This morning I saw an article titled “Best Karaoke Songs of All Time” and of course I clicked on it; I’m not made of steel, people. I was sadly disappointed though, only one of the songs – Don’t Stop Believing – was, in my mind “best.”
I love karaoke, and not in a If I Have Enough Drinks kind of way, no, I would surely karaoke dead sober at the airport at 6:30 in the morning if there was a machine available, or while waiting in line at the grocery store. If it was socially acceptable I would be karaoke-ing all the time, any time, any place. As it is, I just sing along to the radio and live with the songs that are constantly stuck in my head.
Did I mention that a few weeks ago I had Ride Like The Wind stuck in my head for five days straight? It was quite something to have and I’ve got such a long way to go, (such a long way to go), to make it to the border of Mexico going through my head on a loop for a hundred and twenty hours. I even dreamed about the song, which made me a little bit concerned about my sanity and my life choices, specifically what songs I put on my Spotify playlists.
I have a theory about karaoke, and the types of people who are attracted to it. There are, as I see it, three main types of people. The first type are the people like my friend Dom (HI DOM) who have good voices, can sing well, and have fun doing it. These people sing crowd favourites, and are very enjoyable to listen to. On our recent trip to Huatulco, there were a number of people participating in karaoke night who fall into this category. Notably – other than my friend Dom – was the teenage brother and sister combination who sang Bohemian Rhapsody while their father Dad Danced onstage.
The second type are the people who appear as though they believe they will be discovered on the Voice and who choose songs that are not necessarily popular with the crowd, but that showcase their talents. I am NOT judging here, but it is decidedly less enjoyable to listen to a young woman earnestly singing several Amy Winehouse songs, as opposed to an enthusiastic-but-less-musically-talented person singing Sweet Caroline, which happens to be one of the actual best karaoke songs ever written. Also included in the I Am A Contestant On The Voice In My Own Mind category was an older woman with a soprano voice singing The Long and Winding Road, and another lady who sang I Will Always Love You. People, a Whitney Houston song is always risky. Only Whitney can sing like Whitney; one might as well try to sing along to The Phantom of the Opera. Unless, of course, you are the fellow in Say Anything singing The Greatest Love of All. If you haven’t seen that particular movie in a while, here is the very classic clip.
Which brings me to the third category, into which I fall: the person who loves to sing but has a less than stellar voice. What can I say, what I lack in vocal talent I make up for in stage presence:
For the record, I’m singing You’re So Vain.
I often think of the Soundtrack Of My Life, and what songs remind me of different times of my life. This morning I heard When The Night Feels My Song and I became overwhelmingly nostalgic for those years with the kids when they were little; that specific song used to be played on CBC Kids, which is what led me to the bout of nostalgia. Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You will always remind me of late night feedings with my firstborn, as we didn’t have many channels then and that song was played a lot on Much Music, which I watched in an attempt to stay awake during those times. The Cha-Cha Slide brings me back to the early years in elementary school, as my younger son – strangely enough – performed to that song in kindergarten. And of course there are the songs that take me back to my own school days; Don’t Worry Be Happy, Mony Mony, and anything by The Grapes of Wrath and Depeche Mode. I Like To Move It (Move It) will always remind me of my bar-hopping days, and the Gypsy Kings bring me back to the days when my husband and I were dating.
I’m not sure what song is playing in my Life Soundtrack right now, as Ride Like The Wind has now wound its way back into my brain. Oh my god, maybe THAT’S it. Hoo boy. I think I need to go listen to something else to try to shake this. xo
I have a playlist called Soundtrack of My Life. It’s five and a half hours long.
I LOVE karaoke! I do it dead sober too, but not in public. My girl friends and I rent a room at a karaoke bar and we sing for hours. The place hates when we come because we never order drinks other than water and ginger ale!
My husband makes a mix CD a few times a year, of songs we’ve listened to a billion times. So we have literal soundtracks to our years, and if I put one in my CD player (my car and I are old fashioned), I am instantly transported back to the year in question. Pretty awesome.