I’m trying to milk my Music Library Project for all it’s worth, since yesterday’s post featured the first song starting with ‘Y’ in my alphabetical listing. Just 41 songs remain with titles beginning with ‘Y’ and ‘Z’, so, not counting some retrospective song additions (such as today’s song) still in the mix, I envisage that my ‘lil project will be all but out of stock and closing up shop around New Year’s 2027, or shortly thereafter.
I already dread thinking about what I’ll do to occupy my mornings, since this has become a more routine, meaningful and purpose-driven activity than just about anything else I’ve done. I’ve found immersing myself in it so therapeutic and, at times, exhilarating. It’s also been so nice having a readership to share it with, even if it’s a small one. So, thanks, gang!
Frankly, I never imagined myself being in this position, just a couple of months shy of finishing the project and wondering what it all means and what I’ll do next. And here I am, pondering just that.
I’ve been thinking of morphing the blog into something more in line with what the title Observation Blogger suggests: a journal of random observations about the obscure, absurd and whimsical occurrences, situations and memories I encounter or reflect upon. I’ve written these types of posts ad hoc over the years and get a real buzz from them, but they’ve been few and far between. You’ll find them under ‘Reflections‘ in my menu.
So, I’ll keep adding new songs, because music appreciation never ends, but these posts will be more sporadic once the project wraps up. I’ll focus more on personal reflection posts, as mentioned, and also dedicate more time to my weekly segments: ‘Monday – News on the March‘, Wednesday’s literature extracts and Friday’s Finest movie articles.
So, umm yeh, thanks, Blondie, for letting me use this post about your cool song to think aloud about the future of my personal blog and share those thoughts here.
The Tide Is High is yet another song I heard during a recent gym class for the first time in eons, and immediately felt the urge to add here. It’s more of a guilty pleasure, a closet song pick from the early ’80s that I remember a lot in my youth and want to celebrate its revival here.
I couldn’t help being swept up in a wave of nostalgia and, fittingly, images of beach escapades, thanks to its reggae groove and Hawaiian-like, hula-esque sounds. There’s a tranquillity and breeziness to it all, with an undercurrent of sexiness and risqué charm riding beneath the surface. It takes you away on an inflatable sun lounge with a piña colada in hand, drifting into a blissful state of contentment.
I didn’t realise Blondie’s 1980 version, which reached No. 1 in both the US and UK, wasn’t the original. The song was written by John Holt and first recorded by his Jamaican group, The Paragons, for their 1967 album On the Beach, which you can hear here. I’ll spare you the post-Blondie versions by girl group Atomic Kitten and Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall.
I think this is the first time I’ve watched Blondie’s official video below, and seeing Darth Vader in it reminds me just how deeply the original Star Wars trilogy had embedded itself in popular culture. It’s definitely popular in this here household in Bogotá, where it gets frequent reruns.
As always, thanks for reading, folks!
References:
1, The Tide Is High
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Always loved Blondie. Dancing & singing their songs since 1977.