I will have you. Yes, I will have you.

This morning I decided it was high time I acquired one of the songs that David and I are constantly singing at each other, namely “You’re the Best” by Joe “Bean” Esposito. Granted I had no idea it was sung by a guy whose nickname is Bean, nor do I know the lyrics beyond, “You’re the best! Around! Namanamanamana bring ya down!” which aren’t actually the lyrics even though we like to pretend they are. Still. I needed it.

I looked it up on iTunes and discovered a couple things. One was that good old Bean Esposito does not have a particularly large body of work, and the other was that this song exists in only two places: on the Karate Kid soundtrack (the original Karate Kid, not to be confused with Karate Kid: Tokyo Drift: The Unnecessary Remake) and on the soundtrack to The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (which I’d never heard of but was amused by the title). Furthermore, the song was only available for download if I purchased either complete album. Can I just say how annoying that is? I really really wish I could just pick and choose certain songs and download them individually, but alas. That is not always possible. Sometimes, yes. But not always.

Since I’d already decided that NOT owning the song wasn’t a viable option, and not knowing what to expect from the second film (although just this minute I added it to my Netflix queue because now that I know it exists I maybe need to watch it) I first looked at the Karate Kid soundtrack list. And I was not impressed. There wasn’t really anything on there besides “You’re the Best” that interested me. So I moved on to The King of Kong: Fists of Fury or whatever it was.

This time I saw songs that I both knew and didn’t yet have. “Eye of the Tiger,” for example, and how in my fairly diverse and inclusive music library did I not already own that? Also on the list were “Ride of the Valkyries” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” both of which I wouldn’t mind listening to on occasion. And while $9.99 seemed a bit much to pay for only a handful of songs, I rationalized that “You’re the Best” was worth it. I hit the Buy Album button.

One of the first songs to finish downloading was called “Obsession” by Animotion. I thought hey, let’s give it a whirl and see if I like it, and hit play. A few familiar synth chords later I realized that a) I know this song, b) I secretly love this song, and c) it’s one that keep forgetting about when I mentally create my Creepy Stalker Guy playlist. Because it’s this song:

And while you don’t have to watch that music video, I strongly recommend it because it is a thing of joy and wonder. Ah, the 80’s.

Basically this experience has taught me that sometimes it’s worth paying more than I’d like for the one song I really want. Because sometimes I get a crunchy surprise like that and my morning is made exponentially more rad. Radder? Whatever.

Side note for those who are interested:

In addition to “Obsession,” my Creepy Stalker Guy playlist thus far consists of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police (obviously), “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” by the Decemberists, “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, “Aeroplane” by Bjork, and “One Way or Another” by Blondie. (I can’t decide if the thought of Debbie Harry driving by my house and, if the lights are all out, seeing who’s around is completely terrifying or hilariously awesome.) I’m sure I’ve got more but I can’t remember them right now. And if you have any suggestions for other songs to include, I’m all ears.

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