There was an episode of the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete and Pete where little Pete, the brother with the wiggling mermaid tattoo on his arm, hears a garage band playing this one song and then can’t get it out of his head. He realizes he’s discovered his favorite song, but he doesn’t know the band’s name or the song’s title. Everybody he tells about his favorite song thinks he’s imagining it or making it up.
I was probably in fourth or fifth grade, just starting to explore new music, when I watched Pete and Pete. And I wish I could remember the songs I recorded from the radio at that age, the ones I intended to play for the clerk at Volt Records, who I sort of perceived to be the oracle of chords and lyrics and could identify the title and artists. Â
Those were the days before Google. Thanks to the internet, so favorite song will ever get lost in a garage.
There is only one song that I’ve never been able to identify with a Boolean search. It’s by a children’s duo that played a concert at an elementary school in town and sold low-budget recordings when I was a small child. It’s about a leprechaun who jumps over a rainbow and I think its melody was inspired by Seven Wonders Fleetwood Mac, so I think of it every time I hear that song.
And now I will identify the songs I’ve been listening to this week:
21 Reasons by Frank Black and the Catholics
It’s You by Annie Stela
Don’t Mess With the Radio by Kelis (“she’s only Nas’ wife!”—sales associate at Jo Malone)
Already Gone by Sugarland
Sun’s Gonna Rise by Citizen Cope
