Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Blame it on the eclipse

I’m blaming my rambling on the eclipse. On August 21, entire swaths of the nation were caught up in eclipse fever, and Georgia and the Carolinas were part of the mania.
 
Did you have friends who traveled for the viewing? One Atlanta couple texted us Monday that they had stopped far short of their preferred destination after going 51 miles in two hours, so I was just as happy that the Clampetts, as my husband refers to us, shared our one pair of eclipse glasses and watched the phenomenon from our driveway.

If an eclipse can cause large parts of the population to take leave of their senses and sit in traffic for hours on end, perhaps it can cause my brain to hopscotch around. The idea of writing about music was triggered when I heard mention of Bonnie Tyler. I’d read she’d be singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” at some point during the eclipse, but it didn’t sink in until a local pop station snarkily said, “Bonnie Tyler will be culturally relevant again for the first time in thirty years.”  Can it have been that long?
 
I heard that comment right after enjoying a new song.  Yes, me, a new song. I’ve since discovered it was “Something Just Like This,” but as is typical for me, I couldn’t catch all the lyrics as I was driving down the road.  What first caught my attention was the mention of Achilles and Hercules, and those names made me think of the Crash Test Dummies hit from the 90s, “Superman’s Song.” From there, my mind jumped to “I’m Not Crazy; I’m Just a Little Unwell.” And voila, I’d moved into the current century.

After sharing my music tastes a few weeks back in my newspaper column, I felt compelled to alert the media, or at least my readers, that I do listen to newer music on occasion. I only listen to the radio when I’m in the car running errands, so I don’t hear new music often.

I’m also a button puncher and move between NPR and several music stations.  That’s how I heard “Something Just Like This.” Via button punching, I stumble across both old and new songs that resonate with me. 

Last year I sang along to “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink.  Google tells me it came out in 2012, though it seemed to be on every station in 2016. The male artist on the song sounded familiar, and it turns out he’s Nate Rues of the band Fun. Fun’s hits are just plain catchy: “Some Nights,” “Carry On,” and “We Are Young.” Are my music tastes sounding a tad more modern yet?

I hear a good mix of old-time rock ‘n roll along with newer artists like Adele, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Mechan Trainor, and even Justin Bieber.  I was surprised I liked “My Mama Don’t Like You” since it’s a Justin Bieber song, and I’m predisposed to dislike him. Mechan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” is also among my newer favorites.  I consider a 2015 song new, don’t you?

Phew! I feel as though I’ve been punching buttons in my brain just as I do on my car radio, and I’m amazed I was able to trace all the leaps back to the beginning—Bonnie Tyler.  To be honest, I can’t blame my rambling thoughts on the eclipse; my brain works this way all the time.

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