It may have been just what I needed.
I had another one of my usual long days yesterday, starting with TV in the morning, a few meetings about an upcoming video project after that, and then radio in the afternoon. These days are becoming more & more common, for some bizarre reason I'm still not used to them, and by the end of the day I might often need a pick-me-up. I got one at 4:45 when I answered the phone after soliciting an Instant Request, and I heard this--
“Hi, can you play ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder”?
My usual reaction when I get that particular phone call is to imitate Homer Simpson when he drools over a box of doughnuts, and I did again this time. I also threw in my usual line about “Superstition” being one of the two greatest songs ever recorded (which, of course, it is) and had the caller agree with me, which is always a bonus. I then got the phone call ready for air, played it, and started the song.
I don’t what it is. I don’t know if it’s the drum beat, the bass line, the horns, or any combination thereof, but the second the song starts something inside me moves. My toe taps a little, my head starts to nod in time to the music, and this feeling washes over me. Even on a day like yesterday, a day when the world was turned all around, when I heard the first few notes of “Superstition” a feeling that’s a combination of happiness, contentment, and pure funk washed over me, cleansing my psyche of whatever ill was infecting it and booting my fatigue to a place from which it couldnt' return.
The power of that song is amazing. It really is.
The funny thing is that I don’t believe any other piece of music has that exact power over me. There are a couple of songs that I like better than “Superstition”; there are also a couple of tunes that I know are probably “better” than “Superstition”, as well. But there is no other song that has the power over my mood and my state of mind that “Superstition” has. I don’t know why; I probably couldn’t even explain it if I did know why. All I know is that a song that is, what, 50 years old this year can take even the worst day and make it seem all right.
I hope everyone has a song like that in their life. I really do!
*****
I have tomorrow off, as it's a corporate holiday, so there won't be a new one of these. I'll be back Monday, but really do feel that I need to leave you with this.
Have a great weekend!
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