Johnny Yen's One-Hit Wonders: "Closing Time," by Semisonic

Remember in the movie "The Shining," when Shelley Duvall's character realizes that her husband's fervid typing, hundreds of pages long, consisted solely of him writing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?" Well, I came to the realization that I was feeling that way lately. In an attempt to get caught up financially, I worked 2 doubles this weekend, picked up an extra shift on Friday and of course have been plowing through schoolwork. After coming home from a great, rigorous and productive nursing clincal-- I had 2 patients rather than one for the first time today-- I took a short nap, then spent a couple of hours doing online case studies in the content area for the next test-- pancreatitis, hepatitis, etc., and cooked dinner for my family. Done. I'm sitting down on my back porch on this beautiful October night with a glass of Malbec and blogging, something I really enjoy.

In any event, most of my "one-hit wonders" were older-- sixties and seventies. I thought I'd do one from the last couple of decades, Semisonic's 1998 hit "Closing Time."



Semisonic was formed out of the ashes of the fabled Minneapolis band Trip Shakespeare in 1993. After an indie label release, they put out a record on major label MCA. They found chart success with "Closing Time, from their second major label release, "Feeling Strangely Fine."

I can't tell you how much I love this song. While I was never into picking up people at bars, I did love the social life I had-- great times, great conversations. And I did meet a couple of the great loves of my life in bars. This song brings me back to those times and places-- places that are mostly gone, and some people who are gone. Also, this song holds a special place in my heart for bringing me a moment of much-needed levity the summer of 1998.