My theme is Musical Memories: The Memories that music brings rushing back.
Pete and I. Me and Pete. Barbie and Petey Pete. Toasted and doomed to failure by many when we first hitched up. Then surprising and shocking the naysayers by weathering life's storms together for over thirty years. One of us yearning to kill the other one minute, then rushing to their side to support them or protect them from outside forces the next.
I swear straight out, Pete brings out both the best and the worst in me. And I am willing to concede that I probably do the same for him.
For most of our lives together, he did what it seemed he wanted and I did what I thought I should. Now days it seems he does what he can and I try to do what I should. Sometimes he just can't do enough, and I'm learning more and more every day that neither can I.
And in this yen and yang, I identify with all the songs that were written for us. About us. Or at least it seems that way when you listen to them.
Mickey Gilley and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me." We'd sing along with it when we were dating:
"I don't like you but I love you
Seems that I'm always thinking of youOh, oh, oh, you treat me badly
I love you madly
You really got a hold on me
(You really got a hold on me)
You really got a hold on me
(You really got a hold on me)
Baby, I don't want you but I need you
Don't want to kiss you but I need to
Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now
My love is strong now"
Then there were oodles of nights and jeep rides when we'd sing along at the top of our lungs to one another, Hank William's:
And there has been many a day I've listened to Phil Collins singing "That's All" and thinking I know exactly what he's talking about.
"Why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me
Its always the same its just a shame that's all
Turnin' me on, turnin' me off
Makin' me feel like I want too much
Livin' with you is justa puttin' me through it all of the time
Truth is I love you, more then I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together til the end"
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together til the end"
But over and above all else there is Orleans with "Still The One". It captures and embodies the best of us. Why it is, after all these years it is still Pete and Barbie against the world.
"We've been together since way back when
Sometimes I never want to see you again
But I want you to know
After all these years
You're still the one
I want whisperin' in my ear
You're still the one
I want to talk to in bed
Still the one
That turns my head
We're still having fun
And you're still the one
I looked at your face every day
But I never saw it 'til I went away
When winter came
I just wanted to go (wanted to go)
Deep in the desert
our love started to grow
You're still the one
That makes me laugh
Still the one
That's my better half
We're still having fun
And you're still the one
You're still the one
That makes me strong
Still the one
I want to take along
We're still having fun
And you're still the one (yes you are)
[Musical Interlude]
Changing, our love is going gold
Even though we grow old, it grows new
You're still the one
That I love to touch
Still the one
And I can't get enough
We're still having fun
And you're still the one
You're still the one
Who can scratch my itch
Still the one
And I wouldn't switch
We're still having fun
And you're still the one
You are still the one
That makes me shout
Still the one
That I dream about
We're still having fun
And you're still the one
You're still the one
Yeah, still the one
We're still having fun
And you're still the one"
What song/songs personify you and your spouse's relationship?
Are they Still the One? Would you do it all over again?
