January 29, 2013: Stayin' Alive

Disco dancing with my mom and dad (Aunt Lynne in background)

My theme song is the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive". And I have no idea why. I would like to tell you that there is some great story behind it; like that I played the song over and over while on a sinking ship (and survived, of course). But no such story. I just randomly chose it as my theme song one day. I was reminded of my long forgotten theme song tonight when the Bee Gee hit "Jive Talkin" came on my radio. It caused me to pause and ask the question "why on earth did I choose Stayin' Alive as my theme song???"

I believe the idea of a theme song stemmed back to the "Ally McBeal" television series. I loved watching the Ally shows. This was back in the days when I actually watched TV which was the direct correlation to having babies and small children. The show aired from 1997- 2002; my sweet spot of child bearing and rocking children to sleep. The lull of a TV often accompanied this venture.

Ally was known for her theme song "Searchin' my Soul". This was a perfect song for her quirky character. I wanted a theme song too. What kept surfacing in my mind was "Stayin' Alive" and it stuck. Maybe it was the late night baby feedings and juggling motherhood with career aspirations that resonated with a stayin' alive feel. I really don't know the answer, but it felt right and I always go with my gut. So I secretly declared it my theme song.

The Saturday Night Fever movie and vinyl album were popular in my house as a child. This was evidenced by my dad's silk disco shirt and our love for disco dancing. Those were good memories. I did own the Saturday Night Fever CD as part of my vintage collection of the 90's and played it often on my CD player at work. As evidenced by the lyrics, Stayin' Alive is actually about an angry man from New York who was a women's man and had no time to talk. In my defense, there is reference a mother though.

Now that I am a mature 45 years old and have passed the survival modes from many fronts, I think it's time for a new theme song. Although I am not going to commit yet, I do have some songs that come to mind. This time I actually need to Google the lyrics before committing. I'm seriously considering "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as sung by the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. But...am open for suggestions....