Mugged in Memory Lane

iTunes is a bit of a curse. I will occasionally remember or be reminded of a song and go and download it, listen to it a couple of times and then forget about it until it comes up on random play.

I was walking home from the gym with the headphones still blasting, trying to ignore the noise being made by one of the local sports radio stations that were set up outside Fenway Stadium when this tune turned up on my iPod and blindsided me.



I had to think for a minute before I realized that this song had been popular, at least here in Boston, 30 years ago. 30 years, depending on your point of view is a long time or the blink of an eye. At 23 I was still young enough and naive enough to still believe in happily ever after and that anything was possible and that someday my prince would come and that nothing would ever change and that I would never get old.

At 53 I look back on that young fellow and have to wonder how he ever managed to survive. So many bad decisions, so many bad mistakes. Somehow I am still here, though I am not certain I bear much resemblance to that young idiot who thought the world was his for the asking.

3 relationships that went sour disabused me of the notion that there was a happily ever after or a handsome prince waiting in the wings. The 1980's and the loss of so many good friends did away with the notion of immortality. Middle age has certainly made me realize that I have not succeeded in remaining young forever, or that my options are limitless.

For all that, it's nice to be reminded listening to an old love song that romance hasn't been entirely banished from by blackened and cynical little heart. Who knows, I can't make any promises, but I might even still have it in me to wish on a star.