"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." James Earl Jones
Having been a friend of Rick Springfield and his insanely talented band for a few years now, I thought I had seen the whole Springfield Deal. I've seen many of his rock shows in different venues, different cities and even shared the stage a time or two, so I expected my latest sojourn to one of his shows to be much like the others. It wasn't.
As I made my way into the small intimate theatre, I instantly felt a different vibe than I had known. Total chill, as if I was headed into an old friend's downstairs den to go through their favorite dusty records and have a candle lit listening party. As he walked out onto the stage, there was also something different about him, a calmness. Maybe a newly refined sense of self awareness? I'm not sure, but it seemed like he had come to this place, on this night, to share in a way he had never shared before. Genuine sincerity filled the room and all the smoke and mirrors had been left behind.
As he began playing the songs that make the ladies scream, the acoustic versions read as raw as the strings upon his acoustic guitar. Suddenly I was listening to the lyrics of songs I've heard a millions times, but this time I was truly hearing them. As he relived stories of friendships, first bands and moments of his childhood, the one story that really stood out for me was the quintessential unrequited love story behind Jessie's Girl.
In his late 20's he had all but given up on the music scene and had enrolled in a stained glass class in Pasadena to learn a new trade with an idea of touring the world as a glass artisan of cathedrals and great works of architecture. Thankfully, a beautiful woman walked into that class who not only took his breath away, but also his hopes of something more when her boyfriend walked into the class behind her.
Day after day he watched as the cute girl sitting near to him was anything but interested in him. The constant admiration between the couple was a source of sexual angst for Springfield and that angst eventually made it's way into his songwriting. The boyfriend was actually named Gary, but Gary didn't flow too well with the melody his heart was strumming out onto the guitar and eventually it became Jessie. Jessie's Girl, just another song in a struggling songwriter's repertoire. The class ended, the friendships ended with no forwarding info and life went on.
Fast forward a few months later and Jessie's Girl is now working it's way up the charts. Soon the song would become the chart topping hit which would not only put Rick Springfield on the map, but on the road to pop stardom and international success. Gary? Gary Who?
And Jessie's girl? Yep the girl has no clue that she is, was or ever would become the infamous Jessie's Girl.
30 something years later Jessie's Girl is still oblivious to the fact that she's the girl in the most popular unrequited love song of the past 3 decades. How fun to imagine this probably 60 something year old woman rockin' out to the song that was written with her in mind, at the karaoke bar, at her best friend's wedding, maybe even dancing in the crowd at a Rick Springfield concert. I must say, the mind reels with the possibilities.
It makes one marvel over how oblivious we are to so many things in this life. I mean, after all, aren't we all some body's Jessie's Girl or Jessica's Guy? Maybe the most amazing things in life are the things which we never know, the secret pining for our attentions that will never be fully realized or the sweet things done for one another in secret. Secret admirers and passing glances and the beauty you sometimes feel, but can't explain, that tingling feeling that makes you feel alive! The one we chalk up to the summer breeze or sunshine softly landing upon our shoulders...what if all those amazing chills are really songs? Songs somewhere being sung by someone, just for us.
I think the mystery of life is indeed the most addictive aspect of our journey.
Then again, maybe Jessie's Girl does know, but she's just so unbelievably cool that she never really cared. Ahhh, I LOVE to think of Jessie's Girl that way!
Aviator sunglasses on, hair blowing, top down on her '81 Firebird.
She's blaring her song down the Pacific Coast Highway,
playing along with the charade.
Hepburn Hugs & Ric Ocasek Dreams
xo
Birdee Bow
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