(What Gives Me) Good Vibrations

“………I’m pickin’ up good vibrations………she’s giving me excitations……..”

Who doesn’t remember this all-time classic song? And who can’t relate to how the music itself provides those “good vibrations” that the Beach Boys celebrated oh so many years ago (could it have been 41 years since that came out?).

My friend Hilda Caroll of Living Out Loud made this recent observation that resulted in a question:

“I noticed that I’m not alone in the use of listening to music and/or singing to raise our energetic vibrations, and it dawned on me: why not ask others what their number one energy-raising song of choice would be, and compile the lot into the ultimate spirit-lifting play list!”

Hilda asked me to pitch in my “one song“, so here it is:

“You Get What You Give“ – New Radicals (1999)

Why this song? It plays a key role in my “personal soundtrack” – this is what I said about it back in October:

“I remember walking the streets of London on a warm spring day and someone’s boom box blasted this song – it’s a true “reach for the volume” tune that never fails to get my adrenaline going. It also has a life lesson right in the title, pushed hard by the urgency of the melody. An all time favorite.”

There was another time I heard this that I vividly recall – I was driving on I-70 in the Rockies between Denver and Grand Junction, and the first few bars of this came on. My heart immediately started pumping faster. My hands started thumping the steering wheel. By the time the lead singer got to the call “one, two, three, four…” the vibe had cascaded through my entire being, and the car was floating.

Then, the core lyric:

But when the night is falling
And you cannot find the light
If you feel your dream is dying
Hold tight
You’ve got the music in you
Don’t let go
You’ve got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don’t give up
You’ve got a reason to live
Can’t forget
We only get what we give

Four minutes of extreme exuberance. Four minutes of full faith in the “music in us”. Four minutes of awesome.

That’s why it’s my “one song“.

Now I’m supposed to tag three more people. Be sure to do the “meme drill” – link to me and the originator. Bless you, Jesse, Connie, and Mary.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Tweet This Post