Song memory #3

I had one particularly charged romance in my life that ended spectacularly badly. It was a short affair spanning the summer of 1986. We went from hello to I love you in a couple of weeks and from there it took a couple months to disintegrate. We had a special song that summer, that summer of love.

It took me a long time to get over my heartbreak. In fact, I may not have ever truly healed had it not been for his death. (I found out from a local watering hole bartender who delivered the news to a dumbstruck me.)

The day after I found out (this was in the late 90's), Serge and I were riding in the car with our friends on our way to Palm Springs for a debauchery junket. I was relating the story of this affair and my sadness of having learned this news.

Ted, who was playing DJ for the drive in the passenger seat, shuffled through his discs while listening. Then he popped in a B-52s CD and selected a song. "Summer of Love" was the song he played. Our song. A non hit except marginally on the dance charts, he put on a 12 year old song, the same song that represented that long ago affair. The hair stood up on my neck and my scalp tingled as I said, "Ted, why did you put that song on?"

"I don't know, just wanted to hear it."

Then I revealed that that was our song that summer so long ago and how uncanny that he would play it.

"Maybe he's just saying hello from the other side" said Ted.

Indeed.