Hey Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?

I can’t meet a person named Luke – or talk to that same Luke for eternity – without thinking of this line from The Band classic “The Weight.” I’ve never met and may never meet an Anna Lee, so for me, the name Anna Lee does not count in this thread.

Is there a name in operation in your life – a name attached to people you actually meet – that you associate specifically with a particular line in a song?

This is NOT a Last Man Standing thread, so don’t start throwing out songs with names in them willy-nilly, like Maybelline. I may have to call bullshit on you if you tell me that you always think of the song “Maybelline” when you meet a Maybelline. If you really know a Maybelline, however, be my guest.

As a young punk, when they emerged on the scene, I was never a fan of Van Halen. I thought Eddie Van Halen was a particularly evil force in terms of the downward spiral of popular aesthetics. Over time, however, I came to appreciate the band Van Halen, for their craftsmanship, for David Lee Roth’s comic swagger, and for the song “Jump,” the one Van Halen hit that barely features Eddie’s guitar wankery.

That said, I was sadder than I could have imagined when I saw the news that Eddie Van Halen died last night, at 65. He was a fierce adversary in my imagination. To be the best, we’ve got to beat the best. He was among the best in his field of practice, and I respect – and now miss – that.

Where do I start? I haven’t attempted to throw the gauntlet down like this in ages, and I’m pretty sure I’ve made this argument ages ago: Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album is overrated, especially by white folks who are trying to make an easy play for Blackredibility, for wokeness.

I know you’ve heard me say this before, but this may be the shortest Last Man Standing competition in the history of Rock Town Hall. I thought of this the other day, when Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen” came up on a playlist I made entitled 1980s Hits That Didn’t Completely Suck.*

At one point in “Come On Eileen,” the tempo purposely slows down, then picks up again and gets real fast. I thought of one other song that is arranged to purposely slow down, then pick up again – even getting faster – but no other examples came to mind. I’m NOT talking about changes in time signature or accidental/incidental changes in a song’s tempo, but the deliberately, blatantly slowed down or rushed speed at which a song moves along.

I could have thought more about this during my perfect day at the beach, but my company was too good and then on the ride home I played a much better playlist, one attempting to re-create the magic of jukebox at a community pool I used to go to when I was about 12 years old. And I should note, while typing up this post, I thought of a third song that uses this device, so don’t complain to me that there’s only one answer left. Help a brother out, won’t you?

*NOTE: When the playlist ended, at almost precisely the time the drive my wife and I made to the beach ended, my wife said, “What was that mix? I liked a couple of songs, but it sucked!”