Back in the Day (I'm Not a Kid Anymore)

I like music.  I like any kind of music.  And then the music lyrics embed themselves into the recesses of my mind and lie in wait.  It is not unusual for me to quote a song lyric or break into song when someone says something that triggers it in conversation.  They come unbidden and sometimes out of nowhere.

Sometimes they are common or known songs.  Like someone might say to me, "I hope you have a good night."  And I would reply in song, "I gotta feeling ... that tonight's gonna be a good night."

Or, if one of my kids are playing with their food and say, "I don't want to eat it."  I might sing to them, "Just eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" 

But sometimes, the lyrics that come out of my mouth are obscure ... like someone might say to me, "Hey Paul, who was that guy?"  And I most likely as not will start singing, "Who's that guy? Where did he come from?"  There are very few people that acknowledge I'm singing a known song.  (Or even acknowledge I'm singing.)

But then there is this one song I quote.  I usually remember the lyrics when someone is talking about their past or when they were a kid, and I'll say, "I remember when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore, but sometimes I wish I was a kid again.*"  Until recently, I didn't know what song that was.  I thought it was something by the Digable Planets, but I could never find it when I searched for their songs on Google.  However, this last time that song came to mind, it stuck in my head.  I remember liking that song and I wanted to hear it again (not just my recollection of that particular lyric).  So this time I just googled the lyrics as I remembered them.  The lyrics I remembered weren't exact, but they were close enough to find the song.  "Back in the Day" by Ahmad. 

Who?  Apparently Ahmad was a West Coast rapper and "Back in the Day" was his first (and only) release from his solo debut album.  He was a one hit wonder and I remember lyrics from his one hit (made it up to #26 on the Bill Board Top 100 in 1994).  Crazy.  Apparently I only remembered the chorus, I don't specifically remember the rest of the song.  But I still like it.

And I found the music video on YouTube ... Ain't the internet grand?

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*Sorry about that.  I didn't link this lyric (because of the video included), but since all the other song lyrics were blue for sake of consistancy I changed the font color.

Also ... music featured in this article ... if you are interested.