Something Happier : Our Song

It wasn't until we were about to get married that Jeremy and I finally chose a song that could be deemed OUR SONG. I think other couples pick songs fairly early on, but we waited 5 years. I don't think choosing your song is something that you should rush into, it is something you're going to be saddled with forever after all, no matter how much you like Hey Ya right now, are you sure you want it to be the expression of your love in 50 years (actually, maybe I would, but I assume other people wouldn't, other people obviously want to have boring family reunions when they're old, not me!).

In fact, we only finally picked ours about 2 months before the wedding, and that was after a few false starts (Ben Folds - The Luckiest, Bird on a Wire as sung by Willie Nelson, God Only Knows sung by a French singer from the Gilmore Girls soundtrack) mostly, it was me saying how about this? What about this? and then Jeremy responding with an Ehhh. He was not especially helpful.
We were leaning heavily towards Willie's version of Bird on a Wire. I like how it's about the imperfection of love and that it makes no claims about never hurting each other and it acknowledges errors of the past, and also, I think Leonard Cohen and Willie Nelson are equal parts awesome and fantastic so I figured it was a good choice. Jeremy remained meh about the entire situation.

Then one fateful day I made him go to the Music Box to see Gigantic - A Tale of Two Johns the documentary about They Might Be Giants. He was reluctant to go because he was never a big TMBG fan. But he came anyhow, and was much relieved to see some of our cool friends at the theater when we got there (Jeremy always likes reassurance about his placement at activities that may or may not be cool, God forbid they end up being so not cool that they can't even be reclaimed with irony!) but he didn't try to pose and be all 'Oh no, I've always loooved TMBG they're my favorite.' He was honest about his apathy towards them but more excited about the movie.

So in we went to watch the movie, and lo, it was good. At the end there was footage of them playing a song that I didn't know called She's an Angel, a really sweet song with a line about shriners and a bit about falling off a building. As it played Jeremy leaned over and said "This should be our song." And I said, "Yeah, maybe." I didn't want to let on that I really liked it to since he'd been such a pain throughout the song choosing process.

The next day I went to the Dr. Wax on Berwyn and luckily was able to find it (Dr. Wax is always kind of a crap shoot). That night we did a test run of both Bird on a Wire and She's an Angel and She's an Angel, crazy tempo changes and all, was declared the winner.

A week or so later I was home for my bridal shower and I played the song for my mom. Her response, "It's interesting, but maybe you guys should pick a song that people will understand."

But we stuck it out and our dance was awesome. There was lots of twirling and even a dip at the end.

Here is a picture:

And here are the lyrics to the song. It was a good choice, no matter what my mom says.

She's an Angel

I met someone at the dog show

She was holding my left arm

But everyone was acting normal so I tried to look nonchalant.

We both said, "I really love you,"

The Shriners loaned us cars

We raced up and down the sidewalk twenty thousand million times



Why did they send her over anyone else?

How should I react?

These things happen to other people

They don't happen at all, in fact



When you're following an angel

Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?

Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead

Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things

I heard they had a space program

When they sing you can't hear, there's no air

Sometimes I think I kind of like that and

Other times I think I'm already there



Gonna ask for my admission

Gonna speak to the man in charge

The secretary says he's on another line,

Can I hold for a long, long time?

I found out she's an angel

I don't think she knows I know

I'm worried that something might happen to me

If anyone ever finds out



Why, why did they send her over anyone else?

How should I react?

These things happen to other people

They don't happen at all



When you're following an angel

Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?

Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead

Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things

I heard they had a space program

When they sing you can't hear, there's no air

Sometimes I think I kind of like that and

Other times I think I'm already there



When you're following an angel

Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?

Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead

Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things