14: Songs I like and Why (part one)

C.C. DeVille with fans during a show at Fern Park Station. Photo: Mark Lepow

Hello everyone. We all have a song or three that no matter where we are, no matter who we are with, can instantly take us back to a place in our lives. The following are a few songs that do this for me and why (in no particular order). Links open to the artist’s video for the song as often as possible.

Elton John: I’m Still Standing

This one is VERY EASY. The mere fact I am here tapping this out, proves to everyone that I’m still standing, “Don't you know I'm still standin' better than I ever did? Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid. And I'm still standin' after all this time. Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind” The fact that he film the video in Cannes, well, that just adds to my happiness that this song is all about to me. Fast forward to the Premiere Party for “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” in Cannes, hosted by Sir Elton John, and hearing him perform this song live was a defining moment for me.

Suzanne Vega: Luka

From the first time I heard this song, which is about child abuse, I wanted to listen to it more and more. It tore into me and never let go. She performed one night while I was the house photographer at the Beacham Theater in Orlando. I shot one roll of film and that was fine by me because I had finally found someone who sang about my life experiences.

Barry Mann: Don’t Know Much

It isn’t because I am related to this person that I like the song, nor that Kathy and I selected it as our wedding dance song. I liked this song well before I met her or knew about my connection to him via my Dad. To me, this is a song of hope and renewal in the sense that here is a man down on his luck, but finds a woman and falls in love. That’s why Kathy and I chose it as our wedding song.

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Give Me Three Steps I was what, 10 or 11 when this song came out. I had no idea what the hell it was about or that one day it would be semi-autobiographical. I love to joke how my musical taste runs from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Mario Lanza & Pavarotti to Rat Pack to Flock of Seagulls to The Clash and a few others. But seriously, it is against the law to claim to be a Native Floridian without being able to name a Skynyrd song not about Alabama or leaving someone tomorrow. It wasn’t until I was an adult that this song started to make sense to me. I was living in DC and well, I was young, and well, wanted to enjoy life a bit. No one knew me so I could be whatever the hell my introverted self with mile-high walls wanted to be. NO! I didn’t go to biker bars, that came later, and got paid to be there thank you very much AP, USA Today, and other publications. But yes, at a point in my life I wasn’t very selective about who I hung out with, and well, some people didn’t like that I was talking to their lady, woman, insert other words here. You get the point. One night