Song-Searching

My dad once told me that the first time he heard "I, Robot" by the Alan Parsons Project play on the radio, he gave the station a call to learn what it was called. It also doesn't really have any lyrics to help him identify it.

The idea of calling a radio station to inquire about a song never occurred to me when I was a middle or high schooler listening to the highly staticky, scant hard rock stations I could find.

I was in a situation similar to my dad's. I'd heard a song and wanted to know what it was, but while it had lyrics, all I could make out were a bunch of "ah"s at the beginning to search for it. Google couldn't help me.

Thankfully, I managed to figure it out one day and discovered the jam that is "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains.

I mention these two instances of finding songs after hearing them, because something sort of amazing happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

So, to set up the story: When I was in the third grade, I got a Leapfrog globe for Christmas. It was interactive and you could put it on a setting where it would play instrumental music from the country you pressed the attached stylus to.

It was so cool. I remember the sounds of Senegal and Rwanda were some of my favorites. However, my parents reacted to one South American country's song. They said it sounded familiar. If I'm remembering correctly, we went and checked through my dad's CDs, though I don't recall if we found the one they were looking for to show me.

Now, I'm far past third grade. It's kind of crazy for me to think about, but I'm getting close to my thirties. However, for some reason, I got to thinking about that song again recently. I thought they said that it might be a Phil Collins piece. But with no lyrics and without the tune still in my head, I didn't have high hopes of finding it.

A couple of weeks ago, however, it found me. I was at work, and one of my co-workers had some classic rock playing throughout the shop and tea room. Then I heard some almost hesitant strings that reminded me more of the Chinese guzheng music I enjoy than classic rock. I was intrigued. And then unfurled a tune, familiar, underneath almost folksy lyrics.

Google came to the rescue. The song playing was Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)".

And later, after some more Googling and help from Wikipedia, I discovered that "El Condor Pasa" is largely associated with Peru.

I was able to confirm a few days ago that the tune of "El Condor Pasa" matches with the Leapfrog globe's music for Peru after firing it up again. I even played the Simon and Garfunkel song for my mom as well as the globe's music for further validation. It was a match!

Of course, this globe is not the trusty one still turning and tuning from third grade. When my original one stopped working, my parents acquiesced to my silly whims and got me another one that is still going strong.

I've had many years in the meantime to find fuller forms of global music that isn't limited to the few seconds the Leapfrog globe provided (including Mongolian throat-singing a la The HU). I do enjoy those full-length songs. But I would have not had this full-circle moment without that globe. And it makes me very happy I can still enjoy those familiar sounds from my childhood from across the globe.