Friday, January 6, 2012

All Night Long

So, there’s been this thing on facebook where you post the video of the #1 song when you were born.  I’m too ashamed to do it.

Because this is it:

And I think that by participating in this kind of social media ritual, you’re accepting that the #1 song at the time of your birth says something about you.  And I’m not sure I like what this says about me.

Parties hard (all night long!), but tries a little too hard as well (just a wee bit too much interpretive dance and afro-sheen, no?)…and is just a little out of place with that pseudo-caribbean rhythm.

Perhaps I’m being too hard on myself.  But I often feel this way (minus the pseudo-caribbean rhythm).  And I’m not sure I really want to post my underlying fear that I’m a cheesy overachiever to the world’s largest social media engine (my guess, not necessarily a fact).

Though I think my interpretation of the song and its relationship to me tells you more about my personality than the song does.  And the rational part of myself knows that who I am has more to do with the things I remember and the people who’ve come in and out of my life than the cosmic union of bulk music purchases in late 1983.  Lionel Richie is not to blame for my insecurities (though he should be – this video is trash), but I suspect the major demographic of the 80s buying this single also had a major impact on my upbringing.  Are the boomers to blame?