While walking through the streets of Helsinki the other day I saw a man with a look that took my breath away. I went home and with the aid of the interweb, my suspicions were confirmed, I had seen Dee Snider.
This is significant because Dee wrote a song that impacted my youth. We all have memories that songs bring back. I was watching MTV at our slightly dysfunctional neighbors, the Tuellers house, where anything went. The video came on and those words hit me deep. I no longer wanted to tuck in my shirt. I didn't want to comb my hair. I just wanted to rock. I went home to my moms not so hidden change, stole some monies, and me and Adam went to sev where I bought a Mtn. Dew and Candy Cigarettes and some Zig-Zags. Things I wasn't supposed to have. I was now a man. I got in trouble that night. I had not yet learned the importance of telling lies to get out of trouble, My parents could tell something was up and I told them. Combine my ADD with the Sugar I'd ingested and you get the picture. It was years before I did the dew again. Other Songs that impacted me as a child are Enya's Orinoco flow, where I had my first "deep" thoughts, and Neil Diamonds America, which turned me into a Patriot. I think I wanted to cry when I heard that chorus. I was willing to die for my country, or at least run around the neighborhood and shoot guns at my friends. Either way I caught the true spirit of the song. While in Sweden I spent some quality time with my friends Hampus and Stefan I was introduced to a song I will never forget.
get the song here