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Nostalgia

I wanna go back...

By Meredith HarmonPublished 2 years ago • 3 min read
Runner-Up in Harmonic Verses Challenge
Come on, feel the noise! Image made with Magic Studio AI.

I’m so tired of the same old lyrics

Repetition, reiteration, givin’ me the icks

Give me some toothy words that aren’t stultifying

Or some shriveled up old catch phrase, oh, man, I’m dyin’

*****

Don’t you remember a time when verses

Came in threes, and had no curses?

*****

Gimme a time when The Kinks were rad

When Aerosmith and Billy Joel weren’t half bad

Where Whitney and Heart got us dancin’ real slow

And we turned up the knob on the radio

*****

(You think that’s good reminiscing?

Well, sit down, turn around, and have another listen!)

*****

The Queen of Soul took our breath away

Didn’t understand the King of Folk, but we listened anyway

When The Boss took the Prince and shook him down

And the only Joker was the one that’s stealing thorny crowns

*****

Do you remember when the best duo was Hall and Oates

And the Beetles and the Spinners, they were the GOATs?

When you didn’t wanna skip a song on the stereo

And tickets weren’t hoarded by Swifties or Sheerios?

*****

(Hey now! Wait a minute! I’M a Sheerio!

You want some repetition? Well, here ya go!)

*****

Na na na na na na na na, hey, hey, yeah!

Na na na na na na na na, shah, shah, yo

Na na na na na na na na, hey, hey, yeah!

Na na na na na na na na, BATMAN GO!

*****

Remember when commercial jingles had a catchy beat

With TV theme songs, all the verses, playing in the streets

When producers and the studios made crazy demands

And conformity and censorship were the bane of bands?

*****

Those wild and crazy songs that would never make the list

But somehow they still got around, to top off the hits!

*****

Do you remember when the singers couldn’t fake it

And getting your own TV show meant you really made it

And concerts were affordable, and songs they told a story,

When the gold and platinum list was the height of glory?

*****

(When singers sang of burning out rather than fade away,

But we’re so thankful for the ones that we still have today)

*****

(Here’s a proper fade-out for you-all:)

Na na na na, na na na, hey hey, yeah yeah, now, bye bye

Na na na na, hey hey yeah, nannie nannie boo boo, bye

Not gonna do a curtain call, so please don’t scream and cry,

Na na, na na, hey hey hey, na na hey bye bye…

*****

(PSYCH!

ONE MORE VERSE!!)

*****

I wanna go back to a time when lyrics made you think

When verses made you wonder if you should stop and drink

Stop, Look, Listen, Join the Gang, and Dance in the Moonlight

With Werewolves of London, or Strangers in the Night

*****

Casey Kasem, Janis Joplin, pieces of my heart

If I pull out the old forty-fives, load ‘em, and press Start

*****

Would the records bring them back, like Rod Stewart sang?

Would Metallica return, like tolling bells that never rang?

Would Egyptians walk like they once did, and take us all on tour?

Would Elvis, Hendrix, Sonny, and Frank Zappa sing again, fer sure?

*****

(All right fans, this fade out’s real, let’s shout it out real loud!

You’ve been grand, I’ll come again, you people make me proud!)

*****

Na na na na, na na na, na na na na na!

Bah na na na, na na na, Bah na na na na!

Na na na na, hey hey yeah, na na na na na!

Bah na na na, bah na na, bananarama-nanananananana...

vintage

About the Creator

Meredith Harmon

Mix equal parts anthropologist, biologist, geologist, and artisan, stir and heat in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, sprinkle with a heaping pile of odd life experiences. Half-baked.

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    Written by Meredith Harmon