Hey. So does this ever happen to you? You are bumping around the world and then you suddenly realize that you have forgotten that one of your favorite things EVER has totally slipped your mind. You haven't thought about this favorite thing in so long, that you forgot it even existed. And then you are reminded of it--and you wonder, "How have I been functioning without this amazingly cool thing for so long?"
Yesterday I was getting a morning cookie at Quacks with a certain 2 and a half year old (she chose a red "H for Hillary" cookie--something that I don't think her Republican parents would be all that thrilled about). Lucky for us, someone working the counter decided that we should all be listening to the Best of Hall and Oates. Now, Hall and Oates are a cool thing I have NOT forgotten about, but the particular song--"Adult Education"--IS something that I had forgotten. Let's face it--you think Hall and Oates, and you think "Private Eyes" (shout out to Warren Pash) or "Sara Smiles" or "Rich Girl" or, maybe even, "Maneater." But "Adult Education" was my second favorite Hall and Oates song when I was a youngster. Consider the following things that make it great:
1) The song begins with the word "adult" sung over and over. But the emphasis on the syllables goes back and forth--like this: AD-ult, A-dult. AD-ult, A-dult. Awesome.
2) The song promises to be super dirty, but it is actually so PG. You can see this in my favorite lines, "A senior with a junior miss/I wonder what the junior wishes/That she could graduate to adult/That she could graduate to adult kisses". I mean, even at their most "adult" adult kisses are pretty tame, as are references to "night school", a student body with "bad reputations" and "underclassmen flashing hot and cool." Talk about leaving things up to your imagination! (And, really, I first fell in love with this song at 8--my imagination wasn't up to much.)
3) There is, at the heart of the song, a great message. Part of the chorus is "Believe it or not, there's life after high school." Interestingly, this message is equally important to the 8 year old and 33 year old mes. At 8, I could hardly imagine high school (although I had Fame and Afterschool Specials to help me try), let alone life after high school. So it was inspiring to have Hall and Oates promise that life wouldn't end at 18. Equally, I am glad to be reminded, as a 33-year old, that high school was not all that sexy. Life now is much sexier. I guess.
4) After listening to the song 47 times in a row this afternoon, I can happily report that this song does not get old. It rocks (in a soft, PG kind of way) just as much now as it did a couple of hours ago. That's got to be worth something.
4 comments:
Well, it's about time that something worth reading found its way to your barely-bookmarkworthy site. I'm no Hall and Oates fanboy, but I appreciate some musical analysis, especially when it pushes that whimsical anecdote about the guy and his cheese further down the page.
Now that you're buttered up, a request:
Today, in the same damn conversation that seems to present itself every couple months or so, I tried to explain to a fellow cinephile why I don't find Legends of the Fall to be a particularly good film. Of course my opinion was met that same look of repulsion and disgust that I got at my old church when I suggested that Jesus was darked-skinned and Muslim looking. And ugly.
I keep telling people that, while I don't like Legends of the Fall, I have this cousin who absolutely loathes the film. And if you will be so kind as to post a blog explaining your heretical position, I will gladly link it from my Myspace page (OOOOH!).
Gracias, hermana.
I had one of those moments recently with the movie They Live. I forgot how much I loved that movie until somebody mentioned Keith David, and all I could think about was him kicking Rowdy Roddy Piper in the balls five times in a row. I mean, I don't understand why I don't use the line, "I'm here to kick some ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm fresh out of gum!" every single day of my life. There are many occasions in a typical day that warrant it, actually.
I answer both of you at once:
Marcus, sit tight. It will come. I know that one post a month doesn't make me bookmarkworthy, but one never knows when inspiration might hit. Keep the faith.
James, weirdly, you made me remember Rowdy Roddy Piper. Of whom I have not thought in years. How delightful.
I am uncomfortable with the prospect of you explaining why you don't like Legends of the Fall. We saw that together, you know, with Tuesday and Eric. But I suppose you remember that, don't you? That didn't help your movie going experience, did it?
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