I had me a hankerin’ for some Hooters today.

No – not tits. (FOCUS)

Music from the ’80s pop-rock group THE Hooters that, along with Loverboy, I first saw at the very first ever musical concert that I went to when I was 15 years old.

I think I still have the t-shirt somewhere.

By the time I saw them live, I had long since worn out the cassette tape (younger generations – look it up) of The Hooters’ first album “Nervous Night”, and in large part by rewinding and playing incessantly the song “All You Zombies”.

In satisfying my craving for the boys today, this was the first song that I pulled up on YouTube…and I haven’t stopped playing it yet…for various reasons.

1.) Eye Candy – hot damn, those guys were handsome as hell back in the day. Not that I hadn’t noticed it then; not that they are not just as handsome now. I think – that at 14 years of age – they just looked ‘old’ to me! To be fair, these guys are ALL old enough to be my fathers…enough so that I’d be willing participant in a daddy fetish, over-the-knee spanking from any one of them.

But I digress.

2.) Musical acumen – Though The Hooters didn’t achieve massive circulation or popularity, especially not abroad in the ’80s, what they’ve continued to contribute to the world of music has been vast and profound. Founding member Eric Bazilian is the driving force and writer behind Joan Osborne’s well-known hit “One Of Us”. Keep that in mind for future trivia. Drummer David Uosikkinen was significant in a technology think-tank that created MP3.com and has gone on to drum for Rod Stewart, Taj Mahal, and Cyndi Lauper to name just a few.

3) More acumen – Eric Bazilian was quoted in http://www.phillymag.com as “having a degree in physics and able to recite tongue-twisters in 12 different languages”…in addition to being a Grammy-nominated artist who is proficient in multiple instruments and musical lyricism and notation. Seriously, I want to suck this man up through a straw…

…where was I?

Oh yes –

This is the most fun point of the song and that which gave me strongest pause for thought after hearing it again since so much time has passed, and I and my perception and view of the world around have taken shape.

Watch the video; listen to the music and the words (and, of course, watch the musicians): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LE0KpcP05I

As you can tell, the entire tune is reference after reference of Bible stories including those of Noah and the Ark, Moses and the 10 Commandments, and the Israelites; though the group has claimed little thought was given to the religious undertones (unlike other ’80s tunes such as Mister Mr.’s “Kyrie” which is proudly offered up intentionally as a prayer from beginning to end – “Kyrie Eleison” is Greek for “Lord Have Mercy”), there has been much speculation and discussion on its Christian vs. secular message:

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3237

Fun to consider.

To me, the song not only cautions of coming of Judgment Day – “…all you sitting in high places – the rain is gonna fall on you…” – it indicates that pride cometh before the fall.

But the lyrics could very easily be applicable to the powers of the world’s nations; the politicians, the corporate powers, and the evils of civilized society that have the ability to topple international finance, to disseminate countries in nuclear acts of war and to obliterate the human population. Even the video is very coldly industrial in its setting.

This song calls caution to the ills of the world to attention, a warning of the havoc that will inevitably be brought by selfish greed and the price that those bringing about the destruction will be held accountable to pay – “All you zombies, hide your faces; all you people in the street. All you sittin’ in high places – the pieces gonna fall on you.”

Ok…so I derive my philosophy from a 1980s Top 40 song that no one could ever figure out and few probably remember.

Is that so bad?

With such little in the world that I find compelling; with repugnant pictures of naked bodies, foul and obscene language, and just overall stupid crap that I filter in daily from the internet…I’m quite happy to ponder and peruse words and music of a handful of very talented, intelligent, and gifted men who have been so fortunate to share their graces with the world for decades.

One simple song catapults me into rivers and tangents of dozens of trains of thought including references to Bible stories.

As a writer (and this should be the case with anyone who takes ink to paper, as it were), nothing should be off limits from writing, reading and critiquing.

Nothing.

And that includes the Bible. Whether you believe it or hate it or not, it is still literature that holds some worthwhile information and is absolutely applicable in all areas and walks of life.

Ponderance of the world that we live in; who controls it and foretold warnings of what potential destruction we face. Though “All You Zombies” came out 30 years ago and although it wasn’t intended to be some sort of poignant political or religious message, the visions that the words conjure are VERY apparent even in today’s world.

And that’s what music does to me, regardless of genre or era or storyline or meaning.

Even from a group of guys who named their band after a slang term for parts of the female anatomy.