Sunday, May 1, 2011

Dancing with myself...a mental road trip

I can feel the wind in my face, my friend is driving like a maniac! We'll have fun fun fun til her Mommy takes the Fairmont (Fairlane...nah not us!) away...
Drive through the projects singing Witchdoctor, how nouveau cool we are with cigarette holders and hounds-tooth mod dresses...tres chic!
We'd blow out cigarette smoke just to sing the line..."I see you through the smoky air, can't you feel the weight of my stare..." and make it be true!
She dropped an egg on the floor just to prove it was impossible to clean up of linoleum....
If even one of us had a fake Id we could have stayed...so we got one!
Why did we never do nefarious things back then...well aside from lurking outside the club I wasn't allowed in (Thanks Mom!)
Remember the night the car broke down on the expressway, we had the navy guys, the southside voyage and the cabbie on pot? I was sure we were going to die that night. Did we steal your brother's car??
How much alike and totally insane we were then, we hid our insanity from one another admirably even while summoning the dead on our Ouija board.
How could we have had so much in common yet never know it, we shared so much but not quite enough it seems to blend our loneliness and reach out to each other. I wonder how things would look today if we had had any sense back then?
Would we live in houses side by side on a street that bore the name of Sunnylane? Would our children chase storms and use EMF detectors together? Would cocktail hour start at 9am and run til 2am?? Would I wear party dresses too?

I always saw my emotional problems as a huge weakness when I was a teenager. I told no one what I was going through. Friends would share some of their problems with me, but I was ashamed to share mine. I think as teenagers we felt invincible and invisible all at once. We didn't share the real things in life because they were too raw. Now we are older and hide the real things under a rock, or cut ourselves off from the people who care the most. Maybe we feel embarrassed or our pain has forced us to protect ourselves. Whatever the cause, we've most likely all traded one set of issues for another. Our problems have become the baggage in our lives.
I think it's like shifting luggage...as teens if we had only lost the soft side suitcases or duffel bags with our best friends, would we now have a whole freaking matching set of crazy bags with hard sides in a vast array of colours hiding under our beds? Or would we be luggage free?

All those years we spent dancing with ourselves not even realizing we weren't alone in the room. If only we could have seen each other through the smoky air, it would have been just like heaven, and we'd have never had to walk alone...If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance!


laptop today :-)

15 comments:

riasboytoy said...

"Would we live in houses side by side on a street that bore the name of Sunnylane?"

I was googling that line and came across your blog. I remember that from a song we sang in elementary school, in the mid 1970's.

You and I
Lived in houses side by side
On a street that bore the name
Of Sunny Lane

We were happy there
Had no worries, had no cares.
Spent each day dreaming plans
And planning dreams, thinking schemes.

Well it looks like rain in Sunny Lane
Looks like it's gonna rain in Sunny Lane
In Sunny Lane.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT SONG IS, WHO WROTE IT OR ANYTHING!!! I can't find it by googling, do you know who wrote it? Please contact me if you have any information about it at all.

Thanks!
Rick LaVallee
rlavallee323@att.net

Anonymous said...

I remember it from glee club. It's about best friends and one moved away. That's when it rained on Sunny Lane, when the friends were separated

schmee said...

We sang Sunny Lane in music class in fourth grade. It's haunted me ever since, but I could never find any evidence of its existence, let alone the lyrics! Thanks SO MUCH for posting!!

Budluv said...

I remember this from music class in 4th or 5th grade. (late 70s) I set out to find it and it brought me here. Obviously not a very popular jam. It's nice to know other people remember it.

Unknown said...

I remember this song too. The year was 1978. We sang it in music class. It was in our music books. I have not been able to find any trace of it either except here on your blog. I wish I could find the song on YouTube or somewhere that I could hear it again. Sad as it was, I still loved it.

All Ideas Matter said...

We sang it in 5th grade. I remember the next verse was something like this:

One day said you had to move away
Said your folks could no longer stay on Sunny Lane
Now I just stare at your empty house standing there
And it fills my lonely heart with memories of you and me

I was just singing it to my baby and was trying to remember the lyrics. Thanks for the smile!

I just can't shut up said...

I have been searching for a video or more info about the song for years. This is the only mention I can find.

http://www.worldcat.org/title/silver-burdett-music/oclc/495565928

Midway down the page there is a listing indicating that the song is in the book along with many others that are sure to jog your memories.

I've had this song stuck in my head since elementary school back in the late 70's pre 1982 (6th grade for me) If anyone finds a link to any video please post it. I almost feel like we should start a Sunny Lane support group :)

I just can't shut up said...

This is another song that was in the same book and is often hard to find or remember the name for...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UccSgT3BXJA

Che Che Koolay

Unknown said...

The song ( Rain in Sunny Lane) was on LP along with the textbook. Another I remember was Bless the Beasts and the Children. It was the first time I had ever heard the song and to this day, I still remember it and even like it over the Carpenter's version.

If I am able to acquire the LP for these and other songs, they will be on youtube. It is a shame these are not readily available as we all grew up with them.

VintageQuixotic said...

I too, recall this from fourth or fifth grade, 1978. We sang it at Crofton Woods Elementary in Maryland. The lyric has stuck with me to this day and brought me here.

Unknown said...

As promised, here you go! https://youtu.be/D6RbDby2jMg



I just can't shut up said...

@ John Bartruff

Thank you!!! You are amazing!

Noah I. Brown said...

I won the talent contest at my school, in 5th grade (1986), singing "Sunnylane" with my friend Phillip. That was my favorite song, even though it's a sad song. I have tried to find the song on YouTube, but with no success. I just remember two guys singing it (with a guitar). If someone finds the recording, let me know!

Unknown said...

Hey Everybody,

The song is called It Looks Like Rain in Sunny Lane. The music book it was in is Silver Burdett Music, 1974, by Crook, Reimer & Walker. That book in for sale on a lot of used book sights. It has an orange cover and make sure the copyright date is 1974, if you want to purchase it. Good memories. Glad I found this blog sight!

Jim said...

Wow! Thank you for this post. 11 years after your post and I found it and heard a song I remember from my childhood in the 70s.