why blemish an entire continent, one might ask. it’s really sweden’s fault.

inspired by david bowie’s space oddity (another song i can’t bear to listen to, though for other reasons — it creeps me out), singer joey tempest of the swedish band europe wrote a song about leaving mother earth in a space vehicle.  with such inspirational lyrics as we’re heading for Venus, and still we’ll stand tall, the song crept into wild popularity in 1986. now, it lives on in practically every sport arena at every level in the world. yes, that is a killer riff that synthesizer is playing, but it’s so killer that no one can remember what comes after it. nor, for that matter, do they care. it’s curious how a song about EVA is now popular in sporting events. who knew fist-in-the-air anthems about standing tall work equally well in arenas and in the milky way.

anyway, the banal song will get stuck in your head, and not in a pleasant way.  oddly enough, the band never did a whole lot that was quite as memorable here in the states. pity. i suspect synchronized swimming still lacks a pumped-up anthem.