Now That I Can Dance
Jerry Goldsmith conducting London Symphony Orchestra (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When I was growing up I didn’t listen to popular music on the radio like other kids. I didn’t own my own radio. My parents owned all the radios we had in the house and of course in the car. So I listened to whatever they wanted to listen to. Until I was a teenager my favorite bands were the London Symphony Orchestra, the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Every album we had, was actually a record album or on 8-track. I had seen tapes before, but I had no clue what was on them. They were like a futuristic technology from a place far away with alien rhythms recorded on them. CD’s were beyond my comprehension. Something gods and immortals listened to music on.
I mention this because my friends and I were discussing how couples pick their songs. That one song that has some kind of romantic meaning to a couple. Maybe it was playing when they first met or it was both their favorite song while dating. I started thinking about the first time I had to choose a song and how embarrassed I was when I got it wrong.
I met my first girlfriend at the skating rink, and like all good thirteen year old boyfriends I spent as much time on the phone with her as possible. One day while on a typically long two-hour phone conversation with my girlfriend, she asked me what I thought our song should be. At that age I understood the concept of a couple’s song but I never thought I would have to decide which 3 minute diddy would be the embodiment of my relationship with another person.
I thought about it for a few minutes and decided to pull a random song from my vast knowledge of popular 1950’s and 1960’s music. I chose “Do You Love Me” by the Contours.
Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My girlfriend, being a normal teenage girl and not a time warped freak of nature, had no idea who the Contours were. So I played the song for her over the phone. She politely declined. She then proceeded to tell me that our song would be “I’ll Be There For You” by Bon Jovi and that she would be making all the relationship decisions from that point forward.
Jon Bon Jovi in concert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The next day our mutual friends were suddenly sharing their tapes of popular music with me and making me copies.
Today my wife and I have a couple’s song. I actually know what it is and remember dancing to it at our wedding. If you ask her she will say that I picked it, but I’m still very confused about how that happened. The song is “From This Moment” by Shania Twain and I am not very fond of country music. As you can see, I learned at the tender age of thirteen that I should not be making decisions of this magnitude. So there is pretty much no way that I could be responsible. Although, I do love that song.
Shania Twain, live in Wembley, UK (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My parents couple’s song is “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple. Weird, huh? They kept hearing it over and over on their first date so they figured it must be their song.
So here is my ProTip for the guys: Do you know what your song is? If you think you don’t have one, you’re dead wrong. I bet your girlfriend/wife knows what it is. You better find out fast before you get in trouble again!
What’s your song? Tell me in the comments section!
It doesn’t matter what the song is, it’s the memories that come back when you hear the song, hence the “Smoke on the Water”. It brings back wonderful memories of another time and place. 🙂
Ours is “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Not the awesome one by UB40 but the one by Elvis. It was the first song we danced to at our friend’s wedding in Chicago. That trip kind of cemented our relationship. Such a long road trip, getting lost in seedy Chicago suburbs, chain smoking the whole way there (sorry mom and dad), and having a stray ember blow back in the back window to burn a hole in the only dress I brought to wear to the wedding. Good times.
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