BOTB Results and What's Making Me Crazy

It's time for results in Battle of the Bands.

Me... I'm thrilled that I FINALLY pitted two contenders against one another that kept this race interesting. Perry Como and Johnny Mathis both looked like they could win this thing right up until the end. (If you missed it, the song was It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.) So, how did it all turn out?

Perry Como: 13

Johnny Mathis: 12 (including my vote)

This was so close. One more vote from you guys for Johnny Mathis and I could've made it a tie. Two more votes and I could've chosen the winner. I call that *close.* And a win really. Two stellar versions of this song... so there really wasn't a "loser" here.

I'm not going to call the rest of this post a "Soundtrack" post, though it will get a song. Since it's present day, it'd be jumping way ahead. (For the record, I intend to get back to regularly scheduled blogging in January.) For my readers who've been around longer, you may remember the post about Jack. It was a Battle of the Bands. The song was Wicked Game. You can find it HERE if you're interested.

Jack took this picture on our second date. December 31, 2005.

As we roll closer to December 27 he takes up more space in my head.

Come up to meet you. Tell you I'm sorry. You don't know how lovely you are. I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart.

December 27 is making me a little bit crazy you see. December 27 was the day he killed himself. For the longest time I thought it was the 28th, but I read his obituary recently. It was the 27th.

December 27 was the day of our first date. Is this a coincidence? I don't know. I seriously don't know. Did he remember that it was the day of our first date? Sigh. Some people are really good about remembering the date of "important events." For instance, I can tell you the date of my wedding and the date stamped on my divorce papers. Ironically, the same day, which never fails to make me smile just a little bit. You can't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. BUT, my ex-husband could tell you the day of OUR first date. I can't. It was in May. I think I've tried to forget it. BUT, I know I could call him right now and he'd be able to tell me (because he mentioned it rather frequently way back when). It was significant to him since it was the day his (first) wife left him. Again, God and that sense of humor.


I'm moving off the track. Sort of. You see I don't know if December 27 had any meaning for Jack. If he actually CHOSE it. Or if he just lost it on that day and that was it.

 Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions. Running in circles; coming up tails. Heads on a science apart.

It seems like I spend so much time (too much time) thinking about all the things I've done and wish I could do differently. In this case, I'd take back an email I sent him after he called me. He was a mess. I knew that place because it looked very much like my life when he and I were dating (and quit dating) because I had to sell my house and move in with my parents. A mess. I didn't have the energy for a relationship because my life was so messed up. I didn't know that at the time, but I didn't.  I needed to get healthy. (Heck, I'm still working toward THAT goal.) So, when we talked and I thought "maybe we can work this out," my next thought was "that isn't healthy or realistic right now."

Nobody said it was easy. It's such a shame for us to part. Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard. Oh, take me back to the start.

So, I sent him an email telling him that I understood where he was and that he should just take care of himself. Give himself the time and focus to get better and then we'd see where we were. I wanted to take the pressure off. I never heard from him, so I don't know if he even got it. I'm going to assume he did. However, he didn't respond. I'd say that was unusual, but it wasn't.

In that email, I meant take care of yourself. But I wonder if he read kiss off. You see, I was just guessing at numbers and figures, pulling your puzzles apart. Questions of science. Science and progress cannot speak as loud as my heart.

And the thing is I'll never know. What I know is that he killed himself on December 27. A day I used to love. Now a day I hate.

Tell me you love me. Come back and haunt me. Oh, and I rush to the start. Running in circles. Chasing tails. Coming back as we are.


 

No one ever said it would be this hard. 

INSPIRATIONAL SONG SATURDAY

I am really beginning to enjoy these Inspirational Song Saturdays. It has taken a couple of weeks for them to really grow on me, but here we are. I don't get the same kind of joy from them that I do HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAYS, but every day can't be Thursday. Seriously, every day can't be Thursday. It takes me a solid week to come up with that material.

This Saturday thing is totally different. I don't even start thinking about it until the end of the week. And that is the 80s video featurette portion. The song that is inspirational to me often doesn't even become a glimmer until the day of the event. That means today. Although last week's song was kind of sticking with me all week, so that does go to show that there is no real formula to this thing.

As always, we shall start with the song that is sticking in my brain. In other words, we are starting with the song that is speaking to me. Ever since I heard Coldplay's song, The Scientist, I loved it. It spoke to me on every level. Of course, once I watched the video, it all clicked into place. The one thing that everyone has wanted to do at one point their life is to go back in time and get a do-over. They just want to go back to the start, so that they can do it better, or different, or something. So, when you listen to the lyrics of this song he first says why he wants to go back to the start. Then he makes note of the fact its over and how hard it is, so take him back to the start. But that's when he starts talking about questions of science, science and progress, because he realizes that it is all just running in circles, and chasing your tail. You can want it more than anything. Want it so much that it hurts with the wanting of it, and all you are doing is running in circles, and chasing your tail. There is no such thing as going back to the start. Not even if you are a scientist. The best you can do is live with things the way that they are right now. DON'T FORGET TO TURN OFF MY MUSIC PLAYER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.




If you are wondering how that was inspirational, a reminder to live in the present is a good thing sometimes. Particularly, when you are frustrated with the choices that you made in the past. Since you can't undo them, you just have to ride it out.

Now, let's talk about the 80s and video. That is ever so much more fun. Honestly, I believe that Blondie came on the scene in the 70s. My memory is vague on this one. I think the late 70s. Again, I could look this up, but I don't want to, because that isn't the point. I am fairly certain that her song Call Me was in the movie American Gigolo, which I never got to see, because it was Rated "R," and I was like 12. That being said, maybe it was the early 80s. In any case, I think her first big song was pre-MTV. I looked up most of her songs on YouTube, and it wasn't all that exciting in terms of video. What I am saying is that she didn't get creative with video like Madonna and Duran Duran and some of the others you will see here.

That said, Blondie got lots of radio play, and her most creative video was probably Rapture. I just personally don't care for the song. That is hilarious because I had a Blondie Greatest Hits cassette tape that I practically wore the sound off of, but I always fast forwarded over that song! So, it is likely the only song that still plays!!! Another interesting side note, I had a music professor in college make a disparaging comment about Blondie. He said that the only reason she was successful was because the music industry was looking for someone with her "look" and she fit the bill. I didn't say anything, but I thought he was off his rocker. If all they wanted was a pretty blonde, they could find someone with the talent he didn't think she had, and put some dye in her hair. Curiously, that is all I remember from his class.

Here are a couple of Blondie videos. I hope that they bring back some good memories. Or, if you are a young one, you shall know what you missed out on by not being a child of the 80s. I pity you. MTV will never rock like that again.