Soundtrack To Our Lives

I don't know about you (or you), but my head is filled with songs I've heard. And, often, the song will start playing in my head when triggered by an event. Anything from a profound moment to a mundane moment. I remember when one of my girlfriends broke it off with me. The minute I realized she was with some new dude, the MP# player in my brain cued Sweetbacks "Hope She'll Be Happier With Him." (She wasn't. Ha, ha.)

I see a fair number of homeless people on my way to and from the metro. Everytime I see them, Rick James "Ghetto Life" pops into my head. In particular, the lines "when I was a young boy/tenements, slums and corner bums/playing tag with winos/only way to have some fun." Man, that must have really been fun. Remember when homeless people used to be wise winos, drunk on ripple, but filled with insights? And always up for a game of tag? Crack screwed up a lot of shit.

I vaguely remember the first time I saw a homeless dude. I think I was like eight or so. It was this guy who I thought was so ballsy, because he just stuck out his hand and asked my old man for some bread. My dad was one cheap dude; even I wouldn't think to do that. My dad started talking to him about how he ended up where he was. The guy was clearly trying to avoid talking about that. As we left, he said, "Be free." I was convinced for a brief period afterwords that homeless folk were members of a cool, free-spirited secret society. Kind of like the Masons. I was an idiot.

These days, there is one absolutely terrible song that runs through my head three or four times a day. Its killing me. Mariah Carey's "Shake It Off." I haven't have internal peace after a piss in weeks.