I am spending way too much time in my car

I’ve been spending so much time in my car lately, ferrying the kids hither and yon, that I’ve thought seriously about audiobooks.  My problem, though, is that I simply can’t listen to books in dribs and drabs.  One complicated left turn and I’ve completely lost the thread of the story.

I can listen to talk radio, but the dribs and drabs of carpooling mean that, as often as not, I get seven minutes of commercial, and then one minute of Rush or Sean — and then, I usually catch them just waffling on, rather than making substantive points.  It’s a bad investment of my time.

There’s always the phone, of course, but there are only so many times I can call and then hang up upon my long-suffering sister.  With infrequently occurring exceptions, my other friendships are not “phone friendships.”  The phone, therefore, is out too.

All of which, of course, leaves me listening to the radio.  I used to listen to the music of my youth, but that depressed me.  Whether the music reminded of good times when I was young or bad times when I was young, what really mattered was that it reminded me that I am no longer young.

What to do?

I listen to today’s pop music.  As rap finally and thankfully seems to be fading away, today’s young singers seem to be rediscovering the beauty of melody (not that their melodies are always so beautiful).  I’ve written here before about my possibly inexplicable fondness for Hot Chelle Rae.  I also like One Direction.  I know they’re generic, superficial pop, but I really appreciate the reverence their music displays for the object of any given song’s affection.  It’s surprisingly rare to hear women treated so well, if only in a pop song.

I could go on about the songs I like (and on and on), but I won’t torture you that way.  This post is about two songs, and this post comes about only because I’ve been in the car enough to hear the songs dozens of times.  The songs are Adele’s Rolling in the Deep and Fun.’s We Are Young.  Both of them have been mega hits, but that’s not why I’m writing about them.  I’m writing because, just yesterday, I realized that these two songs are a matched set!  They are, truly.

Here’s how it goes:

Adele’s Rolling in the Deep is about her ex who done her wrong, leaving her with scars.  (I emphasize that word because it’s important to the pairing.)

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
(You’re gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You’re gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it, to the beat
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

Well, I figured out that Adele must have been dating the Fun. guy, because in We Are Young, he clearly wants her back — and is trying to apologize for those scars:

Give me a second I,
I need to get my story straight
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State
My lover she’s waiting for me just across the bar
My seat’s been taken by some sunglasses asking ’bout a scar, and
I know I gave it to you months ago
I know you’re trying to forget
But between the drinks and subtle things
The holes in my apologies, you know
I’m trying hard to take it back
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down
I’ll carry you home . . . Tonight

If we could just do an Adele/Fun. mash-up, there might still be a happily-ever-after here.  Either that, or I need to get out of my car and get a life.