Epilogue

After more than 37,000 words, is there even more that could possibly be said? 

I'll answer that question with (of course) a story:  a couple months ago, Tiffany and I were watching a reality show on Netflix.  (I'm too embarrassed to even say what this show is;  I want this audience to continue to believe I would never stoop to watching trash television and that all of my decisions relating to the arts are always best in class.)  One of the characters on this show was overly dull; like just not a lot going on between the ears there.  His love interest on this show would try to engage him, and he would just offer one-word responses.  At the conclusion of one particular episode, I told Tiffany, I'm going to be like that guy for a whole month, I'm going to go full monosyllabic with everyone.  She burst out laughing, saying there was no way I could ever go even an hour without letting people know what I think.  So...yeah, I guess I do have more to say.  😅

But before saying what needs to be said, can we just go back to the 37,000 words for a hot second?  I mean, come on y'all, that is more words than Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate  Factory, than Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, than Orwell's Animal Farm.  And yet is my contribution to humanity any less noble, any less important?  Did any of those so-called authors have their own websites?  Did any of those hucksters have their own merch store?  Ask yourselves what any of those jokers ever did to bring joy into your life that you got for free for 10+ weeks.

In all seriousness, I did want to close out this amazing journey with a few last words.  First and foremost, I gotta give a special shoutout to my friend Erik for making this much more magical than it was ever destined to be.  As many of you know, this started out as an email distribution and ultimately became a website that any actual business doing actual real work would be extremely lucky to have.  And my guy did it like a Buddy the Elf, literally overnight like he was making paper Christmas decorations at Gimbel's but instead he was designing an entire website with super cool design, links, and the aforementioned merch store (which he all designed as well).  Simply put, this whole journey would not have been the same with my AOL-like email distro each week, and Erik made the whole thing look seamless, while at the same time battling challenges that anyone else would've long ago thrown in the towel.  E, thank you, thank you, thank you for lending your amazing talents to this endeavor.

I also have to thank this entire group for reading and contributing.  As I've told many of you, the initial thought here was to put together a list of 100 songs over email, that people may or may not have responded to in a few reply-alls, and after a week or so, that would've been the end of it.  Then I had the idea to trickle these out in batches of 10 like the world-class marketer that I am (Steve Jobs would've been proud).  And then, of course, we got the website which really elevated the whole thing.

But the other key to the whole experience was the give-and-take with each of you.  I loved hearing your stories, your hot takes (some of them way too hot for my liking!), your reactions to each of these songs.  This thing started out as a way for me to say, "here are the best 100 songs, ever -- just try and prove me wrong!" but very quickly became more about connection and community.  To be honest, this thing was a lot more work than I ever really wanted it to be, but the community that was being built was too fun to want to stop.

As I've also told many of you, I never intended to get this vulnerable here and share all these silly stories that were (mostly tangentially) related to the songs.  Certainly did not set out to post Chad's Goons videos for the world to see.  But when I would sit down to write the individual blurbs, I don't know what happened but these stories would just start pouring out of me, and y'all seemed to gobble it up and at some point it became, as Jimmy Connors said, just giving the people what they want.  It was work to develop the desire to actually sit down and write, but once I did, writing was more or less the easy part because the stories came freely and often.

And, of course, there was the music that bound the whole thing together.  I cannot overstate how much music means to me -- I think you got that from the 37,000 words -- but it was equally clear how much music means to each of you.  It is, in my humble opinion, the highest form of art that we have as humans, and life itself would simply not be the same without it.  So in celebrating the joy that was The Jason 100, it was really only possible because of these amazing artists and songs and this group's reactions to those amazing artists and songs.

So, thanks to everyone for this awesome ride.  In wrapping this up, the question now is, what's next?  Or should there even be a next?  I know what Tiffany's answer is, but Tiffany doesn't get to make *all* the decisions around here, y'all!  (As the old saying goes, "Happy Wife Happy Life....but nothing rhymes with Happy Husband.")  So I would love to hear the group's thoughts on where, or even whether, to take it from here.  Is it a podcast with guests (i.e., you all) talking about your best songs?  Is it another top 100 -- top 100 board games?  Top 100 Saturday Night Live Skits or Cast Members?  Top 100 movies?  Top 100 television shows?  Is it nothing and these were simply, ahem, days never to be forgotten?  Let's see what ideas you have in the comments.

For now,
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas
Happy (Belated) Hanukkah
Happy Festivus to those who celebrate. 

Peace, love, and music to all, and see you in 2024!