So arrives the end. We've flown to the angels. We've lived in sin. We didn't forget you, and the children have cried. As The Flame burns out, I thank you for your Patience, because Without You, I wouldn't know What It Takes to find Something To Believe In. I hope this little list has entertained you with More Than Words, and that it got you just High Enough.
Before the Top 5 is revealed, allow me to raise a can of Aqua-Net to those bands who made multiple appearances on the list. Four of whom find themselves with one more song to go...
Bon Jovi: 3 Songs. There should be no surprise here.
Posion: 3 Songs. As mentioned, one of the most underrated bands ever.
Motley Crue: 2 Songs Heavy hitters with an uncanny ability to show their softer side
Warrant: 2 Songs. 3 Hit Wonders, but Cherry Pie didn't qualify.
Previous entries on this rundown....
#5: HEAVEN, Warrant (1989) Holy 7th Grade Batman! Imagine raising a daughter, from birth to her wedding day. Imagine what that must feel like. Watching Jani Lane go from "Heaven" to "Celebrity Fit Club" is probably the 180 degree opposite.
#4: HOME SWEET HOME, Motley Crue (1985) The oldest track on the countdown, it's a pioneering tune. If the Crue can slow it down and break out the lighters, anybody can. I'll let you in on a little secret - this song started at #8 when I drew up my original list. I made a corresponding playlist on my iPod so I could re-familiarize myself with the pure emotion of some of these songs. After a couple of jacked up and highly caffeinated mornings, I had no choice but to have it leapfrog "Dead or Alive", "Patience" and "Fly High Michelle". And then this morning, I listened to the Top 5 on my way in and said "Shit, this is better than Heaven". Literally and Figuratively. If I wasn't so anxious to move on to the next Whiskey Tree music countdown, I'd wait a week and this might end up #1. It's that F*cking Good. And no, I don't know why sometimes I type Fuck and sometimes I type F*ck. And yes, if I've met you in person at least once, you're more than welcome to bring beer and listen to that playlist.
#3: I REMEMBER YOU, Skid Row(1989) Sebastian Bach was one hot chick back in 1990. This kicks off The Big Three. 3 Great songs about lost love to close it all out. Though I'm not quite sure why the scorned lover exactly had to be homeless in this video. Oh, that's right. Ronald Reagan made a lot of people homeless. And how about Rachel Nolan's nose-to-ear chain? Don't lie, you wanted one. I did. Also, I get the obvious symbolism, but just once can we get a love song where the romance takes place in January?
#2: EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN, Poison(1988) Greatest Breakup Song, Ever. Has anybody ever captured the Human Condition better than Poison? In history? I often point to their line in "I Won't Forget You" - "Its better to have lost at love then to never have loved at all" as my ultimate piece of evidence on the matter, but we can't dismiss the gem within Thorn: "And now I hear you found somebody new, and that I never meant that much to you, To hear that tears me up inside, And to see you cuts me like a knife". The only post-breakup line that competes involves Alanis Morrisette blowing Uncle Joey in a movie theater.
#1: NEVER SAY GOODBYE, Bon Jovi(1986) If you're ever on "Jeopardy!" and the $2000 question in the "Ed's Life" Category is "Ed danced with his wife to this song at his 8th Grade Graduation Dinner, Senior Prom, and Wedding". This is your answer. Really, how can #1 be anything other than this. We'll even neglect the fact that my wife can't stand it.
Odd that an 8th Grade Graduation Dinner at a Catholic School would feature a song that glorifies skipping school to drink beer, and losing more than keys in a backseat. You'd have thought they'd at least try and change the lyric to "And you lost more than that in my Sacristy"
I worked the juniors on the Prom Committee in 1995 like a K-Street lobbyist to make sure that NSG got the top billing - and hence the inscription on the garter belt gifts - at the Prom. And I'd do it all over again. Ironically, at the "Prom That Night", we didn't have a fight. Might have been the only night in 1995 that was the case. We're a model in perseverance.
Come wedding time, there were enough memories in the bank to force this to not only be played, but inserted onto the CD we gave out as favors (That's 2 trinkets for those of you keeping score at home).
Lyric by lyric, this song should give you chills. Even if there's no such thing as a smokey room anymore. I won't lie. Some of these songs have gotten a bit, um, cheesier, as time's gone on. But the complete opposite's the case right here. As I get a little older and move deeper into my thirties, the whole concept of "Never Say Goodbye" resonates stronger and stronger with each turn of the calendar. Life ain't scripted and it usually won't play out the way you may have envisioned it 5, 10, 15, or 25 years earlier.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. What's important is that you shouldn't turn your back on the people, places and events that brought you to where you are today (Unless you're an addict, pretty sure those are exactly the things you're supposed to turn your back on). It's not healthy to live in the past, but it's just as detrimental to deny it. And with the wonders of technology and social networking, it's easier today than it's ever been to embrace. You aren't who you are today without those people who made you who you were yesterday. Let them know that some time.
Holding on, We gotta Try.
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