in one ear

topherchris:

David Lee Roth — Just a Gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody

♥

When Becky and I moved to Nashville six years ago, we spent the first month not knowing anyone and not really knowing where to go.  So we often went downtown, and our Saturday nights usually kicked off at (of all places) Graham Central Station on 2nd Avenue, where they served dollar longnecks in the karaoke lounge until 10 p.m.

Karaoke’s a different beast in Nashville - everyone obviously moves here to hit it big, and so everyone who takes the stage thinks it’s putting them 2 feet closer to country stardom.  It’s not trainwreck after trainwreck like a regular karaoke bar, it’s almost-pros belting it out impressively while the star-wannabe staffers (also in Nashville to hit it big) sing harmony in the background.  Like they all expect there to be A&R reps in the audience or something.  Entertaining, as long as you can put up with hearing “Fancy” every night.

One night a crew of rowdy late 20/early 30-something dudes rolled into the karaoke lounge, obviously already drunk.  One of them, a total Bruce Willis lookalike, hopped on stage and launched into a tipsy, hilarious, machismo-filled performance of this song. Becky and I immediately started almost peeing with laughter, while everyone else in the room looked mildly disgusted.

But it only took about five randomly, drunkenly shouted “NOBODY!”s and a few well-placed kick moves before the room warmed up and everyone started laughing, smiling and singing along. They finally remembered this was exactly what karaoke was for.