Today's Song of the Day

Roxanne, The Police, 1978

Roxanne was my gateway song to a lifelong love affair with The Police. I was super young when Roxanne came out -- 7, apparently -- thank goodness for friends with older siblings. It's surreal to think about but Roxanne is one of those few songs that has been in constant rotation of my life's soundtrack.

Remember how in elementary school the teacher would call roll? Did any of you have that one teacher who would use complete names during those first few weeks of school? I did ... "Monaica Roxanne Emerson." Thanks to The Police, unlike many of my classmates, I was never embarrassed of my middle name. Quite the opposite, actually -- I've always liked my middle name a whole bunch. Even when hormones kicked in and we all realized the song is about a prostitute, I still owned the name with pride. I'm sure that says something about me.

In Matt Pinfield's book, he talks about how The Police were so punk rock in those early days. I hate that I missed that boat ... I wish I had been a little older and could have witnessed The Police in the late 1970s firsthand. If I close my eyes, I can envision it all.