Lately, Dr. Feelgood and I have been listening to a lot of music. I think it’s because he retired and we can’t TALK ALL THE TIME. When we want to jam, I go to Spotify and think of a song and scroll down to song radio. It is THE BOMB.
Yesterday, I put in the Commodores’ Easy. It’s a gorgeous, bittersweet song–Lionel’s voice floats and it’s so calm. The playlist that came up is killer–here are just a few of the entries. #BoomerHeaven
I’ll Take You There by The Staples Singers
I’ll Be Around by The Spinners
You Are Everything by The Stylistics
What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye
Never Can Say Goodbye by The Jackson Five
Until You Come Back to Me by Aretha Franklin
And then, up came the song that is, as it has turned out, MY SONG: Zoom by the Commodores.
And, now, we’re going to go way back.
In the summer of 1977, I was 16 and had come off of a very rough winter and spring. My family, in the middle of tenth grade, had moved across the country. I left a place I loved–Marin, California (wild)–and was ensconced in a place I loathed which also loathed me–South Florida. The kids at my new school were sure I was weird–maybe even gay? I had come from SAN FRANCISCO!–and most were not nice. I was miserable and, using this as my rationale, talked my parents into letting me go back to California for the summer.
Our neighbor in California was on the Board of the San Francisco Boys Club, an organization that ran a summer camp for disadvantage boys up in Mendocino, California. In exchange for room and board and a pittance, I signed up to work in the camp’s office.
It was one of the most pivotal experiences of my life. For starters, there were only five women in the camp, the population was 90% black and overwhelmingly poor. My boss hated me–now I can see my privilege must have rankled but back then I just thought he was a jerk. There was, in my hazy recollection, no one over 30 and no one seemed in charge. It was California in the mid 70s–the air smelled constantly of weed, radios blared funk, disco, and soul, and my roommates all immediately found boyfriends.
Me too.
I picked the camp’s lifeguard, one of the few responsible adults there. I was 16, he was 21–this horrifies my kids to which I just say it was a different time. He was a gem of guy–I am so grateful Rick was my first love–really his only flaw was his deep love of Bread.
One day, in the office, a song I’d not heard before came on–a quiet song by the very famous Commodores. Their eponymous album had spawned two giant hits: Brick House and Easy. But Zoom was not released as a single in the US and I’d not heard it. I loved it. It was–and I’d never have used this word then–aspirational. A black man singing about freedom and his dreams for both himself and the world–it worked for me.
If you don’t know the lyrics, they are:
I may be just a foolish dreamer
But I don’t care
‘Cause I know my happiness is waiting out there somewhere
I’m searching for that silver lining
Horizons that I’ve never seen
Oh, I’d like to take just a moment and dream my dream
Ohhh, dream my dream
Oh, oh, Zoom
I’d like to fly far away from here
Where my mind, oh Lord, is fresh and clear
And I’d find the love that I long to see
Where everybody can be what they wanna be
Oh, I’d like the greet the sun each morning
And walk amongst the stars at night
I’d like to know the taste of honey in my life, in my life
Well, I’ve shared so many pains
And I’ve played so many games
Oh, but everyone finds the right way
Somehow, somewhere, someday
Oh, Zoom
I’d like to fly far away from here
Where my mind can be fresh and clear
And I’ll find the love that I long to see
People can be what they wanna be
Oh, oh, I wish the world were truly happy
Living as one
I wish the word they call freedom someday would come
Someday would come
Oh, Zoom
I’d like to fly far away from here
Where my mind can be fresh and clear
And I’d find the love that I long to see
Everybody can be what they wanna be
Hey hey, hey hey, hey baby
I came back to Florida late that August, broken-hearted at leaving Rick and that golden summer behind. WSHE, the radio station that blanketed South Florida, had Hotel California on repeat, and, when I did hear The Commodores, it was never Zoom.
In 1979, I went to college. It was the era of New Wave and R.E.M and women singing Call Me and Hit Me With Your Best Shot. I was busy trying to figure out who I was and failing but, that’s OK, to me, that was college.
I don’t think I thought much about Zoom again until 2003 when the Itunes store opened. Suddenly, you could buy single songs and make your own playlists. (To this day, I think this is one of the best things Steve Jobs ever did.) With its first year, I’d bought hundreds of songs and one of them was, yes, Zoom.
I’ve listened to it hundreds of time in the past twenty years and, over the years, it’s became the song that expresses my life philosophy. It puts happiness at the forefront of one’s goals, but it’s not a selfish path to joy. Yes, you can seek a life of emotional satisfaction but you want to do so in a world where everyone else can too. And that’s always worked for me. I do wish the world was truly happy and that people can be what they want to be. I did find love and happiness and, though I get it wrong, I feel like I am, more or less, on the right way. And I’ll never stop looking for life’s silver linings. Like I said, Zoom is my song and, when I die, it better damn well be played, more than once, at my memorial party. (There’s, of course, a playlist.)
So… that was a lot. And thank you for reading.
Do you have a song like this? One you think represents who you are? I’d love to hear it.
In the meantime, I’m tuning into Zoom radio. Thank you Spotify!
Billy Joel’s song My Life was the background music to my divorce many years ago and was part of the energy driving me forward into my second and most wonderful, blissful marriage. Otherwise, “My Song” is the old Beach Boys favourite: California Girls which will be played my funeral despite living in England for decades.
I do have songs that are perfect for a time/part in my life. My song about being married–this came out when I was a struggling newlywed and it still works for me today is The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of by Carly Simon. My song about parenting is Halley Came to Jackson by Mary Chapin Carpenter. My song about friendship is For Good from Wicked.
I’ve listened to each of these hundreds of times and they are all, I dunno, centering? for me.
Sometimes lyrics just hit that spot deep inside where your brain and your heart just know that those words speak directly to you. My husband and I were too far apart in years to love the same “top 10” type of songs but when he sang the Teddy Bears’ Picnic or The Sun Has Got Its Hat On, just to make me laugh, I always did!
Dabney, since you love music and Lionel Richie, I think you will love the new Netflix documentary called The Greatest Night in Pop. It tells the story of the making of the song, We are the World, which Lionel co-wrote with Michael Jackson. It was really fun and interesting to see how it all came together, watching all the different personalities interact, and seeing Lionel’s positivity and joy smoothing the way and helping to make it happen. I didn’t know he was so instrumental in getting it done, and I have new respect for him after watching it. An easy, fun watch, and gosh, they were so much younger then.
I just read about that and put it on my list! I loved the Bee Gees documentary and I’m sure I’ll like this one too! Thanks!
Bread was big on the radio when I was in elementary school, and If was played constantly, so I understand your lifeguard’s deep love for their music. Music has always been my go to for emotional comfort. Some days its Billy Joel’s The Stranger, other days its Linda Rondstadt’s Heart Like a Wheel. Sometimes the mood is Motown, sometimes its The Black Keys, Green Day, Louis Prima, Bach, Beethoven, John Prine, or The Carolina Chocolate Drops. But my all time favorite happy song is Moondance by Van Morrison. That song just fills me with joy.
Moondance is THE BEST. Have you ever seen An American Werewolf in London? It’s used in the best love scene in that movie!
To be fair, I loved Bread when he played it. But, when I’d moved on, it was no longer for me. And the song that was OUR SONG–You Light Up My Life–I find unlistenable to now!
What I love about songs is how strongly they can evoke a past time and place. It’s easy to get caught almost unawares when a song I haven’t heard in a deacde or three comes on the radio and I’m suddenly inside a vivid memory that I hadn’t thought about in years. It’s happened a few times recently since we have Sirrius Radio in one car. Sometimes the memory’s a good one, sometimes not so much, but the power of music to associate itself with a time and place is amazing. Trisha Yearwood did a pretty song about it called, The Song Remembers When.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AygRmWnow1w
I love that song. Yearwood is so good. She’s been knocking it out of the park since Walk Away Joe.
Completely agree. And I think that’s one of Trisha Yearwood’s best songs. I saw her once in a small concert venue in the 1990s and her voice was just beautiful.
I listen to whatever music catches my attention. I love lyrics, and tend to look for well constructed songs with good lyrics, no matter what the genre. I also tend to love women with powerful voices, and again, the genre matters little. I grew up in the 60’s and listened to Aretha Franklin, Joan Baez, and Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane), as well as all the classic rock bands. I didn’t listen to any country music until I was in my 30’s because my dad hated it. I found I enjoyed some of it and one year my husband and I went to a 6 or 7 country music concerts (there’s a big open air venue near us), including Sugarland, Toby Keith (RIP) with Trace Atkins, Brad Paisly with Darius Rucker and Allison Krause, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band, Vince Gill and more. Unfortunately never got to see Trisha Yearwood or Reba!
We don’t generally go to outdoor venues anymore and concert ticket have gotten so expensive that it’s been since before the pandemic that we’ve been to a big concert. We can buy season tickets to the North Carolina Ballet(7 ballets) for not much more than going to one big name concert. I love live music and we’re trying to explore some smaller venues and regional bands now, but have been frustrated that so many smaller venues are standing only, something I don’t want to do for several hours.
You have heard some of the greatest country singers! I would love it if Trisha put out new music but I think those days are past and she has moved on to other interests.
Before I jump in with my memories, I’d like to recommend the podcast, “A History of Rock and Roll in 500 Songs” written and hosted by Andrew Hickey. It’s a planned 10-year project (he started in 2018, but I only started listening recently) with the episodes moving for the most part in chronological order from the Swing era through to, I believe, 1999 (when, in Hickey’s opinion–and in mine–R&R stopped being an innovative musical force and yielded its dominance to rap, hip-hop, and EDM). I would recommend listening to the episodes in order because names, songs, and themes do recur and you see where musical ideas got bounced around from one place to another and how social changes influenced and were in turn influenced by popular music (for instance, who knew that the BMI music composers radio strike of the late 1930s would have such an influence on how early rock and roll evolved, but that’s what happened). Highly recommended.
As for me, you can tell by my online name that (1) I’m old and (2) Disco was a formative part of my early adulthood. I love music from the 1950s on up and nowadays listen a lot to EDM (which, in my mind, is the evolution and confluence of my two favorite eras: 1970s Disco and 1980s Alternative music). What I listen to depends on my mood and what I’m feeling nostalgic for. There are certain songs that just hit a sweet spot–I’m never sure if I’m actually remembering an event associated with the song or if I just love it, but “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” and “Black Is Black” from the mid-1960s always give me that sensation. Anything from the Beatles, of course, especially “The Two of Us”, will do that for me. My favorite Disco song is “Try Me (I Know We Can Make It)” by Donna Summer, who was never given full credit for her amazing voice because she sang in a marginalized genre. I love Alternative music from the 1980s, and I could listen to “Lips Like Sugar”, “Fall on Me”, “Poison Arrow”, “I’ve Been Losing You”, “The Reflex”, “Relax”, “Every Day I Write the Book”, “What Is Love”, and “I Guess This Must Be the Place” (and so many others) on repeat and never get tired of them. I didn’t listen to much new music in the late 1990s & early 2000s, too busy raising my kids and exposing them to MY music (which means they know all the songs by the Beatles, Stones, and Eagles but struggle with recognizing music by NSYNC or BSB, etc.), but in the last decade or so, I’ve been listening to a lot of EDM. Spotify tells me that “Rush” by Troye Sivan is the song I listened to most last year–a perfectly reasonable 39 times…of course, I only heard it for the first time in late October, but then played it multiple times for the next few weeks, lol.
TL;DR: I love listening to music. It’s a fundamental element of my life and who I am.
I think This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) has one of the most romantic lines in music:
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I love both Talking Heads’ version and the one by Shawn Colvin!
Agreed. I’ve always thought “I Guess This Must Be the Place”—along with Cat Stevens’s “Two Fine People””—is one of the best songs about the wonder that is finding someone who you can love and who loves you too.
I’ll second the podcast A History of Rock and Roll in 500 Songs recommendation, although be forewarned that Hickey includes a LOT of information about seemingly random or tangential topics. (I tried listening to an episode about Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys and an hour and a half into the episode we hadn’t gotten to a single mention of Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys or the song. It was all about the theremin (an instrument you play without touching it) and its history. I assume Wilson used it in the song but I ran out of time and haven’t gotten back to the episode to find out how it relates.) Hickey knows his stuff and he’s an interesting storyteller (think Ira Glass and This American Life). It just isn’t a quick or light listen.
My husband is a musician and music of all types is almost always on in our house. There are certainly songs that take to me specific times and places in my life as Carrie G mentions; but I don’t think I could narrow it down to a single song to represent me. Perhaps the body of Harry Chapin’s work comes closest: person, woman, parent, citizen?
It includes songs like
There Only Was One Choice
Dreams Go By
Flowers Are Red
Tangled Up Puppet
Cat’s In The Cradle
My Old Lady
Mr. Tanner
Ah–the most instructive parenting song ever: Cat’s In The Cradle.
Since we are talking about music, has anyone seen the just released Netflix series One Day? It is a romance and has tons of music from the 80s, 90s and 00s. It is based on a best selling novel and Netflix’s adaptation has received uniformly excellent reviews. So, I binge watched it yesterday. It is a friends to lovers story that plays out over two decades. The two leads are believable and likable and their character growth arc has both depth and complexity and their journey from just out of college to full adulthood worth following. Except for the shocking ending (which I saw coming a mile away and which was disappointing and felt cliched), I quite enjoyed the series. Worth bingeing.
I read the book several years ago and really enjoyed it; there was a film version made, but it wasn’t great. I’ve seen several rave reviews for the new series, so I’ll be giving it a go.
Wait.It’s just come back to me.
I remember this book. The ending is not for me.
I did not like the ending either. It felt like a manipulative plot device to me.
It’s one of my very least favorites–it’s the worst kind of bait and switch. AND it plays into the dumb idea that HEAs in love aren’t possible.
I have not read the book or seen the movie. As per reviews, the 14-part series format seems to do justice to the ‘one day’ structure of the novel. Supposed to be similar to Normal People but I liked this one better.
Ooooh. This sounds like my jam. We are just finishing up Miss Scarlett and the Duke and need something to watch!
You will enjoy it, I think. Lots of music too.
I love Miss Scarlett and the Duke too. I haven’t watched the Feb 4 episode but the one from the week prior left me saddened. I hope I won’t be left depressed at the end of this season!
We finished it–it was not my favorite season but the ending wasn’t depressing.
That said, I do not love the direction the show has taken. The showrunner has said she doesn’t want to the show to focus on Eliza and William but, when it doesn’t, I don’t think the mysteries are strong enough on their own or that Scarlett has other interesting relationships. THE WOMAN HAS NO FRIENDS!
I haven’t watched the new season yet (it just started here last week) but I remember thinking to myself, sometime around late in S2, that William was very often a total arsehole to Eliza and that I was getting very fed up with it.
I agree that the mysteries themselves aren’t enough to carry the show – but I guess it’s another instance of the showrunners not wanting to acknowledge that most of the audience is watching for the romance and not the mysteries, because romance is frivolous and mystery isn’t. /sarcasm
William is NOT the problem in the new season.
Yeah… Eliza’s profession has always stood between them and there have been hints all along that she’s the one holding back.
Well, that’s not the problem either.
This season reminded me of why I quit watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel–our lead female becomes… bratty and self-absorbed. Why?
Oh, well, because – as we see in romance novels so often – many authors seem to believe that bratty and self-absorbed = strong and independent. And so many TV shows that have a ‘will-they-won’t-they’ at their hearts are written by people who seem to subscribe to the idea that they must spin it out as long as possible because they have no idea what to do once the relationship is established.
I’ll be interested to hear what you think when you watch it.
That doesn’t make sense because the title is Miss Scarlet AND THE DUKE!!! I watch to see what’s happening with William and Eliza! I also agree with you that the mysteries aren’t the strongest point of the series and this current season really shows that, I think. So far from what I have seen this season, Eliza seems unwilling to compromise or learn what it takes to run a business (I have now watched last Sunday’s episode and just have tomorrow’s left, which I think is the finale).
It irked me. I did love the flashback episode!
In case you haven’t seen – it was announced last week that Stuart Martin is leaving the show, but instead of recasting they’re continuing with it as just “Miss Scarlett”. Fandom exploded, of course, with many, many people pointing out that without William to humanise her, Eliza is not very likeable. I confess, I haven’t finished watching S4 yet, but now I’m not sure I’m going to bother.
I was NOT HAPPY about that.
It’s especially irksome because the showrunner said in Season Two she didn’t want it to be a romance. Then, maybe, don’t name your show Miss Scarlett and the Duke!
Not only does Eliza need William, the show needs their dynamic. The mysteries aren’t especially riveting, the other supporting characters, with the exception of Ivy (a bit) have no lives outside the show and the history isn’t deeply explored in the way it was in, oh, Peaky Blinders or Ripper Street.
Honestly, I think fandom rightfully feels betrayed. This was a lovely slow burn romance and it’s odd that a feminist writer would feel that focusing on feelings is somehow not worth it.
Yes, to all of that. And some commenters have rightly called out the showrunner for not wanting to show that her feminist heroine can have love AND a career. Many romance writers make the mistake of thinking that “selfish and strident” – “independent” – when it doesn’t at all, and that seems to be the way Rachel New is writing Eliza.
And of course, there’s the old “oh, I don’t want this to be a romance” (rather like Gabaldon’s consistent denial that Outlander is a romance) because romance is somehow silly and lesser and all the things that are continually criticised in romance novels.
I will be surprised if the show lasts beyond S5 – unless, of course, the showrunners realise they’ve shot themselves in the foot and get Martin back for an episode or two at the end to finally give the characters the HEA everyone thought they were heading towards.
I hate how bratty they’ve made Eliza. (Same thing happened with Midge Maisel.)
I won’t watch Season Five unless people rave about it.
I agree on so many fronts with your and Caz’s comments. After learning that the Duke would be dropped and the show would now only be Miss Scarlet, I was depressed. In a world suffering climate change, where democratic principles face challenges everywhere, the loss of a character on a fictional series might seem unimportant, but I reserve the right to be miffed. The relationship between the two characters was the heart of the show, the only one with the possibility of change and growth over time, and pretty much the only one that allowed for their characters to grow and change. Eliza’s personal and professional relationship with Patrick Nash changed over the course of the series, but I don’t see it changing much now.
P.S. I also enjoyed the flashback episode and found the final scene in the last episode with Eliza and Patrick to be quite touching, but I’ll still miss Stuart Martin. Off to IMDB to see what else he’s been in or will be in.
Count me as one of the viewers who is SO MAD about this. One of the main premises of the show is the relationship between Eliza and William and in this past season, they had that flashback episode showing how they met plus Eliza at Willam’s bedside when he was injured then William declaring his feelings. It felt like they were leading up to the two of them finally being together and then they just shipped off William to New York! I thought, OK, William’s position is only for a year so maybe next season will take a one year time jump but now I find out there will be no resolution to this storyline! I quite agree with all of your comments about Eliza being more unlikeable this past season and the mysteries less interesting. I’m not sure how she will do on her own as it feels like she relied on William sending her cases or helping in other ways and she won’t get that help anymore. I might still tune in to “Miss Scarlett” but I am halfway decided to dump it already.
I found the way the last season’s story of William and Eliza was told to be very confusing. Why torture us with that great flashback episode, etc…?
I saw the trailer a while ago and it looked good. Have not read the book or seen the previous movie so I will go in unspoiled. Also hadn’t read any reviews as yet so I am glad to get your recommendation – thanks!
You will like it, I think.
So I finished watching last weekend and I was liking it very much until the next to last episode then I was OUTRAGED! Honestly, it still makes me mad every time I think about it. I thought the two leads were very good and the series kept my interest but the lack of HEA really got to me.
I hated the ending too. It was so pointless.
I can’t figure out why they set up the romance to finally flower and then, boom, chopped it off. It felt… mean.
I suspect either:
We can’t get them together too soon or it’ll kill the show (because so many TV writers have no clue now to keep an established relationship interesting.)
Or
Oh, no, we don’t want any of that silly romance stuff here because then nobody will take us seriously (and given the disrespect afforded to romance by people who make money from it while simultaneously looking down on it, I bet this is a big chunk of the reason.)
Or they really ARE that totally clueless about why a large proportion of their viewers actually watch(ed) the show.
The interview with the showrunner suggested that a romance was beneath her.
Yep. Option B. And I expect she’ll pay for that when viewing figures tank for S5.
[spoiler title=”made you look….”] Hey, I think we can do spoilers now. [/spoiler]
I would have a lot of sympathy for someone who had a story they wanted to tell that meant a great deal to them and included a romantic subplot on the side, and who was frustrated and sad because everyone paid more attention to the romance than to what they were really trying to say. But somehow either that’s never the situation or people are remarkably bad at communicating that.