#MusicMonday – August 13, 2018

 

Well, pick me up, golden hand, it’s Music Monday!

You know that one song, you’ve heard it everywhere – commercials, movies, TV shows – but no matter what, you associate it one specific medium, be it one specific movie, commercial, or TV show?

Yeah, I have these moments alot, obviously!

When I was fourteen years old, one of my younger cousins bought over her copy of Matilda, the movie based on the Roald Dahl book about a young girl with telekinetic abilities, who uses them for forces of good.  She was a protagonist, the original “girl power” girl.  I had read the book as a kid, and despite being fourteen years old, I really wanted to see the movie.

I loved it.

I actually still have my VHS copy of it to this day.  I haven’t watched it since probably high school, but it really is one of those movies that sticks with you…and not in a bad way.

This week’s song choice is a song from this movie, as well as a bunch of other movies, some television shows, and commercials.  I originally heard this song on the Party of Five soundtrack, but it was Matilda that always keeps it a sticking point.

“Send Me On My Way” is a 1994 song by the band Rusted Root, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Roots Rock and Worldbeat group.  Formed in 1990, this song came from their second album, When I Woke, but was featured as a rough version on their 1992 debut, Cruel Sun.  Though written by frontman Michael Glabicki, the group’s other members – six in addition to Glabicki (Liz Berlin, John Buynak, Jim Dispirito, Jim Donovan, Patrick Norman and Jennifer Wertz) – all contributed to the track.  The song was written amidst a “happy feeling.”

What do you think?  Why not listen?

It seems like there isn’t any real story to the lyrics, just that it is a light-hearted song.  Not every song has to tell a story or have a specific meaning.  The right beat and singability will always make something more memorable than the story a song tells.  “Send Me On My Way” was received with mixed reception, but was said to have unbridled optimism, which was perfect for a children’s movie (source – “Rusted Root endures with the help of “Send Me On My Way”).

And endure it does – in addition to then-current movies Matilda, Pie in the Sky, and Race the Sun (all 1996), the song has been featured in Ice Age, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Alpha and Omega.  In addition, “Send Me On My Way” has been heard on the television shows Chuck,New Girl, and in NHL and NCAA commercials for Enterprise Rent-A-Car airing 254 (?!) times between 2011 and 2013.

You can definitely say this song has been sent on its way here, there, and everywhere.

Oh, and it was the wake up music for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity for Sol 21.  Apparently we’re still sending Opportunity on its way, because it is still functioning and reporting back from Mars, as it has since 2003.

“Send Me On My Way” peaked at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995, which seems underwhelming when you think about how pervasive this song is so many years after its release.  I guess 1995 was a better year for other songs.

Oh well, at least it is memorable.

And there you have it, a song that has had its presence in everything, but for me, is a memorable song from a memorable movie about a little girl with abilities she uses for good.  Who, by the way, is memorable.

 

Isn’t that how the best movies and music get stuck in our heads?

Have a great Music Monday, and enjoy the music!