Will you, won't you?

Going through my iTunes playlists is like reading my musical autobiography, especially when I actually have one that's titled "Soundtrack of my life." I was looking for Kermit's "The Rainbow Connection" when I came across the song, "I Will." When I was a teenager, I used to sing (or hum, if other people were around) the song a lot. It was written by that beloved songwriter, Paul McCartney, though the version I have isn't the original. Instead, it's by a famous musical pairing - Tuck and Patti. He plays guitar, she sings. (And if one needs to dwell on the race factor, well, he's white and she's black.)

People think it's a love song between a couple, but it isn't. It's about a person in your imagination, one you dream of meeting. It's also the one that chance shoves at you or sneakily offers up and then takes away - you could be walking down a street, racing to join the line for donuts, or searching for a book in your favorite bookstore, and right then, you pass the person you're meant to be with (if you believe in that kind of thing) without knowing it. It's altogether possible you'll meet the person later - properly, as in, you get to have a conversation - or never see him again. Fate is funny, and fickle. So songs like these make you feel better about it. It gives a nice shiny layer to something that could be potentially heartbreaking.

I Will, by Tuck and Patti.