Dear That’s Life,
I have a confession to make.
After printing a top 10 list of songs one should be embarrassed to
have on a play list, I have done something that goes way beyond buying
just one embarrassing song. On the “I Can’t Believe You Did That” list
of embarrassing things to do, going where I did qualifies as owning
every song by Tom Jones, Cher, WHAM and Air Supply and listening to
them while wearing a “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” T-shirt. And while I
did not believe I could run into anyone, there they were: a group of
women from the neighborhood, excited to be there while I was praying
for obscurity. I had been outed. Once you see people you know, you
have no choice but to come clean. And so, in a moment of true honesty,
I need to admit that yes: I went to the Chicago/Earth, Wind and Fire
concert at Madison Square Garden last week and yes: I had a blast.
No matter what the problem is, no one can help you until you admit
you have a problem. But the truth is, there were 50,000 or so of us
who had a ‘problem’ that night, dancing to “Boogie Wonderland” like
our lives depended on it, singing “Saturday in the Park” like we were
actually partying on the great lawn itself, or unabashedly belting out
“You’re the Inspiration” at the top of our lungs. For some reason or
another, life seemed to stop that night and no matter what was going
on in the economy or in Iran or in any two-state solution, thousands
of people left their worries at the door and came to have a good time
— and that they did.
Truthfully, I am a classic rock kind of gal. Other concerts I’ve
attended include Rush, Green Day, The Stones, Billy Joel, Eagles (too
many times to admit), Styx, and Dave Matthews. The night in question
was an aberration from my norm. But it felt very right, although I was
worried that someone would take away my daughter’s REM concert shirt
as a punishment for my wrongdoing. Being part of a 70s karaoke night —
and for all intents and purposes that’s what it was — was much more
fun than I anticipated it would be and I found myself laughing out
loud, unprepared for all of the fun I’d be having or that I’d allowed
myself to have.
So I confess — I was there — and I don’t regret it. Good music is
good music, even if the men on stage in muscle shirts are old enough
to be my dad. And after all, one thing I can say for sure about the
70s is that it’s a hard habit to break.
MLW