Why Can't We Just Break Into Song?

I grew up watching Grease over and over, never giving the fact that the characters broke into perfectly choreographed musical numbers, out of the blue, a second thought. I just enjoyed looking at John Travolta, listening to the songs, and wishing I was Sandy. Maybe it was the fantasy of the whole thing...I would never be blonde, never be a cheerleader, or never belt out a song at the top of my lungs. Thus, I was content to live vicariously through the characters on screen. Now, I enjoy Glee for the same reasons. It seems like the characters always have the perfect song to go with the moment, to capture in lyrics what simple words cannot. Sometimes, I wish that it were socially acceptable for everyone to just break into song. I think it would add some comic relief and maybe even some pure entertainment to otherwise mundane tasks. I mean, can you imagine pushing the grocery cart down the cereal aisle, and someone bursting into a rendition of "Call Me Maybe" over the PA system. That would be so amazing! I would go to the grocery store every day, if that happened!

I guess what I am getting at, is that music makes us feel better. It lets us drown out the stress with catchy hooks of Katy Perry songs, cry our eyes out to Adele about "the one that got away", relive high school memories through Sheryl Crow, or wish we had a man like Bruno Mars. Either way, it is cathartic and we all need the release that music gives us. Don't you think our society would be so much more fun if we could sing our conversations? Kind of like the guy on American Idol who stutters when he talks, but sings like an angel.  I, for one, cannot carry a tune in a bucket. But, that doesn't stop me from belting it out while I am driving the car every morning. My daughter knows the drill...every morning we drive the fifteen minutes to school and we can get through at least three songs. Whether it is Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, The Lumineers, Blake Shelton...or more often than not, Justin Beiber, she knows every word, and sings as loud as she can from the back seat. She doesn't judge me for my singing disability, and I don't judge her when she screws up the lyrics. We just enjoy the music and let it relax us for the day ahead. She hasn't developed that self-consciousness that many little girls suffer from, and I hope she doesn't. Maybe one day, she will be your weekly entertainment at the grocery store, or she may still be the one I sing along with every morning, just from the radio! Tata for now!