More than two years ago, I wrote about “Livin’ on a Prayer,” the Bon Jovi song that tells the story of Tommy and Gina, a struggling couple with little hope for the future. I was annoyed by Tommy’s use of the word “someday” in the song.
When Gina cries at night, Tommy whispers, “Baby, it’s okay. Someday.”
Someday is a trap. It’s a word people use to assure themselves that there is still time. It’s an excuse for inaction and procrastination. In most cases, someday remains a distant point on the horizon, never chased and never realized.
People who believe in someday rarely find it.
Then I noted that fourteen years later, Bon Jovi sang about Tommy and Gina again in “It’s My Life” — an anthem that rejects the notion of “someday.”
Three lines from the chorus say it all:
It’s my life
And it’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
Tommy and Gina make their appearance in the second verse:
Yeah, this is for the ones who stood their ground
For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down
Jon Bon Jovi has said that their 1988 song “Born To Be My Baby” is also about Tommy and Gina, though their names aren’t explicitly mentioned in that song.
So I wondered:
Has a band or musician ever sung about the same characters in separate songs on separate albums?
I could not think of another example.
This week, I received an email from Ed in Holland, who answered my question.
He wrote:
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Hi Matthew,
Just came across your blog post about Bon Jovi’s Tommy & Gina.
Fun fact:
There is a third song in which the couple is mentioned! In their 1988 album track “99 in the Shade,” these lines appear:
“Somebody tells me even Tommy’s coming down tonight
If Gina says it’s all right.”
Also, to answer your question in the same blog post:
“Is there another example of characters like this stretching across multiple albums, creating a universe of sorts for the musician or band?”
Yes, there is! John Mellencamp’s Jack & Diane are revisited in his 1998 song “Eden Is Burning”:
“Diane and Jack went to the movies
They went to see Richard Pryor.”
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In December, I’ll celebrate my 20th anniversary of writing a blog post every day without missing a day.
7,735 and posts counting.
In preparation for writing about my blogging experience, I’ve been collecting some of the more extraordinary moments from two decades of posting my thoughts for the world to read—and there are some doozies—but moments like these are some of my favorites.
It’s kind of crazy:
About 850 days ago, I had a thought about a Bon Jovi song that led to me asking a question. I wrote the question on a blog that can be read by anyone on the planet with access to the internet.
More than two years later, a man living on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean — separated from me by about 3,500 miles of land and water — found and answered that question.
Crazy, right?
The internet is an amazing thing. It’s often terrible, dangerous, and destructive, but it can also be surprising, beautiful, and joyous.
People like Ed in Holland make it so.
I’ve experienced my share of stumbles, scrapes, and even stab wounds by writing daily on the internet.
Rotten, evil, and stupid people have done rotten, evil things over the years—genuinely awful and cruel attempts to harm me and my loved ones.
Not all interactions online have been positive or good.
But enough people like “Ed from Holland” exist to make it all worthwhile.
