The #4 most viewed post on The MTM 7 Countdown: Radio XXXII, side A, track 12: “We Don’t Have To Be Over 21 (To Fall In Love)” by The Jackson 5

In March of 2014, this became my third post to get Freshly Pressed.  I’ll be honest, after being an editor’s pick three times, I was always chasing that next “Freshly Pressed” notification.  I’d write a post and think “Surely this contains enough wit and intelligent content that I can’t not be chosen again”.  Being featured three times is pretty great, so I really need to get over myself.  Which has been a life-long process.  And I’ll admit, as my attention has drifted to different interests and projects, my writing on here has become a bit shoddy if not non-existent.  So just like the first time I wrote about this particular song, I’ll use it as a wake-up call to keep pushing myself to make my stuff better, regardless of if anyone will actually see it or not.

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Oh, The Jackson 5, I love this track for so many reasons, the main reason being that it kinda stinks.  It’s a crappy recording of another crappy recording of a song that’s not particularly good.  And I love it.  Of all the songs that were featured on the Now and Then Weekend, this is my favorite.  It’s the rawest and maybe even the rarest of the songs that were featured lo those many years ago, and were you a gambling man, if someone had bet you that the lead singer on this tune was going to be one of the biggest pop stars, if not THE biggest pop star, of all time, you would not have taken that bet, The Jackson 5.  The kid was all right, but the harmonies were rooooough, and coupled with the poor sound quality and a fairly mediocre song in general, there’s no way one would guess that this act would produce one of the most amazing singers/performers to grace the planet.

This is the track that represents all of us who dreamed we could be bigger than we were.  It represents that song or that student film or that novelette or that painting that you gave to a friend or family member and asked them to read it or look at it or listen to it and you wait with bated breath for their feedback and it’s invariably a strained, polite smile and an equally strained and polite “That was really nice.”  And you either sulk and mutter that they just didn’t get it or you’re crushed and defeated and give up entirely or you mistake their politeness for encouragement and keep churning out the same crap or you recognize you can do better and you dig in and you make something else and the next time maybe they’re less polite and more sincere and the next time it’s all sincerity and the next time can’t be soon enough for them and then the next time they’re bragging to their coworkers that they knew you when.

This song is that first stumbling step into creativity that you pretended was better than it actually was because it couldn’t have been for nothing.  This song is what made you decide you weren’t going to make anything else.  This song is what made you decide that this was all you ever wanted to do for the rest of your life.  This song is what you look back to and smile about when you realize how far you’ve come.

This song is pretty goddamn amazing, The Jackson 5.

UPDATE, 3/11/14:  This post has been Freshly Pressed!  Yowza!  It’s an honor to get that kind of recognition on this humble blog.  To all my new visitors: welcome!  Thanks so much for stopping by; I hope you enjoyed this post and that you hang around to listen to some more great music.  And to my regular readers, thanks as always for making this little project o’mine such a fun journey!

“We Don’t Have To Be Over 21 (To Fall In Love)”

We don’t have to be over 21
To fall in loooove (to fall in love)
It’s not necessary for us to know a thousand looooves
Here we goooo runnin’ away
Each and every day for play
It’s not for play
It’s not for play?
Noooooo!

Well, listen here

Love is something for everyone
To enjoy (ooooooooo)
Old folks, young people, don’t take it from the girls and boooys
Here we goooo runnin’ away
It’s not just to pass the daaaaay

<awesome The Jackson 5 jam>

Only the young feel the butterflies

Only the young love the lullabye

But let them get their experience

Because they believe their love is true

In our hearts we feel that our love is strong as yours  (oooooooooo)
We all need something to cling to
And in my case I need my girl
Here we goooo runnin’ away
Each and every day for play

<awesome The Jackson 5 jam>

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo