The joy of music

Tonight at the gym, Cleo stuck on a Classic play list. Eighties rock. Early nineties rock. Bogan specialties. 

Yeah. 

It was awesome. 

And as she pummelled me senseless, putting me through my paces, we saw each other's deepest, darkets knowledge of dodgy music, and just what you remember about these songs. 

"Pand, who's this?" she asks as the first chords of songs came over the sound system. 

"Jet."

"Baby Animals."

"Screaming Jets. Better. 1991."

"Pearl Jam."

Cleo perks up at the first bars of Alive, by Pearl Jam. I never got into Pearl Jam. I'd left for England when they got big over here, while I immersed myself in Brit Pop and the likes of Blur, Oasis, Pulp and Right Said Fred. 

But Cleo gave me the dates of the Pearl Jam concerts she attended as a teenager. She still has the ticket stubs for the first concert. The second concert she never made - her father had died that afternoon. She remembers tossing up whether to go to the concert or not . (She didn't)

Then on came Beck. Loser. Cleo knew the words. It was cool 

Then there was Paul Simon - that's more like it. You Can Call Me Al... well that got me through the leg presses and deadlifts, dancing all the way through. One of those songs I know all the words to. 

"A man walks down the street

He says, "Why am I soft in the middle, now?

Why am I soft in the middle?

The rest of my life is so hard

I need a photo-opportunity

I want a shot at redemption

Don't want to end up a cartoon

In a cartoon graveyard"

I got told to stop dancing then. Anything to delay the 12 x 12 kilogram deadball slams. 

Oh, and then the kicker. 

Cold Chisel. 

This is where my bogan roots come out. 

I still maintain that singing the following lines at the top of your lungs while a tram going down Glenferrie Road drowns out your croaks is one of the greatest things ever 

"Anytime you want to find me

I ain't got a telephone

I'm another world away

But I always feel at home, with my

Cheap wine and a three-day growth..."

(Most people would rather listen to two cats shagging that listen to me singing. )

Anyway, this is what made me happy today. 

I started work at 8.00 am. I turned off my laptop at 6.00 pm. I barely left my desk. 

But running around a personal training studio singing along to some tunes, shouting out the artists while pushing some weights. Oh, and I'm doing short runs again. This too is a great thing. 

The equilibrium has been restored. 

Today's song: