Guest Post: “Only in Dreams” by Sly
 

Welcome to Jestertunes! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Feel free to leave a comment, read through the archives, and enjoy yourself. See you again real soon!

[editor's note: Sly is responding to the topic that I announced here last week for the Blog Ninja's Challenge. The topic was:

You know how you can be driving along, just minding your own business and suddenly a song will come on the radio that transports you through space and time so clearly and throughly that you miss your exit or rear end the car in front of you?

Here's your topic: What song transports you through space and time, and where do you go?]

I am participating in the Blog Ninjas Mystery Topic Challenge. If you’d like to join me, please visit Blog Ninjas today.

My “transport” song, the one that takes me back in time, has not only the ability to take me back in time, but to make me feel again, if only for a brief moment, exactly how I felt nearly a decade ago. The song doesn’t come on the radio often, nor does it pop-up frequently on my itunes when I put the library on shuffle. This lack of frequent interaction between me and the song is likely a good thing, since I am overly sentimental at any given time, and when I have the fortune to stumble upon a Live 105 1990’s retrospective and hear Weezer’s “Only in Dreams”, I once again turn into an innocently passionate and smitten sixteen year-old. (Sentiment + nostalgia+ revisiting girly teenage feelings = sap overload. Just ask Lee.)

“Only In Dreams” had already been around for 5 years when my boyfriend and I started making out to it in 1999. We would hide out from the Georgia humidity and his overzealous mother in the finished basement of his parents’ house during that last summer before I moved to California, and do things that teenagers do when they believe they are desperately in love and the relationship has a moratorium due to my impending move. He would play the song on his computer and we would sit together on the itchy couch that was certainly a relic of the 1970’s, and whatever inappropriate activity we were engaged in at the time would become inexplicably more intense, that much hotter. (No doubt this was due to the rousing climax that occurs at the end of the song!)

The last time we listened to it together, I was leaving for California the next morning, and I cried so hard I left stains on his shirt, even though I was convinced that we were going to be the couple that could do long-distance. (Ah, naivety!) I was surprised even then at my willingness to love someone so wholeheartedly and to feel those things I had always believed belonged solely to adults. And when I hear “Only in Dreams,” I feel all of that again. A little turned-on, remembering those basement fumblings, a little sheepish about my old emo ways, and a lot nostalgic for being that innocent and hopeful.

[That was great, Sly! Hopefully I can talk you into posting here again in the future. I was inspired to create this topic along time ago when I wrote what would have been my entry into this challenge (I'm not eligible to win again). If you're interested, check out: Movie Moment 1.-Jester]

[UPDATED to include the voting links and other participant's links.]

Please visit the Mystery Topic Challenge Blog to view all of the other entries. Once you’ve read them all, please be sure to vote HERE in the Sidebar for your favorite.

  1. Shadylady
  2. Geekgrl
  3. Shiloh
  4. Jayne d’Arcy
  5. Grumpamoose
  6. BunGirl
  7. Biologisvensk
  8. Andycivil
  9. Killer
  10. Michelle L
  11. Jan
  12. Paris4Prez
  13. Sly (hosted by Jestertunes - some material on the site is NSFW)
11 Responses to “Guest Post: “Only in Dreams” by Sly”
 

That was great reading. My nostalgic music goes away back to 1960 (yeah; that long ago) and was Theme from “A Summer Place” It brings back fond memories of kindness shown by Bruce and Helen Herbert; as referenced in http://www.davidoliphant.net/2007/11/10/bruce-and-helen-herbert/

Crail’s last blog post..Another voice from the past

Crail wrote on January 20th, 2008 at 7:36 am

 
 

It should be noted that I crossed the border from Canada on January 26, 1960 and, after a sojourn to San Diego, returned to Pleasant Hill and the Herberts at the beginning of March. The lyrics may not totally apply; but the music provides a memory of a safe haven.

http://www.geocities.com/lyricalmusings/lyrics/a_summerplace.htm

Crail’s last blog post..Another voice from the past

Crail wrote on January 20th, 2008 at 7:48 am

 
 

People don’t give Weezer enough respect as love songs. I agree with Jester, you should send in more guest posts. Everyone needs an occasional blog break.

Killer’s last blog post..Blog Ninja Challenge

Killer wrote on January 20th, 2008 at 10:04 pm

 
 

Crail and Killer-

Thank you both! I had a very good (and nostalgia heavy!) time writing.

Jester- Thank you for posting for me :) It’s good to write again! Perhaps next time, I’ll do something in collaboration with my fabulous Lee.

Sly wrote on January 20th, 2008 at 10:40 pm

 
 

I’ll echo what everyone else has said, you need to write more. Very good post and what a terrific memory, sad and sweet.

jayne d’Arcy’s last blog post..Mystery Topic #6

jayne d'Arcy wrote on January 20th, 2008 at 11:54 pm

 
 

“The last time we listened to it together, I was leaving for California the next morning, and I cried so hard I left stains on his shirt, even though I was convinced that we were going to be the couple that could do long-distance. (Ah, naivety!)”

I think you wrote something that some, if not all of us, have a similar memory of. I think I still have yet to learn my lesson about being able to handle long-distance.

Biologisvensk wrote on January 21st, 2008 at 5:35 pm

 
 

Wow, it wasn’t the song but your great writing that me back to a lot of great memories (mostly of me imagining that such things could actually happen with a boy I liked when I was in high school…hahaha ;-) )

Romi’s last blog post..Speed Date: Cereal Aisle

Romi wrote on January 21st, 2008 at 6:04 pm

 
 

Thanks Jester for a great topic, and to Sly for sharing innocent youth all over again.

Shiloh’s last blog post..Tendjewberrymud

Shiloh wrote on January 21st, 2008 at 6:55 pm

 
 

Jayne, Shiloh, Romi, and Biologisvensk-

Wow! Thank you all so much for the kind comments and the encouragement to write more. I am happy to have shared a memory and a time that is dear to me with such lovely people :) I look forward to participating in future challenges!

Sylvia

Sly wrote on January 21st, 2008 at 8:00 pm

 
 

[...] Sly: Jayne, Shiloh, Romi, and Biologisvensk- Wow! Thank you all so much for the kind comments and the encouragement to write mo… [...]

Jestertunes » American Idol Poll Results wrote on January 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 am

 
 

never ceases to amaze me that something as “simple” as a song can have such an impact on a person. there are many such songs for me. thanks for sharing yours, sly!

hellohahanarf wrote on January 27th, 2008 at 8:45 am

 

Say something already!