Music is an important part of my life. There are some songs that just are such a core part of me, for good and for bad. Some I just think are magic, others I think are trash, but they are in me for a reason.
"Just Another Day" by Jon Secada is a song that makes me cry and makes me laugh all at the same time. I can't figure out if it hurts more than it makes me laugh. When I hear it, it takes me back to 1993 and 1994.... On the painful side, I'm back at Michael's Christmas Party.... what a great time we had! But the song played then and I remember listening to it then thinking about what a great group of people I was friends with....and we all worked together in the same department.
Mike was crazy funny. Average height and weight, curly brown hair, and a sense of humor that made you seriously wonder if he needed some psychiatric help. He'd walk up to people at work, stand there and look at them for a minute and then with a perfectly serious look on his face, ask "how's your feet?". Then when the victim, er, co-worker sat there trying to figure out whether he was really wondering how your feet were or whether you should call Security, Michael would burst out laughing and walk away.......One quickly learned about corns and bunions in preparation for the next time he'd ask. Of course, once he knew you'd caught on, he'd not ask you again. It was on to another question.
He was in our local theatre's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". For weeks, he'd sing "grovel, grovel, beg, borrow, steal" around the Data Center.
We teased him incessantly about the women in his life and what nationality he was dating that week. He loved that!
For the Christmas party thru work in 93, he posed with a tux on, a cigarette in one hand, and a glass of champagne in the other - ala "Rat Pack"... he would have fit in there well.
In June of 1994, on a Monday night, he and I closed up the Data Center for the night. We both had monthly reports to do and worked late to complete them. He said "See ya tomorrow!" and gave me a hug.
He didn't come in to work the next day. He and his girlfriend, a French lady who worked in another department, were murdered the night before. (hope you feel as guilty as you are, V.)
So, when I hear that song "Just Another Day", it takes me back to the days of wondering how my feet really are, enjoying our banter in the Data Center, and hearing all the gossip from the local theatre.
On the other hand, the song makes me remember one day either that fall or the following spring when my oldest daughter's high school had a "talent show". One senior decided to dedicate a song to his girlfriend, who I think I remember had just broken up with him. He decided to sing "Just Another Day" in Spanish to her. That would have been nice, except he couldn't sing. I mean, SERIOUSLY could not sing. Imagine if you will, a pre-teen boy who's voice is changing combined with a cat in the middle of a fight combined with Yoko Ono vocalizing anything. It was worse than that. It was so bad that I couldn't help but laugh until I was crying! Everyone was laughing.... but he had a GREAT Time! He didn't care - he was just on stage singing to his girlfriend. It's all good.
So, now when this song comes on the radio or on Sirius...I can't figure out whether to laugh or cry, so I usually end up doing both.
:)
