/goobs

If you know me (which most of you undoubtedly do) you know of my serious Separate Ways obsession which borders on the crazy. I can’t get enough of Journey…but Separate Ways stays a staple in my obsessive song playlist. It might be the only song I can listen to a bazillion times in a row and not flinch. In fact, there was a time when I used to play this song over and over at work all day. EIGHT HOURS of Separate Ways is pretty fuckin’ serious. lol But some of you will say, “Why? Why goobs? Why Separate Ways? I don’t get it!” I know… I barely get it myself. But I am going to attempt to explain because I am not satisfied with just saying “because” to people. I need to give you the full explanation.

I think that my obsession with this song started back in the day when I had no cable. You see, we were poor. Not, like, living in the hood poor, but poor enough that my single mom, supporting me, my brother, my abuela, my great-grandma and my great-grandpa on her nurse’s salary couldn’t afford to pay for cable. So I had no MTV until I was about 13 years old. (For those of you that know that this is when my stepdad came into the pic, you also know that this is around the time that i also started celebrating Christmas. No MTV or Christmas in my childhood might be the reason why I am the mad genius that I am today. No toys and no mind-eating TV really leaves you with a lot of learning, pondering and reading time as a child. lol)

Anywho, so my mom’s friend, who is probably to thank for the inception of this obsession with Separate Ways, used to make VHS tapes of videos for my brother and I to watch. (What a good person you were, faceless Samaritan!!) I used to see videos like NKOTB’s Step by Step and Janet Jackson’s Rhythym Nation on VHS. And it just so happened that one of the first videos I ever saw was Journey’s Separate Ways. (Go Figure.) (That and Oh, Sherry, by Steve Perry soon became staples in my afterschool VHS watching.)

So, I watch Separate Ways. Here are these dudes and Steve Perry singing and playing instruments that weren’t there…keyboards on the walls. Steve Perry’s punk/spike/mullet. A lady in trashy hose and heels who apparently walked on the docks forever. It was heavenly. But the song itself is a masterpiece. It is the very essence of epic rock. The synthesizer-esque beginning riffs. The keyboard. The percussion in the beginning. The opening lyrics…

Here we stand,
World’s apart,
hearts broken in two, two, two..
Sleepless nights.
Losing ground.
I’m reaching for you, you, youuuuu.

(I think that the three-peat of the words TWO and YOU is fuckin’ genius.) The amazing guitar solo around the 3-minute mark. The amazing, soul-wrenching scream Steve Perry lets loose about 3:41 seconds into the song. The Someday love WILL find you! lyric that is more like a threat and a promise than a wish. It drives me crazy! It is full of angst and longing and love and drama! The delicious tragedy of this song is almost too much to handle. Jesus.

Even writing this blog, I have listened to it about five times already and it just is so good. I am not the only one who thinks so, either. I once posted a bulletin with about eight parodies and moments inspired by this song. And they were all FIRE! I had to share it with you.  Regardless, I recommend that if you don’t have Separate Ways by Journey in your iPod that you get it. Listen to it. Ride around town blaring it loudly and other drivers will rock out with you. It is a must. On that note, I will say that I must run. I apologize that we have touched and now must go our separate ways. lol Enjoy!

.xoxox.
goobs