I have never been one to believe in extreme cases of foreshadowing, but this one summer, for a week at Woodcraft Rangers summer camp I got a sneak peek into what my future might look like. First off I was one of the few kids of color at this piece [hello college!] and for the week ending cabin talent show, I sang and dance my way inside of everyone's hearts in a skit revolving around Michael Jackson caught in an area he didn't belong and the only way he could interact with people was via singing his back catalogue. [Trust me, it was comedic/song and dance gold!]
But another thing happened that summer, something that would stick with me long after I got off the bus and walked up to the scantily clad woman everyone was whispering about. [I called her mommmy] You see it was here, surrounded by the the young, the white, the wealthy, and the outcasts that I was turned on to music that wasn't Rap, R&B, or Hip-Hop. Now the exact year this all went down escapes me. I do remember it being some time in elementary school. Maybe the music can paint a picture of the time. CD's that were all the rage amongst my fellow Woodcraft Rangers included: Dookie, the Batman and Robin sdtrk, Silverchair's Freak Show, and of course Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.There were others, but those are the ones that stick out in particular. For one week this is all I would hear, and since I brought no headphones or music of my own to share [they had CD's, I was still rocking the cassettes. I didn't get my hands on a CD til my 13th or 14th birthday. Toni Braxton Secrects, but that's only because Dru Hill's debut was sold out.]
Seeing as how all this was the case, I allowed myself to not be the angry militant black kid who could hear no evil. Nope, I took it all in and from that point on made it my business to catch up on all the good things I was missing when it came to "alternative rock." [And I blame both Woodcraft Rangers and that Batman sdtrk for getting me hooked on Jewel.]
Now aside from Green Day's Basket Case, the one song that sticks out for me whenever I think back on that time is the one presented below by the Smashing Pumpkins. I had forgotten about this song for a while, and then I watched Clerks II earlier this evening, heard this song, and it all came back to me. Good times.
Also, am I the only one who misses these precious years of MTV?
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