Brother/Sister E-mail #2

While listening to Foreigner's "Juke Box Hero" one day, I realized that I had a few questions about this man's "hero" status. So, I asked my source for all that is classic rock (and good music in general). What I got was one of the most thoughtfully considered analytical answers ever. And you know, he was able to answer my question.

Email from Me:
What amazing feat does it take to acquire the status of Juke Box Hero?
What sort of fantastic act must one perform? From what did this newly
appointed "Hero" save others?

Email from Brother:
Well, we have to analyze this to glean the answer to your question...

FIRST VERSE
Standing in the rain, with his head hung low
Couldn't get a ticket, it was a sold out show
Heard the roar of the crowd, he could picture the scene
Put his ear to the wall, then like a distant scream

He heard one guitar, just blew him away
He saw stars in his eyes, and the very next day
Bought a beat up six string in a secondhand store
Didn't know how to play it, but he knew for sure

That one guitar, felt good in his hands
Didn't take long, to understand
Just one guitar, slung way down low
Was one way ticket, only one way to go

So he started rockin
Aint never gonna stop
Gotta keep on rockin
Someday hes gonna make it to the top

---I see this a lot in action flicks, our hero, outside in the rain,
standing there, head hung low. I've seen it in Batman, X-men, and the
like. Rambo stood there in the rain in First Blood Part II, ready to
kill anything & everything to get the POW's 'cause they ("charlies")
killed his woman. Frank Reynolds and Charlie ??? let it rain on them
though, but those are just comedic heroes. I think even Chuck Norris
has allowed it to rain on him, just for effect though. Although I will
say, Jack Bauer would never be caught in the rain. Neither would Agent
Jack Bauer, cats don't like rain. So, I guess the first part of heroism
is standing in the rain. Check that box, we've got it here.

Now we look at his response time. He heard a "distant scream" through a
wall. Could be concrete, if so, that's impressive. If it's sheet rock,
still pretty good. But, he's responding to a scream. Always a need for
some type of hero if there's a scream.

Then he heard one guitar blow him away and he was seeing stars
afterward. That's a pretty strong punch, even from a "D" chord. But he
goes to a pawn shop and buys a guitar of his own, and it felt pretty
good in his hands. I equate that to a kid getting antsy and buying his
first gun. It feels pretty good in his hands. Know what other hero had
a gun. The Punisher.


CHORUS
And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Hes a juke box hero
He took one guitar, juke box hero, stars in his eyes
Juke box hero, hell come alive tonight

Not a lot going on here that we didn't cover beforehand. It just lets
you know he's a hero, to someone.

SECOND VERSE
In a town without a name, in a heavy downpour
Thought he passed his own shadow, by the backstage door
Like a trip through the past, to that day in the rain
And that one guitar made his whole life change

Now he needs to keep rockin
He just cant stop
Gotta keep on rockin
That boy has got to stay on top

Here we have a nameless, lawless town our "hero" has come through,
probably rode in on a tour bus with some groupies. It's still raining,
for effect. "Like a trip through the past...," hey, every hero has a
bad memory they don't want to visit. Batman didn't want to think about
falling into what would later become the Batcave. Max Payne didn't want
to think of his wife & kid. Rambo didn't want to think about "the old
Vietnam," nor Rocky about Apollo Creed. But it happens, it has to, so
they know what they're fighting for.


And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Hes a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Yeah, juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
With that one guitar hell come alive
Come alive tonight

Yeah, hes gotta keep rockin
He just cant stop
Gotta keep on rockin
That boy has got to stay on top

And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Hes a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Just one guitar, put stars in his eyes
Hes just a juke box hero, aah aah aah
Juke box hero, juke box hero, hes got stars in his eyes
Stars in his eyes

I think what we have here is someone who has drastically tried to become
a hero in someone else's eyes, which is sad really because if someone
else wants you to become a hero, and you can't, then you're a failure.
And failures never win. But, this Juke Box Hero has become a hero to
someone, defeating Juke Boxes all over the world apparently. He just
forgot to mention it, because he has succeeded quite well actually. I
haven't seen a Juke Box in ages.

Brother/Sister E-mail #1

From Brother:
Subject: Brother's feelings on his new field trip

I had a meeting yesterday ... and my supervisor has
given me blanket permission to travel to help.

So, when I got home yesterday, I thought I should find the right music
to set the tone. I subsequently found my Less Than Zero Original Motion
Picture Soundtrack, put it on Track #4, and cranked up "Going Back to
Cali" by LL Cool J 'cause I'm just that cool.

Whenever I remember to bring it in, I'll be playing it here in the
office whenever I find out the exact date I'm going.

From Me:
Subject: RE: Brother's feelings on his new field trip

Having that song in today's digital world would raise relatively few
eyebrows to those of us who remember music released prior to 1990.
Undeniably, we can all play songs from our youth that bring forth fond
memories and perhaps lend way to a few good laughs among good company.
However, we all read that you pulled out your "CD," which means that at
some point in time you willfully obtained and spent money on this entire
album. While standing in a retail establishment, you spotted this CD
and thought, "I should get that. This is a good idea" and thus further
expanded your immense CD collection. I've often wondered how you have
been able to acquire a collection of, at my personal last count, close
to 500 compact discs and thereby compiling one of the most eclectic
music collections this side of Plan 9 and other similar
patchouli-reeking emo establishments that no self-respecting untattooed
white chick with brushable hair from the suburbs should enter. Now I
have figured it out: you simply cannot be too discriminate. You must
live for the moment. Make the purchase. You recognize that at some
point in time, the soundtrack of life may necessitate any and every song
ever composed and you must be ready.

Thus, one must remain ready--Be Prepared, if you will--for any occasion
the soundtrack of life may need to further enhance--nay, illuminate--to
provide proper support of the moment.

And Brother, you are ready.

Never will you be forced to let the question of, "Will I have the
appropriate musical styling that will fit this precise moment with which
life has presented me" go unanswered. You already know the answer is
yes--yes you will have it. Whatever "it" may be, you will have it.
Less Than Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack? Check. Spice
Girls' Spice World? Got it. Hall & Oats? Undoubtedly. Iron Maiden's
entire catalog and Hilary Duff are available as well for those
situations requiring their use. You are an example of preparedness to
us all. You, sir, are ready. Ready for life. That, unquestionably, is
gangsta. And it should feel damn good.


From Brother:
Subject: RE: Brother's feelings on his new field trip

...and on the way home, particularly on my way to and while I'm at the
airport to depart to come home, I shall play Phil Collins "Take Me Home"
from the "No Jacket Required" album, because that's the song played at
the end of the "Prodigal Son" episode of Miami Vice's Season 2 premiere,
when Crocket & Tubbs go to New York, and Crockett's waiting at the
airport, smoking a cigarette mind you (taboo in today's society, now he
would drink coffee), waiting on Tubbs to decide if he's going back to
Miami or staying in New York. It's a timeless classic.

Gene Simmons is in that episode, in the beginning, living a boat, I
mean, a yacht.


From Me:
Subject: RE: Brother's feelings on his new field trip

The Miami Vice Soundtrack should be at the top of the queue for this
field trip. Remember that it doesn't matter if it's heroin,
cocaine, or hash--you've got to carry weapons, because you always carry
cash. Considering they move it through Miami and sell it in LA, such an
occurrence is not absent from the realm of possibility and Glenn Frey
can most assuredly assist in adequately captivating that moment.

And please, for the love of God, if you must storm into a room for
whatever reason, you must be ready to amp up your partners and there is
but one sound bite that will adequately address that need: Leeroy
Jenkins. Yet one more reason why one's music catalog must always grow
and be open to additions no matter how large or small. Every moment in
life needs its musical support and none are too unimportant. No sir,
every moment bears with it its own importance.