I’ve heard of people who wake up with a song in their hearts, bright and rested and ready to face the world, but I have no personal experience of this phenomenon. I’m part of the grumpy morning contingent of humanity. I have never, to my knowledge, sprung out of bed with a song in my heart. I have, however, woken up with a song stuck in my head.
This morning’s song I blame on a dream I was having about doing a radio show at my old student haunt at WCBN. I’ve still got my broadcast license somewhere, and according to the fine print it’s valid until suspended by the FCC. Actually, because of a fun typographical error, it’s valid until “suspended suspended” by the FCC. I don’t know if that means they need to suspend it twice or if they just need to REALLY mean it, but it’s nifty nonetheless…
I’ve had radio station dreams before. Usually they’re a variation on the standard stress dream made famous by the torture sequence in the Val Kilmer comedy “Top Secret!” Instead of finding myself about to take an exam for a class I never attended, I wind up in the studio, frantically trying find a record or a CD to queue up with only seconds to go before the current song ends. In more extreme versions, the only music available is on some sort of bizarre or antiquated media like an Edison wax cylinder or a wire spool recording. Last night’s dream was quite different.
I was called in to fill an emergency shift at the station while my folks were in town. I was the very last person on the call list, and if I couldn’t do it, they’d have to shut the transmitter down, so I went in. I invited my family along, but they declined, but I knew that they’d be listening to the show. At some point they called the studio to tell me that they were really enjoying the music, and that they had all gone to visit TheRCK and her kid, who were listening to the show as well. It made the whole thing kind of relaxing somehow… And I woke up this morning with two songs stuck in my head.
A little bit of background is needed I think… Back in the early 90’s, Frank Sinatra put out an album called “Duets” combining his vocals with various pop stars. Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minneilli, and U2’s Bono all sang along with Frank on some of his classic tunes. One of the his classics which wasn’t on the album was his rendition of “It Was A Very Good Year.” And one of the people he didn’t sing with was William Shatner. Fortunately, with a mixing board, two turntables, and a copy of “The Transformed Man” I was able to correct this obvious oversight. Boy, did I get some phone calls about that one. I’ll have to see if I taped that show…
Somehow in my dream I did a similar assembly, combining the Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil” with “I am a Man of Constant Sorrow” from “O Brother Where Art Thou?” I don’t remember how the tune changed, but the lyrics started something like this:
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of constant sorrow.
I’ve been around for long long years, I’ve seen trouble all my days.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky, and my moments of doubt and pain…
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, I don’t remember any more of it. I don’t have the ECC’s knack for audio editing, but with this idea in my head, I might see what I can do…