Chasing My Karaoke Song

I don’t have a karaoke song.

I realized this the other day while waiting for coffee as two people in line in front of me debated the merits of various songs for karaoke night.

Sure, I know the words to a lot of songs. I just couldn't come up with one song I would feel confident enough to sing in front of friends. Not that I can sing. But still.

It seemed like a silly thing to worry about, but not having a karaoke song really bothered me. Between work, family and life, I don't have time for a lot of things -- like going to a bar for karaoke night. But damn it, I can at least make time to get a karaoke song.

And of course, it couldn't just be any song, some crowd pleaser. My karaoke song had to be my anthem, the song that says something about what makes me tick even as it makes me feel good. Everyone, I decided while waiting for my decaf non-fat latte, should have an anthem, a notable song that improves your mood when life starts to get you down.

How to go about picking one? I started with the first thing that popped into my head: "Build Me Up Buttercup, Baby." I had just seen Julia Nunes’ ukulele version on YouTube and thought ”That’s fun.” But the lyrics are not so fun.

Although you're untrue,
I'm attracted to you - all the more,
Why do I need you so?
Hey, hey, hey!

Nothing projects confidence like pathetic begging.

Next: TV shows and movies with fun karaoke moments. I remember the title character on Ally McBeal devoting an episode to "I Know Something About Love." Not bad. There’s also "I Say a Little Prayer For You," sung by Rupert Everett in My Best Friend's Wedding, "Killing Me Softly With His Song," sung by Hugh Grant in About A Boy, "Benny and the Jets," sung by Kathryn Heigl and James Marsden in 27 Dresses and "I'm A Believer," sung by Eddie Murphy as Donkey in Shrek.

All great songs, but they didn't feel right as my karaoke song. Was I over-thinking the whole thing? Of course I was! But that didn't stop me from obsessing over it.

So what next? I asked friends to tell me their karaoke song, in part to see if they even had a karaoke song. A lot of them did.

One friend offered up Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" because she said it was the song from an important scene in Gilmore Girls. Another chose The Romantics’ “What I Like About You," saying it made her think of her husband. Another friend picked " You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC because "It's like musical tequila -- it instantly recharges anyone's battery and girls love it."

Well now I couldn't chose any of those because it seemed somehow unethical to steal a friend’s karaoke song. So I turned to the music in my iTunes library, where I probably should have started. I started playing "Dream On" by Aerosmith. Not the happy, upbeat song I thought I'd pick, but a song I've always liked because it reminds me that time is passing so live for the day.  

Every time that I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It went by, like dusk to dawn...

I really thought that was it. But then a very good friend, who I have worked alongside for years, reminded me that whenever I had a tough day, I'd break out into the same song whenever we left the building. And we'd laugh and I'd walk to the train station in a better mood. How could I have forgotten "Dreamer," by Supertramp.

Dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said dreamer, you say you are a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!

I said ’Far out -- what a day, a year, a laugh it is!’
You know -- well you know you had it comin’ to you,
Now there’s not a lot I can do...

As the song plays, I picture myself, many, many years from now, sitting on a front porch, an elegant octogenarian knitting socks for the grandkids, rocking out on my noise-cancelling headphones. I have my karaoke song.

Now I just need to learn how to knit. —CG