This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.
If you’re an 80’s child, you simply can’t forget the scene. Lloyd Dobler hoists a boombox above his head outside Diane Court’s bedroom window. He doesn’t say anything. He just lets a masterpiece by Peter Gabriel do all the talking, to prove he loves her. Most teenage boys have pathetically tried to copy Lloyd’s move or at least thought about doing it. Which is ridiculous when you think about it. What made Lloyd cool was the fact that no one else thought of that before him. Everyone else post-Lloyd is simply uncool. The song he played, of course, is “In Your Eyes”.
This is not your average ballad. It’s a cultural phenomenon, partly due to its unique persona. It’s one of the greatest recordings ever to merge pop with worldbeat – and do so in a way that didn’t cheapen either genre. But it’s also a phenomenon because of the movie scene. Say Anything, without a doubt, gave “In Your Eyes” an identity that was attached to the movie’s hip. In fact, when Gabriel played the first few bars of the song during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl about ten years ago, John Cusack walked onto the stage, handed him a boombox and took a bow, before quickly walking off again. The scene and the music are forever inseparable.
“I SEE THE DOORWAY TO A THOUSAND CHURCHES IN YOUR EYES.”