Much of my experience with 1987 was that there was a lot of music that all the popular radio stations played repeatedly until your ears bled but, for the life of me, the appeal for them did not resonate with me. Much of it I hated. Most of it I would not have minded much and probably would have enjoyed on a certain level if the radio stations and music video programs didn't slather it on like wall paper that posted the lyrics to "This Is The Song That Never Ends."
My 8th grade math teacher allowed us to listen to music while we worked. He had a radio tuned to a popular station, which I would have enjoyed more if that station did not play the same handful of mildly good to semi-hideous songs day after day; sometimes a song or two would be played twice within the hour. But, naturally, there were exceptions. There always are.
But there was one song that I did not mind the repeated plays. It was beautiful, sad, romantic, and sounded very different from the other songs.
"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House hit the US charts that year, enabling me to sit through my math class without throwing my math teacher's radio out the stupid window. I would gaze at the cute boy sitting in front of me and zone into my own world, dreaming all a blessed-well wanted to. Sometimes, all it takes is a song to make things all right again.
