In yesterday's tribute to Prince, I mentioned my seventh and eighth grade chorus teacher, Mr. B. Thinking back to those years reminded me of today's persistent earworm, Michael Sembello's 1983 hit, "Maniac." Somehow, the woman about whom Sembello sings seems less maniacal when I consider the words of a former co-worker.
"If 'she's dancing like she's never danced before,' she must not be very good at it," he reasoned. He had a point. Seen in that light, she seems less maniacal and more like she's simply on the wrong path.
As Mr. B. and his band performed it during a middle school concert, she also seemed more misguided or confused than a true maniac. His band improved the tune, in my opinion, by playing it in a lower key and giving it more of a sing-along quality than the original version.
Regardless of whether she's a maniac, Sembello's chart-topping tune isn't easy to expunge from one's mind.
