vocal showboating

so last week at the office i overheard some coworkers talking. there was a story in the newspaper about the ridiculously long line of contestants aspiring to make the cut at the American Idol tryouts. one woman started asking people who walked by which song they would choose to sing as a competitor.

one guy my age said 'old man river.' the woman sort of scoffed at that and thought it silly that he'd pick such a dated song. but dude has a thick baritone speaking voice, it seemed a natural choice. he followed that up by saying he doesn't really sing. yeah, sure he doesn't -- he just had an answer ready? check his back pocket for the sheet music. regardless, it was smart move; you never want to arm a coworker with the idea that you sing (very bad in cases of christmas parties, especially). everyone else said they had no idea. smart answers, but also LIES. c'mon, people. i refuse to believe that even those who claim inability to carry a tune can't come up with something. then again, i even sing along with commercials. bad ones. and let's not even get started on my rap-along skills ('mumblemumblemumble, uh, um... WOW HOW NOW, WOWHOWNOWBROWNCOW!')

god bless those who put up with me.

the first thing that came to mind for me was that old standby, 'killing me softly' in the style of lauryn hill. i love that one. and my heart leaps at stevie wonder's 'if you really love me.' mariah carey's always fun, too, but i can't always hang with accuracy on the superdupermelismas, so i probably would have to go with something much more straightforward, karen carpenter-style, like 'merry christmas darling' or 'superstar,' but ole boy rueben already covered that one. then there's pretty much anything by sarah mclachlan or la oreja de van gogh and hundreds others i adore bellowing along to.

the more i thought about it, the more reality started to settle in -- i pretty much should keep the singing to small enclosed spaces like cars and showers. but hey, the brainstorming made dungeon duty move along a little more quicky.