DON'T ASK THE REASON WHY

But right now you're feeling
Lost and lonely
Crazy to even try
Just listen to what
You're heart keeps saying
And don't ask the reason why

There's a funny thing I've been finding lately: when your heart's defences are down due to a bit of life weariness, a certain type of song will sneak inside your tender breast and fill the vulnerable place you ordinarily try to defend against such schmaltz.

Just the other evening, I was walking into town, having a midweek existential wobble, as a bright sunset cast its heavenly light across all the houses down my road, as if they were being momentarily anointed by some higher power. With no energy to match the sunset with music, I hit shuffle on my iTunes and found a random song, “Don’t Ask the Reasons Why” by Restless Heart (no? Me neither), from The Secret of My Success soundtrack filling my ears and providing a brief antidote to the maelstrom of confusion inside my head and heart.

BAM! I found myself surfing a wave of nostalgia, as if I were back in 1986 and was the protagonist in my own romantic comedy, where every moment of clarity was magic hour and optimism momentarily started to course through my veins.

I do appreciate how music can be like a time machine sometimes, transporting you from the present back through time. Of course, inevitably, you have to head back to the present, or, to reference another Michael J. Fox classic, Back to the Future.

However, in those four minutes of retro dad-rock ballad gold, I was briefly suspended in a place somewhere between memory and immortality.

As the kids say, I was cringe, but I was free.

And now, here you stand
Your destiny's calling you
You know what you've got to do...

Don't you know I believe in you
I'll be there when your dreams come true
And wherever you go you'll always know
My love is by your side