The Last Dance Of Summer

Maybe it’s having turned 40 that put a curse upon the world, but it seems this year that I find myself bidding a sad farewell to pop culture legends that have me longing for a yesterday when they, and I, were invincible.

Well, they.

Many eons ago, I interviewed someone, back when I was exploring my roots as a writer and thinking I was going to take the celebrity world by storm.  This comedian gave me my first break, after which I promptly realized I sucked and had better find another use of my skills.  But Larry said something that I never forgot; “When I was in the third grade, I’d see the other kids playing on the monkey bars and I’d watch them having fun but all I could think was, ‘what’s the point, we’re all going to die anyway.’”  It was a key joke to his dark, brooding comic act, but not far from reality.  Larry, aptly nicknamed “Bubbles” for his far-from-optimist personality, resonated with me.  

I’ve always felt vincible. 

Before there was the ‘reality’ fame of today, we had real celebrities who touched our world with a talent, a shine to them that captivated some part of an American dream we wanted to touch, and live, even if vicariously. 

Before I got this old and began to act sensible in a quiet, consistent way, there were those moments when a song could come on that made me want to drop everything, and dance.  Songs that brightened a day, or jazzed up a night.  Sometimes I hear those melodies and memories come like a waterfall, raining down like a crystal shower. 

Often those songs begin with a disco beat, and are sung with the joyful, soulful voice of the era’s greatest talent.  We lost that talent yesterday, and while Donna Summer hadn’t had a hit in nearly three decades, the loss was still great.

Being one of the most successful artists of a time that is often looked down upon for its superficiality and encouragement of mindless excess, my iPod would not be complete without the Summer anthology in heavy rotation. 

I worked for awhile at a radio station whose format was metal/goth/grunge, and never was there a more devoted listener base, but one April Fool’s Day I brought in my old vinyls and had a field day with a ‘sudden format change.’  The phone lines flooded with these metalheads calling in and requesting more Donna. 

When strutting our Hot Stuff hadn’t paid off, being a Bad Girl just wasn’t working out, and the magic that could have been just walked out the door without you on his arm - whenever “Oooooh ohhhhh….” floated through the air, suddenly what might have been a heartbreaking, ugly night became a worthwhile memory because it was the Last Dance, and there was still a chance at romance because Donna said so.  There wasn’t a roof she couldn’t raise.

A memory is a priceless thing, and that’s what music is for me – beyond value.  With the recent loss of Dick Clark, who was responsible for introducing us to a plethora of songs to make us want to laugh, cry, and sing out loud with, this is another blow to my younger days, and there will only be more to follow. 

I look at music differently now, knowing there will never be the same waterfall feeling.  There are no songs I’m going to have a 40 year love affair with, no new artists that will make me feel young again. 

It just doesn’t hit home until I’ve lost one of my childhood friends. 

© Kymberlie Ingalls, May 20, 2012