one hit wonders

(inspired by a vh1 show about the top 40 one hit wonders of the 90's which i just finished watching.)

i'd totally be content to be a one hit wonder. i don't see any shame in it at all. sometimes i hear the term one hit wonder thrown around like it's a bad thing. but i can't help but wonder how many artists are out there that don't have any hits for every single artist that has 1, and only 1, hit. i'm sure the ratio is easily one-to-anywhere in the thousands. and then i can't help but think about all the people that never became artists or picked up an instrument but somewhere in their imaginations at some point in their life dreamed of writing music and being famous.

it's like a marathon to me. one hit wonders finished the marathon. you can't take that shit away from them. they ran a little over 26 miles in one day and that alone is fucking amazing and should be applauded.

and whenever i see a one hit wonder getting interviewed 20 years later, they always seem happy. they made a boatload of money, hopefully did something with it to make it last, and went on and did whatever they wanted to do with their lives. i can't help but notice a pattern of one hit wonders becoming producers, songwriters, and a bunch of other cool stuff behind the scenes in music.

and one hit wonders seem to be just famous enough. they get recognition every so often but it's not like they're in a constant footrace against the paparazzi. i imagine a lot of one hit wonders sign just enough autographs that not only are they not sickened by the task, but still in total appreciation that their signature still makes someone's day.

and then i'm sure they get the occasional gig. how cool is that? they don't have the immense pressure to tour the world every 2-3 years... but every so often there will be some festival somewhere and the organizers will think something like, 'how awesome would it be if we could get right said fred to perform 'i'm too sexy' for the people?'

so if a one hit wonder is smart, they'll usually still have a much cooler life for having that one hit than if they never had that one hit at all. if all the success i could ever find in life were to match that of the average one hit wonder, i'd be more than happy with that outcome.