A song again, naturally

I heard the Gilbert O’Sullivan’s song Alone Again Naturally many times growing up. The structure of the song is deceivingly interesting. The song lures you with the singer’s unusual voice; its simple melody has a sing-song quality that makes it easy to hum after hearing it for the first time. Though I’m familiar with the song, it is definitely not one of my personal favorites. It’s a song that I consider to be very depressing, though every time I heard it was at the tail end of the song.  I wondered why its focus was on his parents dying.   

A few years later, I heard this song again and it was at the very beginning. At this time, I was pregnant with my son and my husband was driving us to a lunch meeting with another couple. I decided to listen to this song all the way through, and turned up the volume. This was a big mistake when I clearly heard the first refrain. It involves the singer being rejected by his intended bride at their wedding and his matter of fact quest to find a very tall building to hurl himself off of.

I literally gasped in horror as these words were sung with the piano and drum accompaniment sank into my brain.  My husband watched in horrific surprise as I proceeded to bawl, my flushed face wet with tears. Reaching out with one hand, he asked me what was wrong.  I whimpered I never knew this song was about a guy killing himself! My husband was amazed I never knew—hadn’t I heard this song before?  Between sobs, I admitted this was my first time hearing the song from the very beginning.

Since we were on the way to meeting people, my husband thoughtfully drove around the block a few times so I could gain my composure.  However, time was running out and we went to the restaurant, my face having the tell-tale signs of blotchiness.

 When we met up with our friends, we explained that I had heard a sad song on the radio and cried over it. They immediately were sympathetic, chalking my irrational burst of emotions on my raging pregnancy hormones.

Looking back, I believe that I was feeling a connection to all things since a life was growing inside of me. When I heard that song’s self-destructing lyrics, it created an adverse reaction in me that has never left.  Even to this day, the millisecond I hear the piano solo melody of this song, I quickly flip the channel; which is a shame--Mr. O’Sullivan has a very nice voice!

Perhaps I’ll have to see if Gilbert O’Sullivan sang anything a little bit more uplifting!!