Karaoke Can Change The World

3 AM karaoke sessions on work nights always seem like a good idea at the time.


I'm paying for it dearly right now. I guess it could be worse, considering I'm in A/C all day and I'm blogging - but you know.

I wish I could remember all the songs I heard. The ones that I remember are:

• "Higher" - Creed
  
• "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Required.)
• "Uninvited" - Alanis Morrisette
• "I Will Come To You" - Hanson
• An Elton John song I didn't recognize
• Several country songs
• "Summer Lovin'" Grease Soundtrack.
• "Any Way You Want It" - Journey
• "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" - Celine Dion
• Some duet from Rent. t was endearing. I have to say, that song piqued my interest in the film. I love a good musical. What's so wrong about that?
• I think about eight Spice Girls songs

As for my choices, I sang "Fly Me to the Moon" by Sinatra and "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors. I know, I know. However, you'd have been surprised by the response of my "Two Princes" rendition. I had my own "Born To Run" Courtney Cox moment, if any of you know what I mean.

I think it's great how when you get a bunch of people in a room to sing karaoke, you hear a lot of songs that most would not admit to having in their collection, or let alone ever admit to singing under any other circumstances. Yet, when they go up there, most don't even need the 'teleprompter.' They fucking love the shit out of that song and find that singing karaoke is a 'safe' outlet to let the world know while being shielded against all judgment. When you think about it - there is no song that you can sing which will ever make people think that you are, well...pretty gay. For instance, I sang 'It's Raining Men' once as a case study (right), and the response from the men was overwhelming. It was seriously raining men.

The 'permissiveness' of song selection and performance granted to one's self during Karaoke night is analogous to the permissiveness others may be more inclined to grant you when you say something pretty stupid while you're drunk. (This analogy is only truer when you combine karaoke with drinking.) It's a well known phenomenon that people tend to say things they normally wouldn't say when they've been sipping on Dr. Feelgood, because if shit does turn awry, there's always the safeguard of being given the 'benefit of the doubt' against their 'word vomit'. Sure, they may have said something really shitty - but wouldn't you find that you're more readily able to give them another chance when you take that into consideration?

Likewise, during a karaoke sesh, people generally pick songs they wouldn't normally play in public, or ever want any association with. Why does karaoke make it okay then and why do people cheer on the songs as if it's opposite day? Because that's the spirit of karaoke. You just don't give a fuck because no one gives a fuck, and there's something amazing about that.

You are singing that really cheesy song because that's what people do in karaoke, right? It's the spirit of the whole thing. The club I go to never would never play the above mentioned tracks, and even if them would - not many would want to request them for fear of being banned from the establishment for life. "Hey, dude, you got any "NKOTB?" [blink, blink] "SECURITY!" However, even if the DJ did end up playing "Hangin' Tough", people would undoubtedly be looking around for Ashton, but meanwhile, I'm sure there would be some happily humming the tune to themselves as their 'guilty pleasure' takes the wheel, including the person who on any other given night would have sang this very song.

Yet when those lights go down low and it's time to partake in the ancient Japanese art of Karaoke, it's as if it's suddenly understood that there are different rules. In a voluntary blip of self-consciousness-amnesia, people collectively liberate their Disney show tune obsessed inner-child and parade their guilty pleasures (in a loudspeaker, nonetheless). Suddenly, as if by some astrogalactatical invisible force, for those three minutes and twenty-two seconds, that person inexplicably becomes the purveyor of all things Rawk, and all is right with the world.

I really think karaoke can teach us a thing or two about human nature. One; people are a lot more amazing when they drink, and two --the social constructs cooperatively and unwittingly created in a karaoke atmosphere should be the model for everyday living. I think if we get together with our enemies abroad and have a global karaoke session, we just might learn that we have more in common than we thought.