Day 213 - Taste Your Lips of Wine

March 9th, 2010

I was riding in the car with my father and stepmother and the song “Mickey” by one hit wonder Toni Basil came on the radio. There was something about this 1982 hit that resonates deep inside me and has always been a reliable catalyst for a feeling of peppiness.

As a reminder, the familiar chorus was as follows:

Oh, Mickey, what a pity
You don't understand
You take me by the heart
When you take me by the hand
Oh, Mickey, you're so pretty
Can't you understand
It's guys like you, Mickey
Oh, what you do, Mickey, do, Mickey
Don't break my heart, Mickey

I'd also like to visit some of the lyrics that concern me:

'Cause when you say you will
It always means you won't
You're givin' me the chills, baby
Please, baby don't
Every night you still leave me alone, Mickey

And

So come on and give it to me anyway you can
Anyway you want to do it
I'll take it like a man
Oh, please baby, please
Don't leave me in the damn, Mickey

OK. This song came out when I was seven years old. When MTV was still showing videos. I recall Ms. Basil jumping around in a bad ass cheerleader outfit. This image is candy for little girls. Now as I review this song it seems as if our singer/songwriter is rather desperate (with a touch of promiscuity) and Mickey is kind of a douche. But I won’t quit this song because it’s forever cemented in my nostalgic genetic wiring and it’s “what you do, Mickey, do, Mickey Don't break my heart, Mickey.”

I asked my parents what song from their younger days ignites some warm feeling of those innocent times of long ago. Without hesitation, they simultaneously reply, “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by the Everly brothers. Then they started singing it. Off key. Bless their hearts.

I have a few thoughts on this one as well.

The familiar chorus:

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

And

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away

This 1968 billboard favorite made “Rolling Stone” magazine's list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Pretty impressive considering the brothers Everly seem to be yearning for a special lady that they only can connect with in their dreams. Also, the line, “taste your lips of wine, " implies that our woman of interest is clearly a raging alcoholic. Red flag.

It seems as if catchy beats and likable performers can make people feel alive and fall in love despite lyrics that flat out explain why they aren’t in the arms of their beloved.

I want to step up to the plate and send a message to the children of the world. I am in the process of writing a gritty and honest love song that(years from now) will undoubtedly provoke a wistful desire to return in thought to a former time in your life.

It simply involves reversing the attributes that inspired Toni Basil and the Everly Brothers to sing about their heartache. It’s called “You became my One True Love When You Stopped Being Promiscuous, Douchey, an alcoholic and Delusional.”

I smell Grammy.