The methodology for this selection was to listen exclusively to pop stations on the 250-mile drive to my mom's house, track how many times each song was played, and whichever was played most frequently would be this weekend's official song.
I've made this trip so many times over the last 15 years, picking up stations from Cincinnati then Dayton then Columbus then Cleveland finally Akron/Canton and Youngstown, that I know that a song probably needs to hit the 5-times played mark to be the winner. So we only tracked songs that are relatively new, figuring even if an older song happened to get played twice, it still wouldn't have a legit chance to be #1.
Now, for the newer songs that we did track, we heard 20 or so only once. Some weren't surprises, as they were over a year old, so hearing them only once was to be expected. Similarly, a few were songs that we heard for the first time, so this weekend was a little too early for them to be champions.
There were some surprises though. Feel So Close by Calvin Harris, I mean, is just me or is that song is everywhere right now? The kids really like jamming to that one. I figured that was good for at least a 3-spot. Also, What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction--only hearing that once was a shocker.
The other major upset was only one Katy Perry song making an appearance. Yeah, I realize Part Of Me isn't brand new, but still. I thought there was some sort of legistlative mandate of one Katy Perry song per 50-miles of driving. Maybe they changed the enforcement and I'll be receiving a ticket in the mail. Plus, I really enjoy Edwin saying, "Wait, why does she want to throw her phone in the trash? How is she s'possed to call anyone?"
OK, on with the results...
Honorable Mentions (songs with 2 plays each)
- Rumor Has It by Adele - I had never listened to this song in its entirety before this trip. And now I can go back to not listening to it. A few weeks back I said to Mindy (who likes Adele, I think) that I'm over this whole Adele thing. To which she accuratley pointed out that I was never quite under it to start with.
- Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera - It's a little older so even 2 plays is respectable, which is good because that was 2 more than any of us needed.
- A Thousand Years by Christina Perri - This song was greeted by napping and indifference (the kids napped, I indiffered).
- Without You by David Guetta featuring Usher - A Ross kids favorite. Each play was greeting with vigourous leg kicks and fist pumps. A little older, so it never really had a shot at winning, but everyone was happy it made an apperance on the list.
- Self Back Home by Gym Class Heroes featuring Neon Hitch - Lyla seems to enjoy this tune more than Edwin, she really gets into it. The Cincinnati stations play the less edited version so Mindy never leaves it on for the kids. Whatever stations I had on yesterday played the kid-friendly "Self" version, so that was nice.
- Stronger by Kelly Clarkson - I got nothing to add.
We Are Young by Fun
This one is definitely no surprise. It was probably just a quirk in timing that we somehow didn't hear it more often. This is one of Lyla's faves. She tries to sing along "ta-niiii-iiiii-iiiiii-iiii-ahhh-ahhh". Edwin prefers songs he can breakdance to, so he's more lukewarm to this one.
Glad You Came by The Wanted
I had never really listened to this song before, so this caught me off guard. Upon seeing the video, this appears to be another boy band, so maybe One Direction is part of some boy band revival.
Hearing a song 3 times in a few hours, you start to pay attention to the lyrics. The most intiguing lyric in this track goes something like "take you by the hand / hand you another drink / drink it if you can". Why would this drink recipient potentially be unable to drink this drink? Is it alcoholic and they are under 21? Or are they over 21 but haven't yet acquired the taste for the potentcy of this particular drink like, say, Scotch? Or maybe it's not an alcohol thing. Maybe it's a gluten or peanut allergy situation. This lyric really has me curious.
Wild Ones by Flo Rida featuring Sia
This song was playing when I first turned the key in the van's ignition. It ended up being the only song that ever held a lead besides our eventual winner.
Silver Medalists (4 plays each)
Starships by Nicki Minaj
One of Edwin's faves. When this comes on his arms and legs move seemingly uncontrollably. Eventually he becomes frustrated that he's strapped into a carseat, preventing legitimate breakdancing.
Payphone by Maroon 5 (and sometimes featuring Wiz Khalifa)
I have mixed emotions about the non-rap version we were introduced to on this trip. It's much better without the rap because it feels less forced and just flows better. On the other hand, when I hear Wiz Khalifa, I am reminded of Pittsburgh pro sports teams, which is always nice.
I love the irony of the radio edit of this song. The f-word in its gerund form--a word with which the kids are not familiar--is replaced with "stupid", which is verboten in the Ross house.
Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
I was personally rooting for this one because the lyrics are so entertaining to over-analyze (and over-analyzing pop song lyrics is one of my favorite pastimes...ask Mindy about me desperately tryting to goad her into discussions about Hazard by Richard Marx). Even the soft serve place in Landen by our house has had some fun with this song posting a sign on their window reading:
We just me you. And this is crazy. But here's our Twitter handle. So follow maybe.So many words to pour over. Why is it hard to look right at the boy she is singing about? And the other boys only try to chase her, not actually chase her? But the best line is "before you came into my life, I missed you so bad", which harkens back to a concept first introduced by Savage Garden in 1997 with "I Knew I Loved You Before I Met You".
The Winner
It was barely even close. With seven total plays...
Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra
Things got exciting for a moment during the finals (that 45-minute stretch on I-76 when we can get Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown pop stations, so there's ample opportunity for lead changes) when this song was only ahead by one. But then near Alliance, it came on again, taking a 2-play lead with barely a half hour to go, and it was all but over. Any comeback at this point would be as unlikely as Man City's unbelievable 2 goals in stoppage time last weekend. And for good measure, it added its 7th play before we even exited the highway.
I guess I'm fine with the song winning. It's one of the few non-dance songs that Edwin loves. The other day while playing with his Ben 10 action figures, I hear him singing to himself, "you didn't have to cut me out, [some humming], you treat me like a stranger and it feels so rough, [more humming], now you're just somebody that I used to know".
At one point just north of Columbus, the song wasn't even playing, but I'd sing "somebody!", and Edwin would sing back "I used to know!" We did that like 12 times in a row, and he stops and says, "let's do this the rest of the way to Grandma's".
In honor of the champion, here are some homages.
A capella
SNL
So there you have it, the official song of the "me and the kids go to Grandma's" portion of "do a project in nearly every room of the house before baby #3 comes and Mindy gets too pregnant" weekend.
Mindy, if you read this, feel free to listen to this song on loop at home while working on all of your projects and make this the official song of the whole weekend.
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