Inaugural Lost Songs: "It Don't Matter to Me" by Bread "Straight Tequila Night" by John Anderson

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On someone's blog a month or so ago I ran across a post wherein said someone made a list of favorite songs they hadn't heard in at least three years. I thought it was a marvelous idea, but I couldn't think of any off the top of my head. In the age of Spotify and YouTube, if I want to hear a song, I can.

But it is true that my internal jukebox is filled with songs on constant repeat---songs I live with but maybe haven't heard in ages. Sometimes I'm glad I haven't heard the song in years (eg Alan Jackson's "Livin' on Love") but some of which I really do love and I'm always happy when the jukebox moves them to the front of the line. So when I heard myself singing "Cuz it don't matter to me / If I live or! if! I! die! tonight!" I knew I had my first post in this new, continuing series. (If you're reading this post in The Future, click on the lost songs tag at the bottom of this post to read about other songs.)

First thing I had to do was find the song so I could listen to it. Ends up it's by Bread:

Bread was one of my father's favorite bands, and the Bread vinyl were among the few records to survive 1987's moving-to-California purge.

I wouldn't be surprised if ten years have passed since I last heard "It Don't Matter to Me" (though we can't blame me having the lyrics wrong on that distance---I have the lyrics wrong on every song ever) and it's much more 70sy than I remembered, but it's still a pretty great little pop number. This song is prime for a sweet cover by a hip guitar band.

I remember this song providing me with the over-the-top emotions young Theric craved. The changes in lyrical pace, the pauses, the sudden bursts of volume/emotion (and what's the difference between volume and emotion?). I can't pretend this is one of the finest pieces of music in human history, but as a pop song to weep along with? It's terrific.

Not quite what I remembered, but I still like it a lot.

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The first song I realized I could put into this series was "Straight Tequila Night" when I saw it mentioned in a terrific short story.

Now here's a song I truly love. I hated most 90s country, but the songs I loved I loved deeply. And this one's near the top. We'll probably be seeing some more 90s country in this series, I'll warn you now.

Placed after the Bread song like this, I'm struck by the similarities. I don't recall the technical musical terms, I'm afraid, but, you know, the way the music moves up in volume and tone when the emotions get heightened. I'm a sucker for that stuff.

As a teenager, I had some cognitive dissonance, loving a song with this much alcohol content (I'll have to write a post on Jose Cuervo sometime), but the song was too great not to muscle through.

Listening to it now, it holds the same charm. I'm surprised how many times the chorus is repeated, but I suppose when you have one of the greatest choruses of the decade, you should wheel it out for a couple encores.

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This is fun. I may have lost most of my music vocabulary, but I've not lost my love for music. Expect some more self-indulgence in the future. And please: play along.