Songs that speak to my heart as a man

As someone who appreciates the musical arts, there are certain songs that speak to my soul as a man. Songs that when I hear them always stop me dead in my tracks, at least for a moment. Songs that either: A) take me back to a different time, B) remind me of some great truth, or C) provide a moment of catharsis. In case you haven’t guessed, this is the introduction of yet another series.

“Night Moves” by Bob Seger is one of those songs for me. For those of you who haven’t heard it, the following is a quote from the Wikipedia article for the song:

“Night Moves” is a mid-tempo number that starts quietly with acoustic guitar. Bass guitar and drums are introduced as the song’s setting is described: 1962, cornfields, ’60 Chevy. An intense summertime teenage affair is described, knowingly more sexual than romantic, with short instrumental lines breaking the evocative imagery sometimes in mid-sentence. Piano, female backing vocals, electric guitar and organ are added as the song’s emotional nostalgia builds momentum. Then suddenly it stops, as the narrative flashes forward to some period in the future. To a quiet acoustic guitar, the narrator, awakened by a clap of thunder and unable to fall back asleep, ponders a different sense of the title phrase. Then the rest of the instruments fall back in, for an extended coda vamp of the chorus.

Now, before you go getting the wrong idea about me or the romantic exploits of my youth, I feel the need to qualify this post by saying that the song is only nostalgic to me in the general sense.

In the specific sense, my summer romances were a little different than Mr. Seger’s. For example, for me the year was 1998 or 1999 not 1962, the car was a ’93 Nissan not a ’60 Chevy, the cornfields and woods were parks and abandoned parking lots, and… oh yes, my romantic exploits were a lot more G rated than Seger’s seem to have been.

However, the same themes remain. I WAS a little too tall and could’ve used a few more pounds. She was a {strawberry blonde} haired beauty. We weren’t in love {YET}, oh no, far from it. We were just young and restless and bored. Living by the sword. And we’d steal away every chance we could.

While it’s certainly a song about teenage romance, “Night Moves” (at least to me) is song that’s more about the simplicity and (in many ways) immaturity of youth. It’s a song about summer and coming of age. I can’t hear it without fondly reminiscing about the summers of my youth. It’s a reminder about what things used to be like for each of us when we were young, stupid, and life was a lot more simple, at least the way we remember it.

The last few lyrics of the song are the ones that always really seem to stick with me and get me the most reminiscent and nostalgic feeling when I hear them:

I awoke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain’t it funny how the night moves
When you just don’t seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

“Night Moves” also reminds me of a time when, though I thought I was a man, my motivations and actions were obviously more selfish and boyish than they were masculine.

At the same time, “Night Moves” also speaks to the part of my masculine soul that longs for a time (past, present, or future) when the simplicity of life far outweighs any of life’s real or imagined complexities. For that reason, it’s just one of those timeless songs that will always speak to my natural inclination for nostalgia.

And yet, it’s also a good reminder that yesterday was not always as great as we make it out to be in our minds… that time does have a funny way of smoothing over the problems of the past so that the memories we have today are more fond than not.

And no matter what season the calendar says we’re in, “Night Moves” will always serve as a good reminder that autumn is, in fact, closing in.

P.S. In case you haven’t heard the song, please enlighten yourself: