The Wrong Child

Come play with me I whispered to my new found friend
Tell me what it's like to go outside
I've never been
Tell me what it's like to just go outside
I've never been
And I never will

Last night's post got me to reminiscing about REM and the hours of entertainment they have provided to me. Stipe's bizarre stream-of-consciousness lyrics make for great conversation starters, catchphrases and odd interpretations. I had some friends that used to have entire conversations in snippets of REM lyrics.

The Wrong Child is a great example. The song can be interpreted a dozen different ways and any one of them could be the right interpretation. Many years ago, a (different) friend of mine mentioned that he sang this song to his cat. The cat happened to be an indoor cat. The cat never knew what it was like to go outside. And he never would.

Everytime I hear this song I think about a cat sitting on a windowsill inside a house watching birds and children and life pass him by. Having two indoor cats of my own, I can say that they have both had this song sung to them. I'm sure they were not happy about it. No one likes to be made fun of.

I can also say that, when I greet a stranger, I look at his shoes. And I keep my money in my shoes (as in, I try to buy good shoes). I have made friends and dated men based purely on their shoes. Thanks to Stipe for that bit of advice. Converse hightops really tell you a lot about a person.