You Can't Buy Memories, But Money Can Help You Feel Them

I Wanna Go Back

Eddie Money (1986)
This is one of those songs that I used to bop my head to when I was a kid without really even thinking about the lyrics.  Three years ago, I got to see Eddie Money perform at the Bloomsburg Fair and this was one of the songs that he sang.  The lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks.

The Bloomsburg Fair is like a bubble in time for me.  It looks and feels very much the same now than it did when I was a little boy running around with my grandparents in the 80's, and when I was a teenager going with friends in the 90's, and when I was a young man who still had all of his family in the 2000's.  When I'm at The Fair, it feels like it could be any one of those years... like I could step off of the Fairgrounds and into the parking lot and find myself back in 1986, or 1996, or 2006.  I remember back around 2014 that I was driving home from The Fair in the dark and I swear I thought I was driving to my grandparents house for a few minutes, and that I had to make sure to get to bed early enough to wake up in time for my first class at Wilkes.

Seeing Eddie Money sing this song at that time and place, with the lights of the carnival rides from the Fair off in the distance is one of those moments that I'll never forget.  It unlocked a tidal wave of memories that washed over me.  He died one year after that night.  I wish I could have met him after the concert and thanked him for an incredible show, and for creating such a special moment.

I Wanna Go Back hit the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time 35 years ago today.  If you've never heard it before, give it a listen.  If it doesn't make you feel something today, I'm confident that it will one day.  It's just one of those songs that sneaks into your head with a poppy, feel good vibe, and then lingers with you until the reality sets in.  We all have people, and places, and times that we want to go back to, even if it's just for a moment, but listening to songs like this are as close as we're going to get.

Lyrics:

I was listening to the radio

I heard a song, reminded me of long ago

Back then, I thought that things were never gonna change 

It used to be that I never had to feel the pain

I know that things will never be the same now

I want to go back

And do it all over

But I can't go back I know 

I want to go back

Cause I'm feeling so much older

But I can't go back I know

I recall hanging out on Friday night

The first slow dance

Hoping that I'll get it right

Back then I thought I'd never ever stand alone

It used to be that a lonely heart was never shown

I know that things will never be the same

I want to go back 

And do it all over

But I can't go back I know 

I want to go back 

Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know