One of my best friends writes that she’s destined to be an old woman without regrets. I wish I could be that girl. Alas, I missed the boat in high school. I allowed my shyness to paralyze my vocal chords. Artistic, a lover of classical music, the idea of getting up on stage was horrifying. So I quietly listened from my folding seat in the Little Theatre.
Why was it then, that upon arriving on my college campus, I became so very involved in choirs and theatre? Maybe it took one step closer toward fulfilling my desire to join a ballad-belting, chill bump inducing Glee Club?
These days, as a 30-something, I find myself grinning like a Cheshire cat every week as I watch awkward, heartfelt teens wailing and dancing and cavorting. Like the parents who live out their childhood fantasies by enrolling their kids in sports leagues and beauty competitions, I think I get my itch scratched when I escape into Glee.
A few times, I’ve wondered what the students would have sung if “Glee” had aired when I was in high school. I remember UB40’s “Red, Red Wine” at a post-football game dance. (The song hit #1 on October 15, 1988.) It seems strange now that we 15 year olds swayed in the carpeted cafeteria to a song about the soothing aspects of alcohol. But then, I find it slightly odd that even broadcast programming has high school kids singing songs like “Gives You Hell.”
Then, there’s “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe, circa 1990 and my senior year. The inaugural class of the City’s leadership development group called “SHOUT! for Youth Leadership” danced at the Allandale Mansion barn. Did our mothers really know what we were listening to? Sure, sometimes, we just wanna have fun, like Cyndi Lauper sang. But, does anybody in authority pay attention to the songs at high school dances? Then or now? Didn’t people used to groan about censors? Do they even still exist?
I don’t know.
I guess I’ve always been a bit counter cultural. My tastes in high school went along the lines of Simon & Garfunkel and Igor Stravinsky. (Although I must confess, I enjoy the TV ads for hair-band collections and can sing along to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.“)
Oooh, and that brought a memory rushing from Middle School. “I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight” came out in 1986. I had to have it. Five or six times I tried to buy a 45 of Cutting Crew’s coolness. Each was defective. I gave up. Still love the song. Thank God for WQUT and blank cassette tapes.
So, there you have it. Day 2. A song that reminds you of your high (and middle) school days.
teach me wisdom in my secret heart 