Welcome to The Playlist Project, where we’ll be posing musical questions to Paste staff, interns and writers and then compiling their responses into a handy playlist before opening it up for discussion in our comments section.
Prom season is upon us, which means soon high-school kids will be fumbling with corsages, guzzling punch and dancing at arm’s length or feeling each other up in limos across the nation. Which brings us to this week’s Playlist Project…
If you could go back in time and choose any song, what would you slow-dance to at prom? (Bonus question: Do you remember what you actually danced to at prom?)
Stephen M. Deusner, Contributing Writer
Sheriff, “When I’m With You”
A little bit of trivia: The word “prom” is derived from the ancient Anglo-Saxon “promswlwy,” which translates roughly to “mirrorball” and refers to a coming-of-age ritual in which the young men of the village would have contests to see who could make the most stilted small talk with the young women of the village. But proms as we know them today didn’t actually exist until 1982, when they were invented in response to the hit single “When I’m With You,” by the Canadian mullet-pop band Sheriff. Keyboardist Arnold Lanni based the melody on the old Scottish hymn “E’er Ye Spike the Punch, O’ Laddy,” and vocalist Freddy Curci set the world record for longest note held in a pop song.* He actually sustained the note for three full hours before he noticed that the band had all gone home and the studio had been closed for the night. On a personal note, this writer has fond memories of dancing to the song with his prom date, that cute French girl from Better Off Dead.
*This part is really true. Promise. Look it up.
Kristen Hill, Editorial Intern
The Avett Brothers, “The Ballad of Love and Hate”
2007, the year of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (”…ella, ella”) and Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” (“to the left, to the left”). I do remember dancing to the Plain White T’s’ “Hey There Delilah.” But if I had my way, I would request The Avett Brothers’ “The Ballad of Love and Hate” from their 2007 album Emotionalism. So much sappy goodness.
Shelley Brown, Assistant Design Editor
Mazzy Star, “Fade Into You”
Being the most popular girl in school, my AP English teacher’s daughter was my friend date to prom. The only song I can remember playing for sure in that hazy hotel ballroom in 2006 is Bubba Sparxxx’s classic love song “Ms. New Booty.” If I were to do it again, I’d have requested Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You.” The lulling melody is ideal for slow-dance swaying, and I’ve been drawn to the song’s repetition of the word “strange” since the first time I heard it as a kid in the ‘90s. There’s no better word than “strange” to sum up both my high school experience and the romantic notion of dissolving into someone else.
Sean Edgar, Comics Editor
Celine Dion, “My Heart Will Go On”
So I may have skipped both of my proms—on one occasion to watch the opening weekend of Spider-Man 2—but there really is only one answer. Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” dominated teenage romance in the late ‘90s. Parents loved it, kids loved it, and Canadians probably still present-tense love it. Know who didn’t love it? Teachers: the track was like some Jedi Mind Trick that automatically triggered a sea of brace-mashing, teeth-knocking make-out sessions. It was a giant red carpet for pioneering hormones. Having missed both proms, this is all second-hand knowledge from Mike Spinelli. Good tune, though.
Hilary Saunders, Contributing Writer
Marvin Gaye, “Let’s Get It On”
My pretentious private school in the suburbs would never let our virgin ears behold such raunchiness as Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” at the faculty-supervised prom in the refectory. Seventeen-year-old Hilary would have reveled in the subtle rebelliousness of slow dancing to a song so lascivious and classic.
Holly Gleason, Contributing Writer
Aerosmith, “Dream On”
It was, of course, my first slow dance. Those things imprint…in ways the boy, the room, the moment never do. Aerosmith, still skagged out, writhing around a melody that seemed to have no point, beyond just the slow twining up a—could it be?—stairway to heaven. But before Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and company got serious about machining hits, there was an innocence to this extended ballad that weighed the ravages of life, the inevitability of aging and the hope that we can invest in dreams. Not quite a “buck up and get on with it” notion, there was a siren’s song quality to “Dream On” that inspired slower, deeper, more humid breathing in your ear, a pooling of sweat on your body and yes, the awakening of desire to be explored. Though you’re sure you’ve got it figured out at prom, “Dream On” suggests that whether you do or not, whatever happens beyond this moment, press through, and yes, dream on.
Chelsea Conte, Editorial Intern
Hunx And His Punx, “Too Young to be in Love”
To be completely honest I don’t remember many songs that played at my prom, or if we had a “prom song,” but I do remember dancing to T.I.’s “Whatever You Like.” My dress was rad and full of tulle, and my date wore a top hat and bowtie, so we took up a lot of room on the dancefloor. If we could go back, I’d like to dance to Hunx and his Punx’s “Too Young to Be in Love” because it is reminiscent of teenage years and would have been a hell of a lot of fun. Thinking back, I hope prom DJs have gotten better.
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