3/20/2012

Alan Parsons Project -- "Eye in the Sky"

So, how does a song like this get stuck in your head?  Let me walk you through the steps.

1. You grew up in the 1980s, listening to FM radio.

2. You walk into the office a colleague one day, and he happens to be listening to a song that sounds familiar.  He asks you if you know what it is.  You say it sounds really familiar but that you can't quite figure out what it is.  You haven't heard it for, what? ... decades, at least.  Then he tells you what it is. 

There is little chance of escape at this point.  The slightest trigger over the next few weeks will send this song ricocheting through your mind for days.  Be careful.

3. You are sitting in a coffee shop (always a dangerous proposition, in and of itself), reading your favorite periodical of choice.  The barista is listening to mildy pretentious but tolerable indie rock, whatever's popular at the time.  Then she switches to a playlist comprising early 80s power ballads. 

There's that song again.  This time there is no escape.  For days and days, you are stuck with this song.  It's your constant companion everywhere you go.

So, I haven't said anything of substance about the song or the music.  As far as 80s FM hits, this isn't a bad one.  I kind of like the electric piano.  It's got a nice melody.  Not as odious as the songs that follow on the barista's playlist.

The point is that there is something about certain songs -- they can get in your mind and stay there.  You can have all sorts of objections, but it doesn't matter.  The song is yours for a little while.  You might as well just give in.