Monday, September 19, 2016

Music Monday - Waiting and Remembering

Songs about waiting or remembering remind me of a cartoon series my then young son introduced me to years ago.

Years ago, I watched many episodes from a cartoon series called Futurama.  The plot revolved around a clueless pizza delivery young man named Philip Fry, who ends up accidentally trapped in a cryogenic freezer and awakens 1,000 years later.  The series documents his adventures in the far future of the 31st century.

Some of the episodes have become classics.

In one episode, we discover that Fry's dog, Seymour, waited at the entrance of the pizza store year after year (taken care of by Fry's boss), waiting in vain for Fry to return.  Remembering his master.  Keeping a forever watch.


During the final scene, the song "I Will Wait For You" by Connie Francis plays as we see the dog wait faithfully, year after year, ignored by passerbys.  Finally, the pizza parlor goes out of business and the dog finally lays down for (it is assumed) the last time.

In still another episode, Fry discovers the grave of his brother's son (born years after his disappearance).  Fry, who did not have a good relationship with his brother, discovers his brother named the son after Fry in memory.  The future Philip Fry, the nephew of the pizza delivery man Philip Fry, grew up to be an honored astronaut, a rock star, and a philanthropist.

At the grave, this song plays:  Don't You ( Forget About Me), by Simple Minds.

I can not watch either of these two episodes without crying.

But few of us experience a nostalgic remembering by traveling to the future by being frozen.  Most of us get to the future the old fashioned way - by aging.

And we find the past either wonderful, or sad, (or both), to remember.

The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society

The Boys of Summer - Don Henley

Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams - a story about love in the summertime, but so many people think it is about the summer of 1969, I am putting this in here.

And a personal favorite - (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding

Do you have a favorite song about waiting, or remembering?

4 comments:

  1. This sounds like a cliche.. but Richard Marx's 'Right here waiting for you' is a personal favourite. With lyrics like 'whatever it takes, or my heart it breaks, I will be right here waiting for you,' I loved Richard Marx.

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  2. I'm not sure I was ever a Connie fan. But, the Kinks, Simple Minds, Don Henley- and, of course, Otis...
    Memories.

    (BTW, I had forgotten about the Boys of Summers- until I heard the first guitar chord.)

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  3. Nice collection of songs."Boys of Summer" will always scream 1984 to me.

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  4. A great collection of songs. Some I know and some are new to me.

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