Recently, I accidentally deleted more than half of my father’s playlist on his phone. Of course, after spending months just downloading those songs, he was furious when I told him that most of them are gone. I had to come up with a solution fast or else it would’ve been a lonnnngggg day of scolding.
I quickly borrowed his phone again and checked if there’s any trace I could find the over 200 songs I shamefully wiped out. Fortunately, YouTube lets you see history searches (and thankfully my father doesn’t know that, so every song he has ever searched and downloaded is still there.) So yeah, I found a way to restore his old music. *Pats self on the back*
As punishment and also to maintain my decency, I have been trying to recover and download as many songs as I can every day, after work — yes, this is still happening as of writing.
I thought that it’s gonna be a long, boring process at first. But as I continue to learn more good music from the past, retrieving my father’s playlist has become more of a hobby to me than a punishment.
But even if I like most of the songs I encountered from my father’s YouTube history, there’s one that lingered the most in my mind. It’s the song “Hey, Paula” by Paul and Paula. I’ve never heard this song before or probably, I never cared to listen whenever my father played it. That’s why I was surprised to find it beautiful, all of a sudden.
The music video started with a simple “Hey hey Paula, I wanna marry you” while Paul is holding Paula’s hand. Now, I don’t consider myself fond of cheesy gestures and all that, but this one’s kinda different. I thought it was sweet that Paul sang to Paula himself and held her hand on national TV. It was as if he loves her so much that he never gets tired of proposing to her over and over.
“True love means planning our life for two
Being together the whole day through”
Its lyrics were simple, sweet yet realistic. Its tune was soft and soothing. And Paul and Paula’s chemistry was beaming.
Watching its music video felt like witnessing genuine and pure love, especially because this was from the 60s and I very much admire love stories of real people from the past (if this was a modern music video with two young lovers, I doubt that I’d even watch it, lol.).
So just like what I do every time I like a particular song, I made a little digging on “Hey, Paula” and its singers. Turns out, Paul and Paula are not and have never been a couple. And the song wasn’t about them at all!
“Hey, Paula” was actually written by Paul, Ray Hildebrand in real life, about his friend, whose fiancée was named Paula.
Despite not being lovers, Paul (Ray Hildebrand) and Jill (Jill Jackson) remain good friends up to this day. They are both happily married to their respective partners.
Although I didn’t get the truth I’ve expected, I‘m still happy to discover this song. I like how it somehow dragged me away from the toxicity of the current happenings and my own thoughts. It reminded me to appreciate the little things amid these difficult times.
Heck, who would’ve thought that my recklessness would get me this kind of clarity?
Screen grab from YouTube.
