solace/fernando

A flashback from my childhood: I remember sitting in Ms Goodenough's class in 4th grade, listening to two songs at once in my head. We had the soundtrack to The Sting at home, which included my favorite Joplin, then and now, "Solace." Abba's song "Fernando" was on the radio, meanwhile, and I realized that their choruses had exactly the same chord structure and the same faux-Spanish sound. I'd sit there with both songs going on in my head, listening to how they collided and danced. I've still never heard it done physically, but I just now enjoyed the same modern motet all over again.

No doubt school wasn't entirely worthless, but I did and do tend to grade my classes based on how much opportunity they gave me for that kind of reflection — which, after all, is what helped give me the skills I use today.

Questions for discussion among teachers:
1. Was I goofing off, in a daze, or hard at work?