I fall in love very easily.
"What draws you to another person, Neilochka?" you might ask. "Is it beauty? Intelligence? A sense of humor?"
No, as a writer of words, I am first attracted by the person's name.
I have no idea if blogging-gal Fitena is a nice person or a grouch, but I was immediately smitten by the name. Fi-te-na.
When I read one of her comments, I always speak to myself, saying something like, "Oh look, it's a comment from Fi-te-na!"
Things get worse. I sing when I blog, especially when I encounter a blogger whose first name is the same as a famous old song. These bloggers hold a special place in my heart.
I know… I know… chances are the bloggers' names are not even the real names (wimps), but I still like to imagine that Melissa from Texas is the exact same Melissa that the Allman Brothers were thinking about when they sang:
Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah.
The gypsy flies from coast to coastKnowing many, loving none,
Bearing sorrow havin’ fun,
But back home he’ll always run
To sweet melissa… mmm…("Melissa," Allman Brothers)
I have two blogging-pals named Michelle, each mysterious in her own way. I'm always singing this:
Michelle, ma belle.
These are words that go together well,
My Michelle.Michelle, ma belle.
Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble,
Très bien ensemble.("Michelle," The Beatles)
There's Amanda:
I’m gonna take you by surprise and make you realize,
Amanda
I’m gonna tell you right away, I can’t wait another day,
Amanda
I’m gonna say it like a man and make you understand
Amanda("Amanda," Boston)
And Beth:
Beth, I hear you callin’
But I can’t come home right now
Me and the boys are playin’
And we just can’t find the sound
Just a few more hours
And I’ll be right home to you
I think I hear them callin’
Oh, beth what can I do
Beth what can I do("Beth," KISS)
And Alison:
Oh it's so funny to be seeing you after so long, girl.
And with the way you look I understand
that you were not impressed.
But I heard you let that little friend of mine
take off your party dress.
I'm not going to get too sentimental
like those other sticky valentines,
'cause I don't know if you are loving somebody.
I only know it isn't mine.Alison, I know this world is killing you.
Oh, Alison, my aim is true.("Alison," Elvis Costello)
There's also songs for Helena, Jenny, Nancy, Mysterygirl, Brandy, Jill, Elizabeth, Lisa, Sarah, Amy. Did I forget any?
Men bloggers, don't worry. I didn't forget you. I'm not embarrassed to fall in love with a man's name. Everyday, I take a break at noon from whatever freelance project I'm working on, make myself a sandwich, click onto Danny's site, and grab my bagpipes:
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.("Danny Boy," Irish Classic)
Now, despite our separation, the main love of my life remains, of course, Sophia. And I was positive that there weren't any "Sophia" songs in existence. But Google proved me wrong:
Sophia by Bif Naked
Sophia by The Rasmus
Sophia by Enter My Silence
Sophia by X-Ray Spex
Nude Sophia by Lux Occulta
Hagia Sophia by Secret Chiefs 3
Aetheosophia by Thor's Hammer
Song of Sophia by Dead Can Dance
Sophia On The Stereo by The Benjamins
Messages from Sophia by Lisa Germano
Disciples Of Sophia (The Templars) by Necromantia
All For You Sophia by Franz Ferdinand
I spent all tonight downloading these songs. Most of these tunes were just awful. None of them captured any of Sophia's real qualities.
My assignment for later this week: write a song called "Sophia."
(to be continued)
There is a Counting Crows song (on “Recovering the Satellites”) titled “Goodnight Elisabeth,” and Elisabeth is spelled with an “s” – just like my first name!
Elvis Costello’s Allison is a huge improvement over those horrible songs by Boston and Kiss.
51 comments. Really, that’s what it says. I’m in awe.
I get Born to Run….
Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
…..
Together wendy we’ll live with the sadness
I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don’t know when we’re gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go and we’ll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us baby we were born to run
Being an east coast girl (not from Jersey but married to a Jersey boy), having a Springsteen song isn’t half bad.
If there’s one conclusion I can make from this post is that MEN are the real romantic ones. Look at all the songs that MEN write about the women in their lives. And what do women write songs about? Themselves!
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
“I’m a Material Girl.”
“Dontcha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?”
Where are all the songs written by women for their men like “I Love You, Joe,” “Heaven was made for Harry,” or “Crazy for You, Charlie?”
No songs with my name in them–but then no one else has my name. Makes me extremely Googable. Is that a good thing?
ummm… not so much neil.
and how would you feel about a neil sedaka reference made about you?
Neil are you going to sing us a sample of the Sophia song once you’ve written it?
And I am glad you forgot the Guns and Roses “My Michelle” and went with Paul McCartney instead.
Big smile… Melissa is in fact my real name, and I adore that song. If you weren’t already married I’d fall madly in love with you just for that.
Neil, Jill Scott writes a number of songs about her husband. She just doesn’t use his name in her songs.
WOW! I’m a song writer, maybe I can write a song about Sophia! How did you ever come to visit my blog, dear Neilotchka! There are 57 people who commentec before me…My Lordy….do you visit all of these people? You must be glued to your computer chair…
“Sophia….I once knew a girl named Sophia….”….Oh no. that was already written….Hmmmm
Well, let me think this one over for a little bit longer…Okay?
No Lynn song?
Sophia, oh Sophia
Don’t make me pee on ya…
Little too Ricky Martin?
Is there really a Mysterygirl song? (Of course the part that caught my eye was about myself)
Mystery Girl by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It was the struggle of the century
and all the grown men came to see
the girl who tamed the tiger yeah yeah
the heart of southern Lovebirds
they found her under the sea
she said she came from cell block three
the girl hit hot like a barracuda baby
she floated on air like a crest of wave
she was a primal instituation she was a danger to herself yeah
Mad loving by the cold hearted
Take a big breath cos we just started
Mystery Girl
Mystery Girl
keep on faking your mystery world
Cos the mystery boys will be your toys yeah
Cos the Mystery boys will be your toys
For Heaven’s sake please get that picture of that curly-haired guy off the top of your blog. He looks like Arnold Horshack with a bad tan. Gives me the creeps.
Oh, I know that song! There’s even a barracuda in it! Nice.
Neil, you smell like lemon peel
left inside a buick oldsmobile
eyes of teal
that make me squeal
You make me feel so real Neil!
Yeah
yeah yeah
Neil!
(There. Now you have your own song.)
Pingback: Citizen of the Month » Sophia: The Lyrics
for Stephanie who had no song:
Tennis Pro does a song called Stephanie. Downloadable from iTunes. And it has “lolli lolli lolli” bits in it, which I personally find to be a good thing.
My own song is “Just Like A Gillian Welch Song” by Split Lip Rayfield. Which is obviously not about ME per se, but it’s rare to find someone who pronounces it the same way Ms. Welch and I do.
Pingback: Citizen of the Month » I Sang for Sophia
I have a 1950′s instrumental with my name.
It makes me smile because I pretend I’m in La Dolce Vita.
Nerina Pallot – ‘Sophia’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x5cnSn1XMk
I’ve always wondered if I’d have more boyfriends if I changed my number to 867-5309.