Take me

I’d like to explain what has happened to me / So it doesn’t happen to you …

“Take Me Away,” Avril Lavigne
“Take Me Back,” Randy Newman
“Take Me Back,” Van Morrison
“Take Me Back to Love Canal,” Chagall Guevara
“Take Me (Back) To You,” Cracker
“Take Me Down to the Infirmary,” Cracker
“Take Me in Your Arms,” Doobie Brothers
“Take Me Out,” Franz Ferdinand
“Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” The Hold Steady
“Take Me to Aruanda,” Astrud Gilberto
“Take Me to Mars,” Milla
“Take Me to the River,” Annie Lennox
“Take Me to the River,” Talking Heads
“Take Me With U,” Prince and the Revolution

That’s a lot of “take me” songs. And if we were to make a list of “take me” songs beyond just those whose titles begin with those words, the list would be even longer. This is, after all, one of the major recurring themes in the songs we sing — a longing to be taken away to … somewhere, somewhere else, somewhere better, somewhere over the rainbow. If we were able to articulate that longing more precisely then maybe we’d just write an essay about it, but it’s too hazy, too big, too deep and wide for that. So instead we sing about it. “Take me …”

The band Chagall Guevara was great at tapping into that overwhelming longing. I saw them live at the Ambler Cabaret near Philly. Huge sound + tiny room = awesome.