Radio Songs

    In tenth grade, we had a double block of English every other week. We'd sit in the room that constituted as the library with cupboards full of books wrapped around the perimeter of the room. It was here we learned about Macbeth  and  To Kill a Mockingbird. After the first block, we'd take a little break before learning more. If the weather permitted, the entire class would go outside and soak up the rays on the field. Some of us would just stand there and watch as the other kids attempted  to do cartwheels and handstands on the patchy green grass.

    The teacher also allowed us to listen to the radio if we were doing a fun assignment. I'm all for listening to the radio but in that class I was lost most of the time. Several of the kids insisted we listen to a specific downtown radio station. It was one I only listened to on occasion but usually didn't care for. I felt like I was pretty fluent in what was hot and what was not in the world of music but then again I didn't. Songs would come on that I had never in my life heard before yet it seemed that everyone else had. I'd just sit there as my classmates sang along to songs and artists I never knew existed.

    "Who is this?" I asked sheepishly. They told me and none of the names struck a cord or made the light bulb in my head go off.

    Here's the thing I find funny about listening to the radio or songs in general. Often you just know the words that come next. On numerous occasions I'll be in the car listening to a song I've never heard before and sing along and by the time it's over I know most of the words. The other people in the car looked at me with disbelief as I did this for a couple of songs in a row. I think it's because we want to hear what we would say and what is expected or destined to come next. So when a song says a completely different word than I sing, it throws me. It takes a few pushes of the replay button to get the right word. I find, however, that in my mind I still song the word I would rather hear. Funny how that goes. Most of the time when  I listen to or read something I look for the words that connect best with me. Often I find that about 75% of the words match and the rest don't. It's not my story. That's why we write; to put the stories out there that we can relate to or that we hear in our heads. That's why I write.

So I challenge you to listen to the radio or any song you can get your hands onto and listen. Just listen. Do you know the words that come next? Would you change them?

Here is the song that's been stuck in my head all week: