Melissa Etheridge and “Come To My Window” in particular was a staple for me and my first girlfriend in 8th grade. It was our record and a fixture in the mixtapes we would trade with one another to help articulate our feelings. For that reason Etheridge will always represent young love and all the naive excitement of those days– there’s a simple message in all these songs that come through in the blues-based progressions and Etheridge’s fantastically powerfully raspy vocals where she pushes the top-end of her voice to the absolute limit.
In recent years Etheridge has come back into my life, somewhat unexpectedly, through the NFL Network (yes really). My family and I have made football Sundays a massive weekly event at our house since the birth of our first daughter, hosting the grandparents, siblings, and friends each Sunday to watch the San Francisco 49ers play each week. We get the gang together, smoke some tri-tip and salmon, crush a few Bloody Mary’s and vodka sodas, and just have ourselves a grand ol’ time. It’s my favorite family tradition and I can’t wait to do it for years to come.
So how does Etheridge fit into all this? Well she’s an absolute diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan and has become one of the “celebrity voices” NFL Network will have on to discuss the Chiefs upcoming matchups. And considering the Chiefs have been on an epic run as of late with Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid, appearing in five straight AFC Championship games and winning two Super Bowls, Etheridge has gotten a helluva lot of screen time lately. And so I’ve gotten to take that trip down memory lane pretty often lately.
Funny how life works that way sometimes. And thankfully Etheridge sounds just as good as she did all those years ago– I still get chills when she belts out “But I’m the only one who’ll walk across the fire for you / And I’m the only one who’ll drown in my desire for you” during the album lead
Standout Songs: “I’m The Only One”, “Come To My Window”, “All American Girl”
