Song of the Week #9: “The Neverending Story”

I haven’t done a SOTW in a while but last week, Suzan and I rented 1984’s The Neverending Story which I highly recommend. I’m past the age when I scoff at “family films” as sanitized treacle for the little ones. At their best, they stir our childlike desires and melt away our adult inhibitions. They give us permission to wonder, to dream and fear irresponsible for doing so.

The Neverending Story does all of that. It begins and ends with a lovely whisp of an 80s pop tunes named simply “The Neverending Story.” The singer calls himself Limahl (aka Chris Hamill, former lead singer of Kajagoogoo) but that hardly matters. Focus on how the vocals match the hypnotic mist that opens the film and how the keyboard lines roll on just ahead of the beat. They ask you to look ahead, past the song, to stories that haven’t been told but can be imagined. And since it ends all too soon, it asks you to imagine afterward.

And try to listen without going “ahhh-ahhh-ahhh-ahh-ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhh-ahhhh-ahhh.” I dare you.

• Category: music