And IIIIIIIIIII Will Always Loooooove Yooouuuuu!

Whitney Houston has a new album out. They were talking about it on NPR, which I was listening to via a podcast while I was preparing for my lessons today. They compiled a nice little medley of some of her most popular songs from the late 80's/early 90's. When I was 5ish, I think I loved Whitney Houston. I remember occasionally hearing some of her songs in the car, because my dad had a Whitney tape that was occasionally popped in the tape deck. I knew all of the words, so I think that qualifies my feelings towards Whitney's music as positive (at least my 5-year self's feelings towards her).

There is a certain song that sticks out in my mind when I think of Whitney Houston. It's probably the same song that sticks out in most people's minds when they hear her name, so I know I'm not special, BUT the reason this song holds such a strong memory for me is perhaps different than the reason others remember "I Will Always Love You." As many of you can recall, Whitney Houston starred in the movie The Bodyguard, which apparently "received negative to mixed reviews" according to Wikipedia. (I mistakenly thought that it was semi-autobiographical, but I fact checked and cleared up that long-held, but seldom pondered misconception. While on Wikipedia, I learned many other interesting facts about The Bodyguard.)

Laugh if you must, but I cannot count how many times I have seen this movie. It's not the undeniable chemistry between Whitney and Kevin Costner that kept me coming back time after time. It was sheer lack of options. My grandma had very few videotapes at her house. My sister and I spent a fair amount of time at her house during summer "vacations" and family trips. I don't know if we always begged to watch movies or if she always had one playing, but I associate time spent in her house as a child very strongly with movies. And by movies, I mean the same four movies over and over and over and over again.

From the time I was around 5 until I was 15 or so, I don't think my grandma bought any new movies. It's possible that she owned more than four movies, but the only ones I remember seeing on an endless loop were (in order of most watched) Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, The Bodyguard, and Cutting Edge. What? Were you expecting a 5 year old to watch Aladdin or something equally as immature and childish (I love Aladdin, by the way). Coincidentally, the last time I was at her house cleaning up a bit, I noticed that she had several boxes of brand new DVDs, some still in their original shrink wrap. I guess she was just waiting for us to stop visiting as regularly to update the movie collection.

Anyhow. That was a very long background story about what I really want to tell you about... Back to me in my classroom in a suburban Japanese town that doesn't see a heck of a lot of foreigners, listening to the Whitney Houston medley when "I Will Always Love You" pops up. I was alone, so I threw up my arms and pretended I was on stage and lip synced until the "yoouuuuuu," when a bit of the song kind of slipped out (completely without my consent). At this point, I hear a very timid "Sumimasen," or "Excuse me." It was obvious by his slightly embarrassed look that he had not just walked in the door. I didn't know what to do, so I just rushed to the door and left Whitney belting out a series of pop hits while this frightened businessman handed me a card about graphic design. (Random people sometimes stop by the classroom to hand out cards for businesses which I can't fathom why an English school would need their services.) He was speaking in super polite rapid-fire Japanese and I was so mortified that I didn't even try to process what he was saying. I just nodded my head and left him finish his monologue before telling him, "I don't understand anything, but a Japanese person will be here next week." If I had been less flustered, I could have gotten across my meaning a bit more eloquently, but I really just wanted him to leave as soon as possible. So did he, apparently, because after I said, "Arigato" and took his card, he bolted out the door, and I keeled over laughing at myself.

If you need a refresher on "I Will Always Love You" or The Bodyguard, this official music video pretty much does it justice. I think the unsuspecting Japanese dude today walked in at about 3:20 in this video and saw a good 20 seconds of reenactment.

"I Will Always Love You"