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Mark Wheat Saved My Marriage!

Posted at 8:58 AM on February 15, 2007 by Jacquie Fuller (3 Comments)

They’re called "driveway moments" - when you’re so riveted by the radio, you sit in your car just listening - but they needn’t happen in a driveway. Sometimes they happen in the parking lot of the Uptown Kowalski’s.

Remember this blog about a week ago - all my whining about advertising ruining cherished songs? Well, Wheat played my wedding song, Iron & Wine’s cover of “Such Great Heights,” as part of his 50 Greatest Love Songsshow last night (clearly, some of you love that song, too!) He started the song just as I pulled into a parking space at the grocery store.

All day long I’d been telling folks how the husband and I don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day. You know, being my cynical self: it’s too commercial, it’s meaningless, I feel like it doesn’t belong to me, it’s just there to make single people feel bad and married people feel pressured ...

But then ...

Maybe it was hearing my name mentioned on air (seriously - that never loses its thrill, even when you work on air.) Or maybe it was Wheat just reminding me that, yeah, it was my wedding song. Or maybe the Valentine’s Day vortex finally sucked me in. I felt like I couldn’t get out of my car - I had to stay and listen to the song in its entirety. And I did. I sat there, much to the chagrin of folks who really wanted my parking space, and I listened. And I called the hubby - who was still stuck in class at the U - and held my phone up to the car speaker so he could hear it, too. And I felt like my bones were made of vanilla pudding.

(Even better—M&Ms never so much as crossed my mind. Not even the pink, red and white ones.)

Wheat! You saved my song! You dug it out from the dumpster of commerce and buffed it to its original wedding-day shine! Oh, the redemptive power of public radio! Glory, glory! Pass that contribution basket right on over here!

Later, the old man and I sang along our best Kirsty and Shane impersonations as Mark played "Fairytale of New York" (so FUN to call your husband a scumbag), then snuggled on the couch to Neil Young's "Harvest Moon." This Anti-Valentine ended up having a pretty sweet evening after all.

Was that entire set not quality radio, y’all? They were your picks, and they made for one heck of set. I have to admit--it made me feel smug and wonderful to know we have such smart listeners. Not that I ever thought otherwise--but you really blew me away last night!

I couldn’t stay up for Danny’s set, but I’m going to listen right now, because I still love a good breakup song.

What did you think of last night’s sets? Did you hear one of the songs you suggested? It’s the second-to-last day of our Member Drive, which seems a good time to ask about your Driveway Moments. What has The Current done for you lately? And what will you do for The Current?

Comments (3)

Just a side note on the whole M&Ms commercial thing - they're current campaign uses a The The song ("This Is The Day") that has always always made me cry. Yes, it's kind of a cheesy 80's synth pop number, but that album had a very special place in my heart at the time, associated with a friend who had passed away. Seeing chocolate-covered peanuts with mohawks cavort around to that song hasn't done much for inspiring chocolate cravings.

Posted by Ali Lozoff | February 15, 2007 10:16 AM

Man, I HATE when I type too fast and write THEY'RE for THEIR or THERE.... and you can't go back and fix it....

there.

Posted by Ali Lozoff | February 15, 2007 11:05 AM

Ali - Soul Mining was a good package of an album. Some of those lyrics just snapped off, they were so sharp, bright, bitter. What a great album... and "This is the Day" is a great addition to mixes, folks.

So Jacquie, you wanna know "What has The Current done for you lately?" C'mon! There's so much!

For me personally, Kristin Hersh in studio stands out as a very recent fave. Can't call it a Driveway moment because there's so much online. How about calling it a "cubicle shackle" or something that indicates I won't roll away from the headphones?

Posted by Julia Schrenkler | February 15, 2007 11:51 AM

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Mark Wheat Saved My Marriage!

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