The Song that Stalked Me
Sure, there are songs that seem to always be played on the radio. You can’t escape them-whenever you enter your car it seems that they are blasting out of your speakers. But you expect to be able to get away from them when you are asleep. But you expected wrong. Or at least I did a few years ago. Some songs wait in your closet until you fall asleep, and then they emerge to wake you and pull your heart out while it’s still beating and then lift it victoriously while it is on fire (click here if you are having trouble forming a mental image).
I used to fall asleep with the radio on. It was only about a foot or two away from my head, but I would turn it down where it was not loud enough to be a distraction, but where I could still hear it. I enjoyed drifting off to sleep with the soothing sounds of Nirvana or Soundgarden and their lush lullabyes. All was well in my unconscious world.
Until a band called LA Style came out with a song called “James Brown is Dead”. Anytime this song came on (and it was always in the dead of night), I woke up and was creeped out so much I had to turn the radio down until the song was over. It was always during the ominous descending keyboard passage, which was followed by the declaration “James Brown is Dead”. Now, just for the record, James Brown was not dead at the time, so I would think he probably turned the radio down too when the song came on. For all I know, maybe he awoke with his heart beating fast and fear in his ears like I did. Perhaps that was the only connection Mr. Brown and I had, besides being emotionally invested in the Drago/Creed fight (he one-upped me since he was actually there).
Luckily, this passed (although it might be no coincidence that I no longer listen to the radio to fall asleep). But even when I listen to the song again, it still brings back the eerie midnight panic of those days. Perhaps even scarier are the consequences of LA Style’s musical statement. According to an unidentified source (we’ll call him Mr. Pedia), a band from the Netherlands named Holy Noise responded with a song called “James Brown is Still Alive”. These songs were clearly the inspiration behind the East Coast/West Coast rap battles that would come later in the 90’s.
If a song is stalking you, the best advice I can give you is to not encourage it. Do not act like you like the song, while you secretly loathe it. Be up front and honest from the start. No sense in leading it on. Otherwise you too could have a tragic story like I do, and I would not wish that on anyone. Except maybe Ivan Drago.
