Name Songs

     Now if there’s one thing I love, it’s “name songs.” Yeah, you know, a song involving the repetition and often unnecessary and/or inaccurate praise of a name, usually female. I can’t pin down an exact reason—there’s just something so catchy about a flood of compliments belonging to a name. Before today’s music repetition (like any Rihanna or Nicki Minaj song), name songs had a repetition that belonged, something that you would look forward to belting out.
     Not surprisingly, the name songs I’ve chosen all come from the same decade: the 80s. I am a stickler for anything 80s, especially music. There is something so simultaneously cheesy and genuine about 80s music.
Song #1: Laura Branigan’s “Gloria”
     “Gloria” is hands down one of my all-time favorite songs. It’s about a woman named, well, Gloria. Let’s meet Gloria: according to the song, it seems like she’s lived a life full of attention from men. Unfortunately, now, Gloria finds her love for a new man unrequited and as a result, doubts herself and tries to play hard to get. However, this only leaves Gloria fooling herself. Is it more meaningful than 99% of today’s songs? Yes. I will warn you, the song is highly addictive. Check out Laura singing it live:
Song #2: Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie”
     “Oh Sherrie” is another great name song. Let’s meet Sherrie: Sherrie and her boyfriend (let’s call him Steve) have been through some rough times. He’s mistreated her and in return, she’s told him some harsh things. However, the rainclouds disappeared and the rainbow is shining down on them! Steve is thanking her for sticking around, reclaiming his love, and almost unnaturally, showing appreciation!
The video:
Song #3: Toto’s “Rosanna”
     Unlike “Gloria” and “Sherrie,” “Rosanna” is actually written about a real woman named Rosanna—Rosanna Arquette to be exact. You may know her from popular movies like, Pulp Fiction, and Hope Floats to name a couple. Well, Toto keyboardist (is that a word?) Steve Pocaro was dating her at the time and thought it would be a good idea to name a song after her. While the song isn’t really about Rosanna, Toto used her name. It’s about a man’s love to a woman named, well, Rosanna.
The clip: (you may notice that the actress who plays Rosanna in the clip is Cynthia Rhodes, aka Penny Johnson from Dirty Dancing! My all-time favorite movie!)
Final Thoughts:
     I kind of always wondered what it’d be like to have a name song. Coincidently, I have class with a girl named Gloria and Sherrie. I sit next to Gloria and asked her one day, “Do you know the song ‘Gloria’ by Laura Branigan?” To my surprise, she scoffed, rolled her eyes, and said, “Yes.” I was like, “It is one of my favorite songs!” And she answered, “Meh, I am so sick of people singing my name.” Of course, she wasn’t rude about it or anything, but I kind of heard the frustration in her voice. For people who know the song, it’s kind of natural to think of it and the character Gloria whenever hearing the name on someone else. Who am I kidding? I would still want to be named Gloria!
     Now as for Sherrie, she wasn’t any different. She actually told me the Steve Perry song isn’t so bad—but if she has to hear someone belt, “SHERRY! SHERRY BABY!!! SHERRY!” from the Jersey Boys, she’s going to flip. Hah. I guess it isn’t all that cool…
NOT!!!
Until next week,
NH
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