Funny Kareoke Aside...

I went out last night and kareoke'd at this place I like
to hang out. I like the people. I also like encouraging
people that haven't done it but obviously want to. You
can spot them a mile away. They are the ones paying the
most attention, and are more of an audience ( really watching me and everyone that goes up to sing). But they are
singing along, and you can just tell they want to do it and are trying
to work up the nerve.
I have to work up the nerve myself, every single time I go there.
But once I've had a couple of drinks, it's on. And I personally have this
perverse streak that I enjoy. Example :
It DOES get a little tiresome when you hear the same classic kareoke
songs, ballads, over and over. There are certain songs that people just LOVE to do.

Some people never do any other songs, experiment. Just the same songs over and over.
What got me last night was that a couple of different people, women, were in some
sort of what, Kareoke War? IOW, this one woman that ALWAYS does the song
" Black Velvet" by Um, Allannis Myles? Hell, I dunno.
But people do this song over and over. I have now heard this song SOOO
many times, that I don't even hear the original meaning of the song anymore.
When ANY woman with a fantastic voice sings this at kareoke, when she warbles
" Black Velvet in that little boy's smile..."
I actually envision someone smiling with black teeth. I'm not kidding. Every time
someone does that song at the bar, I see that in my mind. Some hick smiling,
with black teeth. And maybe a cowboy hat. I kid you not. I don't want to envision the
color black with anyone's smile.

So last night these two ladies with great voices were doing the same songs, and it
was weird because they knew that the other had already done the same song.
I believe that would be considered rude in the kareoke world, wouldn't you think?
I think normally it IS.
And these women didn't talk to each other, so maybe it was a grudge match of some sort.
In any case, it got pretty bad.
I sang one Sheryl Crow song to warm up, and then I sat for awhile with friends up at the bar. I kept
going outside every time they would do certain songs. I couldn't handle it anymore.

So I my perverse streak kicked in, and I went in and sang " Suicide Solution" by Ozzy and
Randy Rhodes.
Which was funny as hell...It was like a clearing of the musical palate.
" Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker,
Suicide is slow with liquor
take a bottle drown your sorrows
then you wash away tomorrow
AWAY TOMORROW!"

Here was the cool part: When I was done,
no one clapped, except for a couple of guys playing
pool, and one guy that yells " OZZY!!!"
And as I walked out of the room, I raised my
arms, hands, in the devil horns gesture and laughed.

Some guys were outside and said " That was awesome!"
When I came walking out. Because it WAS good, that's the thing.
The reason that was so genuinely funny was that it reminded me of
an old BBC Pink Floyd concert tape that I used to have. From about 1970
or so.
Pink Floyd unleashes a song upon the audience " Careful with that axe, Eugene"
and when they finish, the audience is so stunned, they don't even clap at
first. There's this stunned pause, and then a polite, tentative applause from the audience.
My doing Ozzy " Suicide Solution" , the reaction was like that.
The thing is, I kicked ass on it, so I was satisfied with my performance.
Otherwise I would be embarrassed, and wouldn't be writing of it!
But nah, I kicked ass, and a mood shift occurred, a couple of dudes started doing
cool Doors songs, someone did a good Cream song, people were veering away from the usuals,
which was nice.
Taking more chances, it's the kareoke experiments that wind up being the best. I didn't
know I could sing U2's "With or without you" until someone asked me to do it last night.
Guy with a baby face came up to me and said " I'll give you the biggest hug if you do
"With or without you...PLEASE!"
I wound up blowing myself away.

Aw, last weekend a group of girls came and kinda danced in front of me as I sang
" Voices Carry" by Til Tuesday. I was making people dance with my voice, and that was like some sort of fantasy come true.
( I had to take a break from writing about my Dad.)