Why I love the New Kids on the Block

I distinctly remember dancing and singing in my kitchen with all the gusto my 11-year old frame could muster. The rest of the family was doing the same thing. Even my mother was being put in a trance with their funky song. It was the first time I remember going crazy like that with the whole family together. We were, in a sense, lost in the music. I imagine it was like Adam and Even felt before they realized they were naked. I wasn’t thinking about whether I had a good or bad voice or if I was a good dancer. I wasn’t worried about doing the wrong thing or achieving personal goals or trying to keep everybody happy. I was just caught up in the moment. Having fun.

Like climbing a mountain, the Kids kept gaining more and more fans and popularity. Once you get to the top of the mountain, though, you can hang on for as long as you can, but the only place to go is down. They were able to last a lot longer than Vanilla Ice, but eventually people got tired of them and they needed a break from each other. In the eyes of many, it was no longer cool or acceptable to a fan. They were old news and it was time to get with the times and start liking Wilson Phillips.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think, though, that sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss something or someone until they come back into your life. I still followed the careers of the Kids. I loved Joey’s album “Stay the Same” and couldn’t help but serenade some of my female friends with they lyrics. I remember watching one of their videos with my friend Stephanie in college and getting excited all over again. About 5 years later I was thrilled when I saw Jon hanging out in his driveway as I went to a party that was at the house next door. Still, something that had been such a big part of my life had fizzled out over 10 years earlier and they were, for the most part, forgotten. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but when they went away, they took a piece of my heart with them.

When I heard they were getting back together, I was shocked. It was one of those times where something with personal significance and more meaning then you initially realize happens when you least expect it. I spent weekends watching videos on youtube of their old performances. Songs that I had forgotten about brought me back in time and space and I was flooded with memories from the past. I even posted the video for “Step by Step” on the facebook page of a girl I hardly knew but really liked and wanted to get to know for Valentine’s Day. It was something that was precious to me being given to someone who meant something to me. I couldn’t think of a higher compliment.

A lot of girls said that they cried when they saw the group back together again. A lot of them didn’t even know why they were crying. I think they were crying because they were remembering. They were remembering being in love for the first time or getting their heart broken. They were remembering a slow dance in school on a crush or a deep desire to find their own prince charming. They were remembering a time when they were fully alive and excited about living and looking forward to a better and brighter future. I was remembering staring out the window during my 7th grade history class every day as I looked at the grass and trees and mountains and daydreamed as I thought about my favorite girl.  Some dreams get buried beneath the rubble, but can never die. Some music has a way of touching and stirring these desires and longings for the promise that life has something to offer and something wonderful is yet to come.

I had to smile as I soaked in the atmosphere at the concert tonight. As I looked around, others were smiling as well. A group that meant so much to me was back and doing it all over 15 years later. As I listened to forgotten but familiar songs that had awakened a desire for the eternal, I couldn’t help but get lost once again. And, for a brief moment, I was once again an 11 year-old kid letting loose in the kitchen.

Having fun.