so on a recent trip to the desert, my friends and i engaged in a odd game involving using lyrics for our conversation. it wasn’t a set rule that every word spoken was a lyrics, but points were certainly given for using as many as you could.
based on the current topic, i managed to start singing the few lyrics that i knew of “Hot Blooded.”
“I’m hot blooded, check it and see,” I sang. The others chimed in: “I got a fever of a hundred and threeeeee…” Then, of course, silence…as those were the only lyrics we knew. To be completely honest, I think it went more like: “Hot blooded, . I GOT A FEVER .”
Regardless, the song quickly became old after a few times through this short section and I was asked to stop. But to keep the laughs going, I decided I should sing the opposite of hot…
“Your as cold as ice,” I seethed. “You’re willing to sacrifice our love.” My closed fist became my microphone — the cars in front of us on the freeway became Shea Stadium. The sad part was, none of us knew who sang either of these songs!! Once we returned from our trip, I was determined to fill in this gaping hole in my musical knowledge. Wouldn’t you know it — it was the same band! Foreigner!
Not to be rude, but I (along with many of my friends) would put Foreigner into the same grouping along with Boston, Chicago, and Journey. I can’t explain exactly why this is, but at some point or another everyone was SURE that “Hot Blooded” or “Cold As Ice” belonged to one of these bands.
I think it has something to do with these songs coming out in our grade school to middle school years … the time when music was defined by the radio. You didn’t really know the bands, you just knew the lyrics. (I put “Maneater” in that category for sure. I remember singing it when i was 5 or 6 years old and not knowing what I was saying…but thinking it odd there was a song on the radio about canibalism).
After setting “Cold As Ice” to my default ringtone, I further determined myself to get a hold of Foreigner’s Greatest Hits record (all bands listed above certainly had to have a Greatest Hits record). But before I got the chance, I decided to get outside on a Sunday afternoon to play some tennis.
The game basically involved 4 men trying to relive their tennis glory days by pounding away at a fuzzy ball, and getting angry at the fact that the shot they planned for in their mind didn’t come true. Odd that we all expected to play well…Knowing that my highest claim to fame in the tennis world was receiving the “Most Inspirational Player” award my senior year, I knew I could not rely on my skill alone. I huddled up with my partner and started frantically pointing at the other players and certain holes in their defenses. I explained to my partner: “I’m not really going to say anything here — I just want it to look like we have a plan. It’ll totally throw them off.”
I backed away from my partner and prepared to serve. “What was that?” yelled one of my opponent’s from across the court. I smiled and began to sing: “Head games…” (again, silence followed since I didn’t know the rest of the lyrics…but I had nailed the melody!)
Wouldn’t you know it…as I scanned the track list this morning of the 20-track Greatest Hits record…”Head Games” — track number 9.
Amazing. Despite not knowing the name of their band, Foreigner had managed to write such catchy tunes with such memorable lyrics as to make me recall 3 of their 20 greatest hits during everyday occurrences. These were melodies and one-line-lyrics that were stored away somewhere in the recesses of my mind, but were recalled so quickly because they fit the real-life situation I was involved in. Amazing lyricists, these Foreigner guys are.
Granted, I can’t foresee myself singing “Dirty White Boy” anytime soon, but hey…at least I’ve expanded my arsenal of one-line lyrics. Now I’m ready for another real-life situation in which my knowledge of classic 80’s bands will bring joy and laughter to all that surround me.
