I think I’ll dedicate this post to Billy Griffith, the stupid idiot I dated when I was a freshman in high school. We dated for a whole month. And though he did stick with me through chicken pox. He dumped me at the end of the month and immediately hit on my best friend. When he broke up with me, I made a cassette tape (yes, I am that old) on which this song was recorded over and over on both sides so I could sit in my room and cry and listen to this song on loop. Because obviously when you are 13 (14?) and you have dated someone for a whole MONTH and they dump you it is…the end of the world. And this song SPOKE to me.
This song falls into what my husband calls Theatre Geek Rock, I believe. It seems most theatre geek rock is written by the same person, Jim Steinman, who wrote songs for Meatloaf, another singer beloved by theatre geeks.
I can see now why people who worked in theatre, like myself would enjoy this song. It definitely has a theatrical sound to this song. With lots of call and response. The instrumental aspects almost call for a full orchestra. And effects that sound like thunder and crashing. It’s totally the making of a musical number. And the lyrics are so dramatic.
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I’m lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I’ve got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
You can also see why this appealed to a 13 year old girl who just got dumped. Drama. Drama.
The video for this song was obviously conceived by someone who did A LOT of drugs or seriously mentally disturbed. It’s the only explanation for how totally bizzaro it is. Or perhaps they just knew us Theatre Geeks would eat it up.