Sing a Song

I enjoy singing at those videoke rooms in the malls’ video arcades. I don’t get to do it often, but I’ve done it when there was time to kill. The prices vary, from P5 to P10 per song depending on the venue, but three to four songs at a time are enough to scratch that specific itch to vent through song. I know I can’t sing, but people outside the room are prevented from hearing me thanks to the wonders of soundproofing.

I wish they had songs by Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan and other similar artists. But most of the videoke places have nice enough selections to choose from. For me, the easiest to sing are two classic new wave tunes, Seona Dancing’s “More to Lose” and Modern English’s “I Melt With You.” I know those songs well enough and they’re within my mimicking range; I’d like to think that I’m able to get the accent and intonation, at least.

The lyrics differ from arcade to arcade, though. Sometimes I don’t rely on them, and just stick to what I know. “We tear our hearts with jagged truths” is sometimes written as “We tear our hearts with jagged tubes.” And I’ve seen the line “And now it’s over, both of us free” mistakenly written as “And now it’s over, about us three.” Hmm. That changes the meaning of the song.

One of the many songs that I can’t mimic is Cheap Trick’s “The Flame.” Man, trying to sing that made my throat hurt. That’s out of my repertoire, and I’m back to just singing along to it when it’s playing on the radio.

But I’ll look for more songs I can interpret, and vent some more, when I get the chance.