Nostalgia smells like dry ice...

It sounds like Guns 'N' Roses and there's lots of lasers.

Does anyone else remember those? Those crazy Much Music Video dances full of dry ice and and fog and lasers that spread over our heads? If you could reach high enough, your hand would swim in the beams and it was just the coolest fucking thing. I read the post of my friend and band-mate, Alex, yesterday. It's something we've discussed at length before; high school dances and - specifically - The slow dance.

I miss it.

There's no call to just randomly start slow dancing in the kitchen with someone unless you've stumbled onto the set of "Days of Our Lives". I miss slow dancing. I was such a coward in high school, that I rarely did it. But when I did...boy, when I did...

One of the best memories of my life was the first time I ever danced with the girl I had just fallen madly in love with at the time (Alison Cooke and I still have a table reserved for the woman in my heart even though I've not seen or spoken with her in 8 years). It was magical. You can't get that kind of nervousness and joy and anticipation from anything. Not from playing on the World Poker Tour, not skydiving, not winning the lottery. Well, maybe winning the lottery. But it would be close. One of the saddest memories of my life is the last time I danced with the same girl. But they go hand in hand. And I wouldn't want to give either of them up, because they're defining moments in my life. They make me smile and they make me sad. It reminds me how bittersweet life is. Love, particularly. I'll probably have to give a whole entry to Alison one of these days, because she was my first love and the person who gave me music and kissing and inspiration and U2 for the first time. All things I cling to dearly today and things I will always cling to. But that story's for another day. Right now, I'm talking about lasers and almost darkness and dry ice and sweaty hands and all the joyful screaming that happens inside your head when you're pressed unusually close to another human being and moving around a world that's just the two of you, a sea of similar movement and the music. The music. Maybe my band mates would shoot me, but I'll go on record right now. I would play a high school dance. Yes, I - a 30 year old man - would play a high school dance. Provided nothing sharp or heavy was thrown at me, I would do it. Just to give kids today a chance to get that feeling of hope and joy. I'm not saying I want to do a high school tour or anything, but I think it would be fun to see that wild joy in somebody's eyes again. It's a gift that was given to me and it's a gift I'd like to pass along to others. It's one of the reasons I write songs. It's my gift to anyone who wants to listen.

"Your lips betray you, ‘cause everybody knows the words
and everybody lifts the tune.
Starlight glows as you clutch and hold
The moment slips, the moment’s gone too soon.

We all come together
On these cruel summer nights
We all come together
with eyes shining bright
We all come together
to dream beneath the lights
We all come together
to make everything alright"