"There's The Girl" by Heart

1987 / #12

Rate Your Music score: 3.5 out of 5!

"Broken glass, complete disaster..."

This song did well enough on the chart that you might not think of it as lost, and it took a while for it to vanish completely from Power 94½. At least Power 94½ played this high-energy rocker instead of some of the music that other stations kept playing. But I haven't heard it in a station's regular rotation in decades now.

In late 1987, you may have been dancing around your living room, chewing bubble gum, passing gas, and dreaming of becoming an elite computer hacker. That's what cool people did back then. And this was when this exciting new Heart single grew on everyone even as everything came crashing down - literally.

I was a freshman at a Catholic high school then. My school made a struggle of 3 whole years. It was intentional and malicious. By late 1987, I was sort of shutting down. The school knew, and didn't do their job. It was already clear that I needed to find a better school. I complained bitterly but was told to be quiet. The school let me languish there for a couple more years because I was of no use to the school elsewhere.

Just before Christmas, the school had a huge Christmas tree in the hallway. It was adorned with gobs of glass ornaments. One afternoon right after lunch, we were filing into religion class. Then we heard a horrendous crash coming from the hall.

You guessed it! It was the Christmas tree!

And this was no accident. There was a fight in the hall, and somebody deliberately pulled the tree down onto a schoolmate.

The toppled tree blocked the hall right in front of the principal's office. There were shattered ornaments all over the floor.

Heart's latest hit had a line describing the school perfectly: "Broken glass, complete disaster." After the tree was knocked over, that line reminded me of that incident every time I heard it. It reminded me of everything about that school.

And trust me, the school was a disaster. Thank heavens I got out before junior year.

Also, pay attention to the above video at 1:35. Notice the gesture Nancy Wilson is making. I almost expect to hear someone yell, "Boist!"

Aah, memories!