Prompt: "A song that feels specifically written about you"
Selected by Sara
"Zak and Sara"
Ben Folds
Rockin' the Suburbs, 2001
Sara is a common name. So common that I regularly had another one-to-three other Sara(h)s in my class at the same time. Sara without an H was not as common. It was the different spelling. So, when the opening line of a song is "Sara spelled without an H is getting bored," it feels like it's written for you. Definitely a champagne problem, as I can find my name in any gift shop. I have other friends who could never find their name or spelling! Maybe that's why our dear Maeve loves customized merch. To get back at every gift shop that didn't have a "Maeve" pencil or license plate.
The song did give me a lot of grandeur that I would marry Zak without a c and we could play this song at our wedding. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever dated or crushed on a Zack/Zak. I did have a crush on Ray Zaharski (a stretch from Zak, but whatever). His mom was our middle school health teacher though, and she used to tell us that if Ray ever smoked a cigarette, she would cut up a pack of cigs and make him eat them until he threw up. Typing that, I am stunned, but it was 2002. I guess you could say those things. I think Mrs. Zaharski went a little too left with that one, 'cause as we all know smoking is cool and forever will be.
5 comments:
I once dated a Sara without an H, and even though my name does not meet this song's requirements, I heard references to this song while we were dating a bit more often than I needed to.
Short story idea: a boy named Zak arrives at Sam Goody on the morning that Ben Fold's Rockin' the Suburbs is released, impossibly excited that there is finally a song named after him. And he is listening to the song on his portable Discman in downtown Manhattan as he watches a plane fly into the World Trade Center.
Have we all forgotten Remember Me?
See, that's what I'm saying!
"Hi, record store clerk, sir. May I have one copy of Jay-Z's new The Blueprint and Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft"?"
"Sure. What's your name, kid?"
"It's Zak."
"Well, Zak, let me let you in on a little secret. Today is Tuesday, September 11, 2001. A day that will forever be remembered due to how many great albums were released on this day. And for that reason alone. And did you know, there is a new Ben Folds solo album out today too? And it features a song with your name. You do spell your name with a K and not a C or an H, right?"
"Yessir."
"Let me ring up a copy for you. Seems like the type of album that you could listen to as you stare up at large towers in awe of their beauty and indestructibility."
"Well it's a good thing we live in New York, mister."
"Sure is, kid. Have a great day, and be safe out there."
"Safe? From what?"
"Oh, I don't know. Probably nothing. Maybe that new Nickelback album is gonna be the most dangerous thing about the world today."
It writes itself!!!
Maybe that is why I love custom merch haahah
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