1993

I’m not sure where or when I first heard the song “Looking Through Patient Eyes” by PM Dawn.

I think it was during my whirlwind tour of Six Flags theme parks during the spring of 1993. I remember buying a cassette of “The Bliss Album…?” and a Chicago Cubs baseball cap at a mall near Gurnee.

I played that cassette in various economy-sized rental cars: Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles. It became the soundtrack for my trip.

When I listen to it now (especially the track, “The Ways of the Wind”), I’m there again. Heading North on I-4 toward Valencia, California. Six Flags Magic Mountain…Wally World.

Every month or so since...I’ve gone back to “Patient Eyes.”

PM Dawn hung an unforgettable hook on those George Michael synth chords (“Father Figure”)...and has been taking me back to my first job ever since.