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I grew up in the 80s. I was five when the decade began and 15 when it ended, so music from those years brings me straight back to my childhood and adolescence. Hearing this mishmash of music: leftover disco, metal, pop, new wave and rap inevitably calls up very vivid memories.
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It’s 1988. I’m 13 and in that period where school doesn’t really take up much of my time and I am too young to have a job. I’m not so much into sports and so most of my spare time is spent with Adam Curry and the top 20 video countdown and MTV viewing in general. This might have been the year when I watched all 10 hours of the top 100 video countdown. Hearing some songs now, nearly 20 (!) years later, I can clearly recall their videos.
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“Lost in You” Rod Stewart. Not one of his better known songs, but boy, did it make an impression on never-been-kissed me. The song: Rod Stewart sings of pining for his unnamed woman, who he has been separated from for unknown reasons. The setting: Rod is working as a bartender in a strip joint, looking sad and unsatisfied. There may have been inter-cutting to the unnamed woman he was pining for. She may have been writhing on the bed. I’m sure there was some writhing, it was a staple of 80’s videos. All I know about writhing, I learned from MTV.
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The lyrics still transport me. They were so adult, and I was old enough to understand what he was singing about; I just hadn’t experienced it.
Hey baby
You’ve been on my mind tonight
I’m so lonely
I just had to sit down and write
I spent all yesterday
Trying to figure out what I’m gonna say
A letter from the heart
is so hard to start baby
How’s your mama, how’s the weather
How’s that son of mine, yeah
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Been a long time since we made love
I’m stone cold, the bed’s hard
and the work is tough
I’m never gonna leave you again
This job ain’t worth the pain
No money in the world
ain’t worth being away from you
Ooh baby I don’t sleep
without you by my side, listen
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It’s a common known natural fact
And I’ve found what I’m looking for
And it’s so much more than that
I’m lost in you, I’m lost in you
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you don’t know what you’ve done for me
I’m so happy
as any man can deserve to be
I was living in a life of sin
God knows what a mess I was in
So glad you found me
I ain’t getting any younger
Hey baby I just hope
it ain’t all a dream
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I miss our baby crying
I wanna lay you out
and kiss you all over
I’m coming home real soon
Be ready cause when I do
I’m gonna make love to you
Like fifteen men.
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I think was the thing about being an adolescent. So many adult things sounded so great to me. They also seemed so very far away. How romantic; life forcing a separation. Would this exciting event ever happen to me? When I actually experienced it, it wasn’t so great at all. It was boring and lonely and there was a lot of pining. I don’t think I thought of this song once.
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I’ve been mulling “Lost in you” for a few days, and My favorite TV columnist, Peter Ames Carlin, also deconstructed a song this morning in his column. (go here)