March 24, 2005

Karaoke and the state of things

We have a new habit of listening to R. Kelly “Ignition” on Wednesdays, as the refrain goes- “It’s the freakin’ weekend.” It has caught on and now my co-workers who share my days off have taken to spending Wednesdays singing “Bounce, Bounce, Bounce, Bounce, Bounce.” R Kelly brings me to the matter I want to discuss, the sad decline of my taste in music. I blame it all on karaoke. I’ve never been amazingly cool, but still my musical tastes have been somewhat reputable. But I will quote you the songs that will remind me of 2004/5- our year in Japan. 1) You’re In my Heart- Rod Stewart 2) That’s the Way it Is- Celine Dion 3) Breathless- The Corrs 4) Kc and JoJo- All My Life 5) All I Want for Christmas Is You- Mariah Carey 6) Africa by Toto 7) These Dreams by Heart 8) Take on Me- A-Ha 9) Always Be My Baby- Mariah Carey 10) Reach by S-Club 7 etc. This isn’t cool. It’s terribly the opposite. It’s all to blame on karaoke, which has become my favourite leisure activity but which is terribly debilitating. I have lost the ability to make conversation, though perhaps this is from overuse. It’s all I do all day. But still. Surprisingly good karaoke songs are 1) At the Zoo by Simon and Garfunkel, 2) Bohemian Like Me- Dandy Warhols, 3) Live Forever- Oasis. I really like to sing Bad Bad Leroy Brown but Stuart disagrees with its coolness. I forgot to mention “Turn me On” by Kevin Lyttle and “You Make Me Wanna” by Blue though I can’t blame these on karaoke. I love these songs with passions worthy of something else.