Our 100th Song

Traffic was flowing smoothly. It was cool enough this morning crack the car window instead of using the AC the whole way. This would change half way through the ride but I didn't care. Mike and Mike were on their second commercial break of the morning. Well it wasn't their actual second commerical break but it was the second commerical break I heard. I grabbed my ipod and turned it on, my hands damp with anticipation. Milestone day. 100th song day. This was going to be sweet.

So many possibilities are running through my head. It could be A Day In the Life or maybe Dazed and Confused, hell, Jump Around would be pretty sweet too. Then on the flip side a bit of sweat covers my brow. What if it's something far more sinister. Something that could shake the very foundation of A Year of Shuffling. I couldn't imagine getting to the 100th song and having it be the Thong Song. Just doesn't do the moment justice.

With all this running through my head I hit shuffle. Almost on accident. Was I ready for it? It was too late to second guess myself. I turned the volume up and waited...



I took a minute to digest it. This. Is. Pretty. Good. Yes I can get on board with Billy Joel for our 100th song. It comes from the twelve shows he played at Madison Square Garden, and I was at the first one. There's even a chance that I was at this show. I can't back it up but if you turn it up and listen to it real carefully you might be able to hear me sing or yell at some point. Shhhhhhhh There I am.

As I'm listening the memories of how much I love this song are flooding in. Yes this version Billy Joel is a lot older and can't hit the notes like he used to, but that doesn't matter. A Billy Joel concert isn't about his vocal power. It's bout singing his songs as loud as you can while he plays the piano. Duh he's the Piano Man.

I saw O.A.R. at Jones Beach one year (I can't remember which) and they did this as a special cover for Long Island.They said they learned it specifically for that show. I thought that was pretty cool. Years later they would perform it in Colorado and I was like "what up wit dat? Colorado don't know nuttin' bout fishing". For the record I never talk like that... well not seriously.

I sing along early in the morning which is a rarity. Usually as I drive I just listen there has to be something really good on to get me to actually open my mouth and allow singing to fall out of it. I think I got caught up in the occasion. My high school mascot was/is a Bayman so I would always get excited when I heard this song when I was younger. It was like Billy Joel was singing directly to me. He wasn't but it was still cool.

A hundred songs in and I think our mile stone song was better then our first song (shhhhh don't tell Obie Trice that or he might shoot me). A Long Island singer for a Long Island listener. Yeah pretty sweet. One hundred in tomorrow we trek towards two hundred. Should be interesting.