14.1 (More) Songs I Like and Why

Couple embracing in Venice, Italy. 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.

Mazzy Starr: Fade Into You

I honestly do not remember when I first heard this song, but the melody always stood out. One night I received a call from a friend asking me if I could come over, she just wanted someone to talk to. So I stopped at the store, picked up a 6 pack of PBR (she liked it and so do I), and drove the half mile to her and her husband’s townhouse.

After being greeted by two of the largest dogs I have ever seen (black mouth curs), we are talking these dogs could drape their front legs over my shoulders as if wanting to slow dance with me.

So, we talked about when we knew each other from Visage in Orlando, FL, then about raising kids, and just life in general.

She turned on the Christmas tree lights because the lamps were getting too bright for her eyes. The tree lights were a welcome relief. We started to watch MTV Classics. Eventually, “Fade into You” started to play and she became very quiet. I could tell she was in a far-off place, and I just shut up. The song ended, she sighed, and she searched for the video on YouTube and played it. Over, and over. Many times. She dozed off and eventually so did I. When I woke up, she was leaning against me. Nothing intimate, just leaning against me. It was almost dawn and I headed home.

A few months later, I was talking with a grocery store manager when she came in with her husband and kids. She saw me, screamed my name in happiness, then ran up to me and gave me a very tight hug. She turned to her husband and said something along the lines of, “honey, this is Mark, the guy I told you about who came over that night.” Her husband and I knew each other because he participated in events at the company I was with at the time. He would call and request that I remove his name from the results (he was a police officer and didn’t need his name popping up in Google results). His wife went on to explain to him that had I not come over that night she would not be alive. I froze. She had no idea of what had taken place in my life concerning friends who have attempted/committed suicide nor the ones I just listened to them because they were lonely and in a very dark place.

So, yes, while this song is a love song, it takes me back to that night, regardless of where in the world I am.

Tom Petty: Free Fallin’ or I Won’t Back Down Picking a Petty song that has the highest meaning or is just an outright favorite is nearly impossible. To me, the guy was a friggin genius, though he considered himself just a great observer who could write songs. Free Fallin’ came out in 1989 and my life was quite hectic at that time. I was still living in DC, but the reality of making a shitload of money by Florida standards at age 24 was nowhere close to being able to support a decent life in DC. The lyrics just sang to me. Pretty sure I was already dreaming of moving to California and pursuing a career shooting portraits on the backlots at Universal Studios. Because seriously, who wouldn’t want a portrait with a building on fire in the background, or a Western saloon, etc? Free Fallin’ is one of those songs that I hum or just belt out the chorus of when I’m stressed or feel like I am losing control of a situation.

Then there is “I Won’t Back Down” which is an anthem personified. Come on, the first verse states, “Well, I won't back down, No I won't back down, You could stand me up at the gates of Hell, But I won't back down” That was all it took for me to know this song would play a major role in my life. If you have been paying attention, especially those of you my readers who have PAID subscriptions, you know some of the gates of Hell that I have been to, and precisely because of those hellish episodes, I WILL NEVER BACK DOWN! Am I hard-headed, heck yeah! Do I do everything I can to get my way? Of course, I do. But I do know when to downshift even if ever so slightly. As my ex-wife repeatedly told me when I had to confront Neil or Fran about