This is the First Go-Go's Post of 2011!

Just in case anyone was wondering, this is my favorite Go-Go's song:



It's off their Vacation lp.  The album version had a fun sax solo in place of the guitar solo. When I first came out, I did what a lot of young newly emancipated gay men did and fell madly in love with the first man I went out with.  I used to play this song for hours and daydream.  I was totally puppy-loved out.

The relationship didn't work out, of course.  He was too hung up on an ex to even be aware of how I was feeling.  It took me a while to figure it out, but by the end of the year, we were pretty much over.  Still, every time I hear this song, I think of being young and goofy, in that way that only someone totally hung up on the wrong person can be.

I also remember what a huge thing it was for me to have a crush on another guy and be honest with myself about it.  There's an indescribable feeling that comes when you finally say "This is who I am and it's okay."  The whole world seems different--sometimes better, sometimes scarier--but definitely new.  Learning not to be afraid of yourself is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

It's twenty-plus years on now.  I don't think the young giddy me could ever imagine being in a long-term relationship, having a mortgage, being so settled.  The old, settled me sometimes has a hard time believing that other me ever existed.  But this one song takes me right back every time.  And I realize that if it weren't for young, gay, foolish, falling for the wrong guy Eddie, then there wouldn't be long-term, settled Eddie.  What a long, strange trip it's been.

Another reason I like this one so much is because it's one of the few Go-Go's songs that takes advantage of Jane as more than a back-up singer.  I always wished they had capitalized on her singing more as part of the band.  This song, I think, shows what a missed opportunity it was.

Isn't Belinda so cute in the video?  I love that dress and her beauty mark phase!