Fast forward a month later, and Brian Coe, our Director of Media Relations came to me before a game with a smirk that is seen solely when he has something funny to say. He handed me a mix tape that was made for me by a fan titled, “Songs About Love(joy).” I had a quick laugh and stashed the CD in my locker thinking that if we won, I would pull the CD out after the game and as a team we would laugh at the ridiculousness of the CD together. Unfortunately, we lost the game, so I took the CD to my car and put it into the player. What I heard over the speakers were eight of the most ridiculous songs I had ever listened to.
The first song on the disc was titled, “Tainted Love(joy)” by Soft Cell. The song was perfectly normal for about 45 seconds. It went through the start of the song just as it normally would as if I were listening to it on the radio. The first verse went by,
Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
This was pretty normal and I was not so sure where the CD was taking me…until the chorus started.
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Then it happened…
Oh...tainted love(joy) Tainted love(joy)
Every time the word love was mentioned for the rest of the CD, the song would cut out and a voice would come on and say, “joy.” For the next 8 tracks on the CD, they all did this. It was one of the funniest, and creepiest, things I had ever heard. I was almost embarrassed that someone had taken the time to make a CD like this for me. After listening to the CD (not the whole thing, just skipping from track to track) I took it out and put it in the side panel of my car door where it stayed for a month or two.
Fast forward two months. Ryan Lannon is riding shotgun and his cell phone falls into the side panel of my car door. He digs for his phone and came up with the CD, and his face looks like he just hit the lottery. After a few delighted screams from him and a warning from me, he puts the CD in the dash and proceeds to listen to every word of every song. Tainted Love(joy), I’m all out of Love(joy), Addicted to Love(joy), and a few other classics.
Mr. Lannon obviously brought the CD into the locker room the next day, and it was played over and over for the rest of the season. This season, Danny Richmond has taken it to a new level. When I first got cut from Pittsburgh last month, the CD and case (which is decorated with pictures of me) were mounted on the top of our locker room’s stereo system. Since the day we all arrived, Mr. Richmond has played the CD every single day, he has burned copies of the CD for relatives, and he has copied it onto his Ipod so he can carry it around with him. At first I thought it was a joke, but since then he has taken it way too far. He is obsessed with the eight songs. So obsessed that he has asked me to seek out the maker and ask him for Volume II of the disc. He has his own wish list for the songs that will go on it though. His first choice? U2’s In the Name of Love(joy). It has gotten to the point where he no longer calls me by my real name. He simply refers to me as, “In the Name of Lovejoy” - only he sings it like Bono would.
Other tracks requested by Danny Richmond:
1.) Led Zeppelin – All of my Love(joy)
2.) Bob Marley - One Love(joy)
3.) Akon – I Wanna Love(joy) You
4.) Counting Crows – Accidentally in Love(joy)
5.) The Beatles – Hide your Love(joy) away
6.) Phil Collins – You can’t hurry Love(joy)
7.) U2 – In the Name of Love(joy)
8.) The Outfield – Use Your Love(joy)
9.) Rascal Flats – I Wanna Love(joy) You Outloud
I guess there is no real end to my story, other than for me to ask whoever did make that CD, if you could make a Volume II it would be greatly appreciated.
Quote of the Week: "You guys are going to Texas? That's a long bus ride." - Matt Lovejoy on being a semi-professional athlete.
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