It seems like bad juju to pick the theme song to your life before you’ve finished living it, but oh well.
[*throws salt over shoulder*]
I miss the days when television gave us real theme songs, by which I mean songs with words, not the sonic mood-setters typical of so many popular programs now. (Listen: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Mad Men) Maybe everyone thinks this, but I think a very good case can me made for my childhood years being the Golden Age for great TV theme songs. Whatever happened to them, anyway? Remember The Greatest American Hero? The Jeffersons? The Facts of Life? Cheers? Diff’rent Strokes? Gimme A Break? The Brady Bunch? Theme songs have been around since the beginning of television, of course, but they were really perfected in 70’s and 80’s television. Then, it seems like people just gave up on them sometime in the late 90’s. Weird.
Anyway, my pick for the theme song to my life is also an actual theme song. It was the intro and outro to the late-70’s program Good Times. I loved this show and obnoxiously mimicked Jimmie Walker’s “Kid DY-no-MIIIITE!!” schtick at every opportunity. Here it is:
I suspect that most people playing the 30 Day Song Challenge will answer today’s prompt by picking a regular, full-length track. But an actual “theme song” is usually less than a minute long, so the far more difficult challenge is picking one that packs a life’s worth of this-is-me into that short amount of time. “Good Times” does this for me,
At the risk of sounding morose, one thing I can say is absolutely true of my life is that I am in principle and wholeheartedly committed to quality of years over quantity of years. I have no interest whatsoever in living to 75 (and have no expectation of doing so). As long as I’m here, living and breathing on this planet, I will choose good times. Any time I meet a payment, any time I need a friend, any time I’m out from under. Not getting hassled, not getting hustled.
Keeping your head above water. Making a wave when you can. Ain’t we lucky we got ’em? Good times.
Click here to return to the “anchor page” for #30DaySongChallenge2016 with the full list of this year’s picks