The Ballad(s) of the Adult Swim

I’ve spent a lot of time this summer at the pool in what many commonly refer to as, “The Disneyland of Illinois,” Wilson Park in beautiful Cutesville, USA for their early morning Adult Swim sessions. I’ve loved every single second of it as quite literally NOTHING makes me think of summer more than a day at the Wilson Park Pool! Aside from the pool being a complete and total enchantment, an oft-overlooked highlight of the establishment is the music they play – at least it is for me anyway.

They’re nearly always playing the St. Louis radio staple, KLOU 103.3, which is THE BEST of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Now for as important as music is in my life, it’s often a topic I fail to cover appropriately here on verybeneficial.net, but hopefully this lil’ post will help me right some of that wrong.

So while I’m at the pool, whether I’m lounging about on my towel-covered pool chair, or walking up the steps to the slide, I’m almost always singing along to whatever song’s playing. I have no qualms about doing so either. I walk around with music in my mouth nearly the entire time and given the fact that I’m already a MINIMUM of two decades removed from the next closest person there in age to me, I’m already attracting a youthful attention, so why not run with it?

Now don’t be sitting there thinking I’m singing at the top of my lungs, no, I’m respectful and aware, not crude and crass, we’re talking just more than a whisper here – certainly though not a Careless Whisper – after all, I know exactly what I’m doing.

Now speaking of George Michael’s magnum opus, Careless Whisper, has been at the very forefront of my summer jams! I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it at every single Adult Swim this summer and it always gives me that thirst for repeat listens! There’s been PLENTY of times that as soon as I get out to my car, I put that beautiful hymn on and relive that musical magic all over again. Having been released in 1984, this song is at minimum two years older than me and that’s just according to the calendar! In my life I’m a steadfast 29 years young, so right now that makes me having been born in 1992. I know this whole age thing is confusing and complicated, but hey, I don’t make the rules, I just live by them. Regardless of my age or yours, Careless Whisper is one of those timeless songs that I’m ALWAYS down to jam too! It’s just so damn good and is one of the very few occasions where I prefer the album version to the single one. That harmonious intro just soothes my soul into an ethereal state of sonic bliss unlike few other songs can.

Now it goes without saying that Bon Jovi have a plethora of hits throughout their extensive career (their absolutely phenomenal 2020 release, Do What You Can, is a track I cannot listen to without crying, it’s just so inspiringly good, but I digress…) their song that I’ve latched onto this summer is one of rock’s greatest ballads, I’ll Be There For You. From the soft beginning to that stadium-shaking ending, it’s perfect in every sense of the word. Each time it comes on I always try and hustle to the top of the slide and pretend I’m in a music video as I sing along and look down at the pool and park around me. In my mind I look cinematically brilliant, but to all the 55 and older people below, I probably look senile. They’re hearing the same song as me though, so it escapes my understanding how they’re not feeling the same kind of way!

1984 was truly a phenomenal year in music because my next summer jam hails from that same year, John Waite’s, Missing You. While I absolutely love this song with every beat of my heart and it fits the same ballady mold as the other two, it differs from them for me in that it kind of makes me feel really, and I do mean really somber. Like, if I was feeling the right kind of way, I could easily lie there on my towel-covered lounger and cry my eyes out as I attempt to sing to it over muffled sobs all the while Missing You fills the airwaves of the Wilson Park Pool. Thankfully for everyone else there, this has never happened, but I can’t avoid imaging this scene in my head every single time it comes on. I mean, how awkward would that be each time I returned to the pool after an incident like that!?! My goodness! Next summer they’d probably make it 65+ Senior Swim Sessions knowing that’d be the only way to keep my crazy ass out!

As you may recall, I published a two-part blog highlighting all the best from my mid-July vacation to Southern California (read Part One here). Well, prior to that, I was jammin’ pretty hardcore to The Mama’s and the Papa’s iconic hit, California Dreamin’. Few songs transport me to another place and time like that one does, which is all the more impressive given its 1966 release. That’s the most incredible thing to me about music though, good songs NEVER go bad. Like clockwork, for the past four years now, I always return to this song in mid-January when the lyrics are truly most applicable to life here in the midwest, but in June with my vacation looming, this hit was on a heavy rotation. Those little over three years I lived in California had an unrivaled impact on my life as a story and me as an individual. I’m always looking for ways to spiritually and metaphorically return there from time to time and this song is most definitely one that can always be counted on for that deliverance.

In Part Two of my California vacation blog, I wrote about how I had the privilege of seeing the living legend herself, Christina Aguilera perform live at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra and what a surreal experience that was. Well, all throughout my California trip and even up till this point now, I’ve been binging a LOT of Xtina! She has SO MANY hits that’ve gone on to define my entire generation! Fighter, Dirrty, Genie in a Bottle, and SO MANY others are every bit as iconic and awe-inspiring as any of the previous songs I’ve discussed. I never fell into that Britney versus Christina nonsense back in the day, I’ve always loved both! Obviously Britney more, but that was never really a question. #FreeBritney Christina has undoubtedly carved her own piece in history and continues to do so with Loyal, Brave, and True performances like the one I describe in my blog. My only wish is that KLOU 103.3 would incorporate jams from the 00’s, so living legends like Xtina could get their fair share of airtime at equally legendary locales like the Wilson Park Pool!

Well, there you have it! My 2021 summer song selection! Now obviously I’ve jammed to MANY more songs than just these, but the first four listed and then Christina’s entire catalogue have managed to dominate this summer for me more so than anything or anyone else. Now how about you? What songs have you been jamming to this summer? What did you think of my picks above? PLEASE let me know in the comments below! You know I LOVE reading and responding to them!

I promise to return VERY soon as this Friday Melissa and I leave for a lil’ vacation to Colorado that I plan on documenting the very same way I did with Hawaii: a blog for each day of the trip! We’ll be spending the majority of our time in Denver, but the final night of our journey will be spent at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park! One of the most haunted hotels in America, it was made most famous (or infamous depending on one’s point of view) by Stephen King’s, The Shining! I cannot wait to share with you all the thrills and chills that await us there, so until then, I wish you all, all THE BEST!