, that’s a problem in and of itself and isn’t at all healthy. I’m also not saying you can’t be angry about things that happen–and especially things that are done to you. I’m just a huge advocate of accepting the past and using it to make a better future.

Looking back, I can (and have) honestly thank people who did me wrong. They all helped me become the person I am today. All the pain, all the low times, it’s all given me the chance and/or impetus to dig deeper. To figure out who I really am when I’m just me. To figure out who I am to those around me.

And remembering has allowed me to avoid repeating problematic patterns again, and again, and again.

I made a commitment to this process decades ago. And, so far, there is only a single situation that I haven’t been able to figure out something “good” that’s come out of it. Yet.

So, instead of “someone I want to forget” I guess this is more a tribute to “what I’m still trying to deal with.”

Which also means, there’s not a whole lot of story to go along with The Lumineers’ Ho Hey, because that story is still a work in progress and, until I figure out the ending, really isn’t anyone’s business but mine.

Runners Up

• She Wants Revenge, Tear You Apart –  Sometimes, songs have different meanings than just the lyrics… and sometimes those personal meanings have very little to do with the song itself. Sometimes, things just are what they are.
• Fiona Apple, Criminal – I’ve always liked this song (and Fiona Apple in general), there may or may not be more reasons for including it here.
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Storm – Things gather, and crescendo, and spill over. They leave an impact, but are, ultimately, ephemeral.

Long ago, summer actually means something.

It was really different from the rest of the year. There was no school. There were no responsibilities. And not having to be home until sundown meant a lot longer to wander aimlessly. Since I grew up in the woods, sundown wasn’t even always the curfew… and the warmer (but not too warm, since I grew up in the north) nights mean that the walk home would be decent enough.

It was a time to go to The Beach and see who else was there. A time for just hanging out.  Everything on TV was a rerun and the Internet wasn’t a thing that people had… so long, lazy days.

And then I graduated high school. Summer became something less special. And then I graduated college… and summer became just like every other part of the year.

A song that reminds you of summertime

You’d think it would be easy to nail down at least one song that definitively says “summer” for me. Well, it isn’t. There was nothing truly iconic, music-wise, in any of my summers that I can remember. There are songs that came up with the people I was among. There are songs that I wish my summers were like. There are songs that capture one specific aspect of one particular summer. But there’s nothing that really just represents “summer” in its totality.

So we’ll go with Crosby, Stills, Nach & Young’s Woodstock.

Because if there’s one thing every summer in my home town had, it was some hubbub over Woodstock.

See, back in 1969 that little concert happened right down the road and around the corner from my house. Like it or not (and, believe me, a lot of people did not), my home town was a classic rock town. At least for anyone who was under the age of 20 (and a few lingering hippies). That idea was still in full effect when I was wandering the streets with the Smallwood crew on those lazy summer days.

Now it wasn’t all Woodstock acts. No, not at all. It was also The Doors and some other stuff. And, by the 80s, the general attitude among the disenfranchised youth of my middle of nowhere town wasn’t quite as hippy dippy as the 60s always seemed to be (they really weren’t either, but that’s another story).

So, yeah, while this song doesn’t really capture much that’s iconic of my summers growing up (or any summer of mine), it does always make me think of August in the Town of Bethel.

Runners Up

• Soundgarden, Black Hole Sun – There was one summer, when my room was in a literal state of disrepair, that I was using the TV as an alarm clock. For some reason, MTV always played this song at the same time, every morning.
• Van Morrison, Brown Eyed Girl – This would be one of the other songs that reminds me of the Smallwood crew. Perhaps one or two people I had crushes on. Perhaps it just’s just the imagery of the streams and whatnot.
• Meatloaf, Life is a Lemon (and I Want my Money Back) – Yeah, there was this one summer I kept trying to spend time with a girl or two I had a thing for. That never really worked out the way I planned. More than a couple of times, as I turned on the radio before, during, or after a phone call filled with failed plans (and, no, it wasn’t just them blowing me off), this song would be on. Eventually I gave up and just started playing the CD. Sometimes, I’ll still trot out this song. (Some things never change.)

Again I’m faced with a plethora of choices, many of which have at least decent stories attached to them. (Because, really, that’s what this is all about, right? The stories the songs bring back into memory?) Also, there are a lot of songs with numbers in the title… even in my play list, right at the beginning (and I won’t even count the saved voice mails that somehow ended up in the playlist… I’m going to have to do something about that… it’s always odd when they rotate in with the random option in the car…)

Right! Onward!

A song you like with a number in the title

There aren’t a lot of songs that, when I first heard them, almost made me have to pull over and did make me have to track down what the heck they were and who performed them. (That was a lot more difficult before the web really caught on… we’re talking long before YouTube and Wikipedia and Google having everything, everywhere, all the time.)

The Wallflowers’ One Headlight was one of those songs.

It came on the radio while I was driving somewhere around RIT up in Rochester, NY, back in 1996. That was my third year in college. My third year away from my home town. My third year reveling in being surrounded by people who actually got me, who I had a lot in common with, who I could see going places with.

It’s no secret I never really felt like I fit in all that well in my home town. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it–it’s got a lot of history, some pretty good people, and a whole lot of potential–but there were very, very few people I ever really clicked with growing up there. (Good news is, I get along better with some of those people now than I ever did when we were growing up…) Getting away to college was the first time I really felt like I fit in and wasn’t just passing through, awkwardly.

As the first verse played I was taken right back to all my feelings of being an outsider in my home town. Feeling trapped. Feeling hopeless. Fighting to just get away.

And then the chorus kicked in:

Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There’s got to be something better than
In the middle
But me and Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight

“There’s got be something better than in the middle” hit me hard. That striving for something more than just mediocrity, something more than boredom, something more than just existing. And then the bittersweet hopeful tag at the end: “We can drive it home with one headlight.” A true image of just barely being able to make it–but making it, none the less.

The last verse was just as emotional, bringing me back to lots of long nights just wondering “Why?” and “Why bother at all?”

Even today, the song still brings me back to that place.

And it lets me remember how far I’ve come. How far so many of us have come.

Runners Up

Again, a small sampling, in no particular order and with some saved for possible future use.

• Nena, 99 Luftballons/99 Red Balloons – I like both versions, but the German one just feels more “right”… it was always neat when it would show up on the radio.
• Metallica, One – Back in the day this was super intense… the build of the lyrics, the audio samples, and that guitar work was beautiful and disturbing when it was all put together. It was really one of the songs that brought home the horrors of war.
• Barenaked Ladies, One Week – This is another one of those college songs. Lots of memories there. But mostly, I love the quick complex lyric play.
• Dolly Parton, 9 to 5 – I love the movie and I love the song… and I’ve come to love the song more the more I’ve been out in the real world…