30 song in 30 days: day twenty-nine
A Song From Your Childhood
"Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes
I still have very distinct, sharp memories from my childhood, and this one dates back to 1982. Kindergarten.
I went to Rawls Byrd Elementary School in Williamsburg, Virginia. At the time, the school was primary - kindergarten to third grade, I think. The campus was made up of circular buildings, which still seems like a faulty memory to me. Were they really round? Did we really have to walk from one building to another for our specials classes? Whether these are false memories or not, I remember precisely the first time I heard "Bette Davis Eyes".
We had music class. It was raining. Our music teacher had set up stations around the room. Some of us got to sit at record players and listen to music with headphones. Remember Telex headphones? You usually used them with phonics activities. The ones at our school were beige. I can still feel the vinyl coverings on my ears; If I wore a pair now, I'd probably have crazy flashbacks.
"Bette Davis Eyes" was one of the records we could listen to, though I didn't particularly care about the details. I put the needle on the record. This is something I was very used to at home because my brother and I listened to our parents' Beatles albums all the time. We were meticulously careful when it came to placing the needle delicately on the spinning disc. I was immediately enchanted by "Bette Davis Eyes". I had no idea what kind of eyes these were, but they sounded sad. The song ended. I lifted the needle and went back to the beginning. I probably listened to the song three or four times, staring moodily out of the window. There is no doubt about this part of the memory: I distinctly remember that large window with raindrops on it. The day was really bleak, too - almost pitch black. The rain came, and I listened to "Bette Davis Eyes" until it was time to move on to the next station.
To this day, Kim Carnes' classic is still one of my favorite songs of all time.
Listen to Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" here.
"Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes
I still have very distinct, sharp memories from my childhood, and this one dates back to 1982. Kindergarten.
I went to Rawls Byrd Elementary School in Williamsburg, Virginia. At the time, the school was primary - kindergarten to third grade, I think. The campus was made up of circular buildings, which still seems like a faulty memory to me. Were they really round? Did we really have to walk from one building to another for our specials classes? Whether these are false memories or not, I remember precisely the first time I heard "Bette Davis Eyes".
We had music class. It was raining. Our music teacher had set up stations around the room. Some of us got to sit at record players and listen to music with headphones. Remember Telex headphones? You usually used them with phonics activities. The ones at our school were beige. I can still feel the vinyl coverings on my ears; If I wore a pair now, I'd probably have crazy flashbacks.
"Bette Davis Eyes" was one of the records we could listen to, though I didn't particularly care about the details. I put the needle on the record. This is something I was very used to at home because my brother and I listened to our parents' Beatles albums all the time. We were meticulously careful when it came to placing the needle delicately on the spinning disc. I was immediately enchanted by "Bette Davis Eyes". I had no idea what kind of eyes these were, but they sounded sad. The song ended. I lifted the needle and went back to the beginning. I probably listened to the song three or four times, staring moodily out of the window. There is no doubt about this part of the memory: I distinctly remember that large window with raindrops on it. The day was really bleak, too - almost pitch black. The rain came, and I listened to "Bette Davis Eyes" until it was time to move on to the next station.
To this day, Kim Carnes' classic is still one of my favorite songs of all time.
Listen to Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" here.