David

2/11/09

“Young Turks”; Rod Stewart; Tonight I'm Yours; 1981

It always freaks my mother out when I play older songs, especially from bands and singers she knows. I assume that she thinks that I'm taunting her, or that I'm playing them to impress her. Whatever the case may be, I find Rod Stewart's “Young Turks” to be a slightly guilty pleasure of mine.

Rod Stewart and his band aren't exactly on my top 10 artists, probably not even in my top 50. I hardly listen to his work, and I probably couldn't place a Rod Stewart song if one was playing on the radio. Needless to say, I'm not the biggest fan of Rod Stewart. I'll even admit that I don't even have this song in my library; I simply catch it on YouTube.

However, I've always have had a way of sticking to certain songs. A song catches me on the radio, out of a boombox, in a store, anywhere, and the only thing on my mind is “What is the name of that song, and who sings it?” This, incidentally, usually leads me to buy at least one of the band or singer's CDs, which have turned my Zune into a rather large cumulation of disordered CDs by obscure or popular bands. Unfortunately I have lost most of the music files on my computer due to a hard drive crash. But I digress.

Anyways, I have known Rod Stewart's song “Young Turks” since I was a child, because Rod Stewart was one of my mother's favorite bands. I've heard this certain song a few times, but as I was a small kid, I never payed any attention to it. One day, while playing videogames, I'm listening to the in-game radio. After a while, guess what song comes on? Yes, “Young Turks” was featured on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as in-game music. For once I actually stop and listen to the song (while driving around in the game). The music strikes me: Stewart's voice, the guitar, and the melody. I fall in love with the song.

Whenever I hear this song, the lyrics (“Young hearts be free tonight. Time is on your side, / Don't let them put you down, don't let 'em push you around, / Don't let 'em ever change your point of view.”) convey a story of two lovers running away from home, young, free, and wild. It tells “young turks” (a slang phrase for young, carefree people) to live life for today, and to enjoy every moment of it. The whole idea of living life and enjoying it is something I envy, being always slightly out of my reach.

In short, the song reminds me of my childhood listening to the song and my mother did errands around the house. It also strikes a cord with the fact of “enjoying your time” is a main theme of the song. I always feel the need to enjoy my time, and this is song with which I can do that.