Waiting for Something

If you’re of a certain age (give or take) you know Colin Hay. Even if you don’t know you know him, you know him; he was the lead singer for Men at Work, the band that did such hits as “Who Can it be Now?” and “Land Down Under.” They were popular during my teens, and I guess I always thought they were alright, in a goofy, bubble-gum pop kind of way.

I don’t know much about the band, or when they broke up, and I don’t care enough to do a simple Google search to find out. Hay has had a pretty good little solo career since then, mostly acoustic performances in college towns (or so I gather.) Some of the Men at Work songs work better for me as simple acoustic songs than they ever did as full-blown electric band songs, and seem a lot deeper and more thoughtful. A good example of that is Overkill.

Here's Men at Work's version:

And here is Colin Hay performing it solo:

I haven’t listened to Hay extensively, but by far my favorite song of his is “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin.” I first heard it in an episode of Scrubs, when a patient character on the show died. The protagonist, J.D., imagined her rising from the hospital bed to tell him not to feel bad about her dying and sang the song. I liked the song then, but after finding the original on Youtube I fell in love with it. Here's Hay singing it:

It's a beautiful song, in my opinion, but it's also very sad. I hear in this song the regret of a life wasted, of someone who knows he could have done more, but for whatever reason he didn't. It reminds me of my father, and maybe of my cousin, but also it reminds me a little too much of me.