For Day 9 of the 30-Day Song Challenge, we are asked to name “a song that makes you happy.” And so, without hurting my head by giving it too much thought, I’m going with the 1988 mega hit song by musician Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
I mean seriously, how can you not be happy after hearing that song?
Helen Vahdati selected the theme “boys” for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt. So naturally, the first song that popped into my head was the Connie Francis hit single, “Where the Boys Are.”
“Where the Boys Are” was written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield for Connie Francis as the title track of the 1960 movie by the same name in which she was co-starring, along with George Hamilton. The song was recorded in late 1960 and was released as a single in January 1961. It reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.
The producer and director of the movie, “Where the Boys Are,” Joe Pasternak, had his own song writing team that he wanted to come up with a title song for the movie, but Connie Francis insisted that Sedaka and Greenfield, the team who had written some of her other hit songs, be given a shot at writing the song and Pasternak acquiesced.
“Where the Boys Are” is a simple song about a young girl hoping to find her one true love, the one-in-a-million boy who will be hers.
Here are the lyrics to the song.
Where the boys are, someone waits for me
A smilin’ face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly
Where the boys are, my true love will be
He’s walkin’ down some street in town and I know he’s lookin’ there for me
In the crowd of a million people I’ll find my valentine
And then I’ll climb to the highest steeple and tell the world he’s mine
‘Til he holds me I’ll wait impatiently
Where the boys are, where the boys are
Where the boys are, someone waits for me
‘Til he holds me I’ll wait impatiently
Where the boys are, where the boys are
Where the boys are, someone waits for me
I’m going to try something different for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt today. She assigned us the word “musical.”
Well, it just so happens that I, along with a number of my fellow blogger buddies, are doing this thing called the “30-Day Song Challenge.” And isn’t, after all, a song, by definition, musical? That was a rhetorical question. The answer is obviously yes.
I don’t even know whose idea this song challenge originally was, but whoever created this challenge also created this chart:Now if you look carefully at this chart, you’ll see that today is Day 8, given that today’s date is December 8. The song for Day 8 is supposed to be one about drugs or alcohol. So the song I’m choosing — a very musical song, by the way — is “Cocaine” by Eric Clapton.
For the record, I’ve never done cocaine. I smoked marijuana back in the day and more recently, now that pot is legal in my state, I’ve indulged in some edibles. Also, in my hippie days back in the late 60s and early 70s, I dropped acid a few times. But never cocaine or any other drugs.
Anyway, I chose this song, “Cocaine,” because I’m a big Clapton fan, and I like the song.
And because it’s, well, musical!
I’m cheating today, I admit it. You see, today’s prompt for the 30-Day Song Challenge is “a song to drive to.”
As I thought about this, I recalled that not that long ago, for one of Helen Vahdati’s Song Lyric Sunday prompts, I used The Beach Boys song “Fun Fun Fun.” You know, the one that goes, “And she’ll have fun fun fun / ‘Til her daddy takes the T-Bird away.”
I think “Fun Fun Fun” is a great song to drive to. So rather than trying to come up with a different song for today’s song challenge, I thought I would just link to that aforementioned post here.
But if you don’t want to take the time to click on the link and read that post, here’s the song, which I know you’ll agree is a great song to drive to.
Today’s (day 6) prompt in the 30-Day Song Challenge is “a song that makes you want to dance.” As strange as it may sound, I can’t not get up and start doing the dance routine from Michael Jackson’s “Thiller” video whenever I hear that song.
You see, a number of years ago, my good buddy got married on Halloween night and those of us in the wedding party surprised the newlyweds by performing the “Thriller Dance” at the reception. We were given an instruction sheet with all the moves listed on it, similar to this:
And for the two weeks prior to the wedding, we got together about six times to learn the choreography and to practice.
At the night of the reception, the ushers and bridesmaids nonchalantly made our way to the dance floor and the DJ started playing “Thriller.” Everyone else at the reception went completely nuts, including the bride and groom.
And now, years later, I still can’t resist doing the Thriller Dance when I hear this song.
