So, I'm driving north on I-81 in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley yesterday morning, enjoying the magnificent fall scenery and feeling on top of the world, when Gilbert O'Sullivan's Alone Again, Naturally pops up on Sirius 7. And wow, what a mood breaker!
This is a song about a guy who is stood up at the altar, whose father dies at way too young an age, and whose mother then kicks the bucket after a terrible round of depression. After all this -- and after three verses of lamenting his past -- this poor soul pretty much finds himself with no reason for living, and, as the title describes, all alone. Not exactly uplifting stuff! In fact, this song makes Janis Ian's At Seventeen seem like the theme song for a Tony Robbins seminar! With the possible exception of The Cavaliers' Last Kiss (a song about a boy who lost his girlfriend in a tragic car accident -- you know: screaming tires, busting glass, and all that sort of stuff), this is the most depressing song I've ever heard!
Okay, I know. Not every song needs to be cheerful and uplifting. I get that. In fact, the music world would be pretty boring if that were the case. It's just that a song like this is not what I want to hear on a beautiful, sunny morning when I'm feeling really charged up and ready to rock and roll, ya know? Sure, I could change channels, but I like my 70s stuff. So, what's a guy supposed to do? Grin and bear it, I guess, and wait for the next song.
Which is what I did. And just what song came up next? Believe it or not it was The Carpenters' Top of the World. How's that for timing? "Now we're cookin'," I thought. That is, until I started thinking about Karen Carpenter and her tragic fate! Oh my goodness!
Time to switch to the 80s channel.
2 comments:
It's the love that I've found ever since you've been around...
great song.. :D
Top of the World is another one of my all time favs, well actually anything by the Carpenters for that matter.
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