"No Day But Today" is Yesterday, But Still A-Okay

We always remember the books/movies/music/TV shows/etc. of our youth fondly. They're the words that awakened us, touched us, and spoke to us in a way that made us think they were written just for us.

There's a category of culture that I think can only be truly appreciated if you experience it at the exact right point of your life. Take Catcher in the Rye - I know there are people out there who love it, and people who hate it. I kind of fall in the "indifferent" camp, because I'm in the group that believes that your opinion of it depends on when you read it. It was never assigned reading for me in high school, and I finally decided to pick it up in college to see what the fuss was all about. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed - I'd heard how this book was amazing, it had changed lives, how it had spoken to so many people...and it didn't really do anything for me. However, I do concede that if I had read it 3-5 years earlier, I think I would have been all over it and firmly on the love train.

Then there's the category of stuff we outgrow. On one of the online forums I visit (I don't remember which one), I remember someone making a passing comment (half joking) about how she had loved Rent when she was younger, but now that she was an older, responsible adult, she just wanted to yell, "Get a REAL job and pay your damn bills!" to all these characters. I saw her point.

I was getting bored with the CDs in my car, so I decided to switch them around today, and put in ones I hadn't listened to in a long time. Among the new ones was the Rent soundtrack. I remembered that comment that poster had made, and part of me agreed. While they're entertaining, I don't really know if I'd want to be friends with any of these people in real life. (Well, maybe Joanne. She could be the type who'd organize my filing cabinet and make a spreadsheet with me and have fun doing it.) I appreciate devoting oneself to one's art, but at the same time, there comes a point where yes, responsibilities take over and the rent must be paid.

That said, it still holds a certain magic for me. Firstly, the music and lyrics really are just so well-written. That alone makes listening a worthwhile experience. And while I may be all old and responsible now, like many appealing works of fiction, there's still that element of fantasy, of imagining a different life filled with drama and passion. Again, I don't know if I'd truly want any of it, but it's nice to daydream sometimes.

Even though I haven't listened in years, I still knew most of the words. "Another Day" continues to be one of my favorite tracks, and is a fantastic song in general. Apologies for the sub-par video - most of what YouTube turned up was from the movie version, and I'm just used to the original arrangement.