TODAY AT MERLE'S: Europe

TODAY AT MERLE'S: The Final Countdown by Europe

What an appropos ending to my quest to document the songs I hear at the Francisco station before it closes at 10pm tonight! Oh, how we all danced and sang as Europe boldly proclaimed I guess there is no one to blame, we're leaving ground. Will things ever be the same again? It's the final countdown!

And then, sadly, it was over. All our communal commuting joys were at an end, and every one of us -- the woman with the Art Institute tote with the shaky hands who acts twenty years older than she looks; the short man with the black leather jacket and the Napolean complex who cuts in front of me every day even though I get there earlier than he does; the old woman who coughs without covering her mouth; the now-graduated frat boys who always share a chuckle at the back page of the Red Eye; the grey-haired man in the business suit who screamed the word "shit!" when his wallet fell to ground, spilling twenty dollar bills and credit cards while the rest of us stood in silence without helping him pick anything up -- felt a little closer for what we'd been through. No, things will never be the same again, my friends. But a new chapter in life has just begun.

Enjoy the video.



Okay, fine, I didn't hear this today. In fact, I didn't hear anything...they were running trains so often (and blaring a "red alert"-type siren at the cars that were caught up in the beginning of the construction) that I couldn't even tell if Merle's had their radio on -- so I had to go with plan B and make something up. But you have to admit, it would have been pretty sweet, huh?

Incidentally, I'll never forget the story a friend of mine (let's call him Wedge) told me about seeing Europe in concert back in the day, and they both began and ended their set with The Final Countdown. How's that for showmanship, huh? Priceless.