Walk This Way

Last year I was forced to get a new car and a new computer, because the old models were obsolete and no longer functioning.  Little did I know that neither my new car nor my new computer, which are exceptional in every other way, came equipped with a CD player.  CD’s are also obsolete, the salesmen explained to me.

“But, but, I listen to music and audiobooks on CD’s in my car,” I explained, trembling a little.  “But, but I have all these CDs, and no way to save them on my computer, because it no longer has a CD drive either.”   They told me I just had to use Bluetooth to listen to music or books.

Here we go again, I thought.  I’ve lived through vinyl records, 8-tracks (a trend I missed completely before it was over), cassette tapes, CD’s and now I have to figure out how to use Bluetooth.

Mostly it’s been okay.  I have stumbled my way through downloading music and books, and even borrowed them from the library.  There have been some missteps.  “Missing” audio books I thought I had successfully borrowed, an entire U2 album that I “accidentally” downloaded that I can’t figure out how to delete. Hopefully I will master this before Bluetooth becomes obsolete.

Somehow, in spite of myself, I have managed to build a respectable library of music at little or no cost to me that I decided to put to use when I do my walking at the gym.  I set about putting together a Walk Tape, an eclectic mix of pop, classic and folk rock and Broadway showtunes.  It is a musical world where Bruce Springsteen and the good folks of Price and Sons live together in harmony.  Literally.

I had a few hours of music but really needed about 19 minutes so I created my Primo Walk Tape, 18.60 minutes of the best music I had for walking.  The songs?

“Born This Way” by Lady Gaga

“Firework” by Katy Perry

“Footloose” by Kenny Loggins

“Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson

“Shut Up and Dance with Me” by Walk the Moon

I was pretty pleased with myself that four of these five songs were released since 2010, with only “Footloose” being a retro choice from the 80’s.  And in addition to driving beats good for walking, these songs turned out to be positively inspirational, pumping daily aspirations directly into my head.

“Born This Way” tells us to accept and celebrate ourselves just as we are, because “baby you were born this way.”  “Firework” tells us that we are not worthless, saying “You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine, Just own the night…”  Even though it’s been years since I’ve felt like a plastic bag blowing in the wind, I can still appreciate all this daily affirmation and self esteem boost.

“Footloose” of course is all about “cutting loose, footloose,” and expressing yourself and breaking through unreasonable societal restraints by, you know, throwing a dance.

“Shut Up and Dance” is about how an assertive lady takes charge of the situation when a guy is obviously interested but clearly overthinking it.   Honestly this guy would prattle on all night about how she was his destiny if she didn’t finally just tell him to “shut up and dance.”

And finally, there is “Uptown Funk.” So, how is Uptown Funk inspirational?  Well, I’ve given this a lot of thought.  The narrator is certainly a confident young man (“kiss myself, I’m so pretty) and encourages those around him to be confident as well (“if you’re sexy then flaunt it”)...oh, okay, I have absolutely no idea what this song is even about.  I actually looked it up and NO ONE knows what it is about. One author theorized that each section of the song taken separately has meaning, but as a whole it means absolutely nothing.

Oh, it doesn’t matter.  It has a good beat and I can walk to it.