Wild Night Is Calling

Here's a funny anecdote that's been in my head in the past hour:

I remember that the first song I ever called my "favorite" song was Van Morrison's "Wild Night." It's an old song - it was over 20 years old by the time I was 5 or 6, when I decided that I loved it. What was I doing listening to Van Morrison at that age? It was my dad's fault of course, but I'm sure he got a kick out of his first-grader singing along to his old CD's from high school. I remember driving in his car listening to that CD - oh, now that I look it up, I realize that what I was listening to was John Mellencamp's cover of Wild Night on the album Dance Naked. That album was made in 1994, meaning it was probably brand new when I was listening to it. Oh well, details, details - the point is that any album whose artwork depicts a man wrapped in barbed wire was probably not age-appropriate at the time. Not that I ever thought the cover of the album was anything more than weird back then.

I wonder what my dad thought when I told him that was my favorite song. I know I told him that, but I don't remember exactly when, since it was so long ago. He used to listen to that CD all the time, and I'm pretty sure he left Wild Night on repeat whenever I wanted to hear it. I still remember the chorus:

and everything looks so complete
when you're walking out on the street
and the wind, it catches your feet
and sets you flying, crying
oooo weee the wild night is calling

although, to be fair, when I sang it, it probably sounded more like this:

and everything looks so comfy
awhen you're walking down the street
and the wind, it catches your feet
it sets you flying, flying
ooooo weee wild night is coming

It's funny that I haven't heard it in so many years, and still can hear the music like as if it's playing on my iPod right now. And I still remember the mental image I got in my head when I sang that song - I pictured walking down the street outside Stratfield school, especially being at the corner of Melville and whatever that road is that's a cut-through to Stratfield Road. I didn't associate the words with anything, just walking down the street, getting caught by the wind and flying... those were the days when analysis was overrated...