No, not Newcastle Brown (although that IS on my mind at the moment), I'm talking about being unique. About being a lone point of light in the darkness. A little melodramatic, but you'll see what I mean.
I overheard someone's iPod on the bus yesterday. They were listening to Wonderwall by Oasis. It wasn't a problem; I like the song (although I could hardly hear it 'properly'), and it was only because the battery had died in my generic MP3 player that I wasn't subjecting other passengers to my own taste in music. Anyway, it occurred to me that I haven't listened to the song properly in ages. Which is to say, I haven't played it myself, or sat through it in its entireity on the radio etc.
But it's a very popular song. VERY popular. As of September '08, There are an estimated 6.72 billion people on this planet. While they haven't all got iPods, I'd say it's a fairly safe bet that at any given point, there will be someone in the world listening to Wonderwall. If it's not being played in someone's living room, it'll be on someone's iPod, or being played on a radio station, or even just being covered by a band in a pub somewhere or a busker on the street. The song, it would appear, is a constant.
This won't last forever, of course. Sooner or later it'll drop out of fashion, and ultimately be forgotten by all but a few historians. But for the forseeable future, it's with us.
Which got me thinking about the probability of other songs falling into the same category. Surely, out of 6.72 billion people, 'someone' is listening to Chain Reaction by Diana Ross? Or what about Fade to Black by Metallica?
Let's scale it down a bit (no offence to the following artistes). What about You Can Talk to Me by The Seahorses? Or Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might Be Giants? The Stutter Rap by Morris Minor and The Majors? Maybe even Superstitious by Europe? I listened to that one myself on the way to work this morning.
No matter how obscure the song, would you really put money on no-one out of 6.72 billion people playing or singing it at that moment in time? It'd be a long-shot wouldn't it?
...what about the song from the start of Pigeon Street?
It was fairly popular back in the early 80's with the pre-school crowd, but I can't remember the last time I saw an episode on TV (although bizarrely, Keith Miller was watching it on Eastenders a couple of years ago, so who knows).
While I'm sure it gets regular-ish outings on obscure TV stations, and VHS players on a drunken whim, and even YouTube clips... I can't believe that the opening titles to Pigeon Street are being CONSTANTLY played somewhere around the planet.
Which brings me (finally) to my point. When you sing the immortal lines:
If you lived, in Pigeon Street,
Here are the people, you could meet.
Here are the people who would say,
Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye,
Every day...
...there's a STRONG possibility that you're the only person in the world giving voice to Pigeon Street. Not every time, but most, for sure. Think about that. No, really.
Unless you make your own clothes, someone else will be wearing the same colours and even items of clothing today. Again, chances are someone will be wearing the same combination as you. You think you're the only one with that haircut? Is that tattoo of yours truly unique?
Make your mark on the world today.
Be the one and only.
Sing the song to Pigeon Street.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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