One-Hit wonders are like cherry blossoms. I recently started watching a Netflix show called "Girls5eva," a show about 40-year-old former bandmates who made a big hit in their 20s as part of a band called Girls5eva but then were never heard of again, each going their own way and fading into non-celebrities. Sadly, their stories (and the genius of the show) resonate with us because at one point sometime in our 20's, we likely reached our peak of youth, enjoying the benefits of good health, attractivenss, sports prowess, ability to eat unhealthy foods without consequences, fertility, hope, and the luxury of having time on our side. That was us in our 20s, but that beautiful combination of having everything good in life intersect fades away quickly, and we're left always craving that feeling again for the rest of our lives. That's the story of Girls5eva.... well, for the first few episodes anyway. It gets better for the 40-year-old versions as the story goes along, but that's for plot purposes. In real life I think if most people had to pick an age to relive over and over again it'd be sometime from 21-26, that magical window.
There are a ton of one-hit wonders that I often recognize the beat but never can identify the artist; likely it's because the band or singer just had that one hit and didn't become famous enough for long enough time to be known. Rolling Stones magazine has plenty that they list, but "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba comes to mind: played at weddings, parties, sports games, all kind of public venues with instant recognition, no one can ever name a second song by Chumbawumba. Also, "Take On Me" by A-Ha: MJ and I once went walking on a path down a river and a nearby boat just played "Take On Me" on repeat as they drifted by. It was.... annoying, but also tuned me into the enormous popularity of the song. In many ways, "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen is the One-Hit Wonder of my 20s and when I really followed songs: whereas most other pop stars of my youth went on to have at least some follow-up acts (Britney, Justin, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Hilary Duff, etc.) Carly Rae later did a song with Owl City, but she's now forever known in history for "Call Me Maybe," which may not be a bad thing as the song makes me remember the summer of 2012, the Olympics, hearing it on the radio (along with Moves like Jagger by Maroon 5) and just a carefree, forget-your-troubles upbeat kind of song, even though some say the song is about a callgirl. Don't mind those rumors!
Cherry blossoms are like that youth, except we get it every year around mid-to-late March, and only in certain parts of the country, and only for a few days of "peak bloom." They literally call it a peak, and the National Parks Service even has an alert specifically designed for telling people when it's peak bloom to get out there and see the cherry blossoms. And then within a week, the mania is over, the cherries fall, and they're never heard of again for the whole season, only until the next year when nostalgia hits and people remember all the cool memories of the pink colors usually with a awesome sky-filled backdrop with a body of water involved, with those betals blooming, almost like popcorn expanding and blooming out in front of you. It's really pretty awesome. Cherry blossoms are the model I wish we had for youth: one week (or two) out of every year, it'd be awesome to get our 23-year-old selves, to feel just like we did back then, with the same eagerness, thrill-seeking, the feeling of being on top of the world and having the whole world in front of us, even while knowing that it can't last and it will eventually fade away; at least we can re-live that feeling. Alas, we have the cold, cruel world we live in where we can never go back. Once it's gone, it's gone forever- goodbye, cherry blossoms.
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