Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night: What Bon Jovi Means to Me

Last weekend I made the journey to Wembley to watch, in my opinion, the greatest band in the world!!

BON JOVI!

I don’t care that you’re laughing, I’m way past giving a shit what people think, I’m not old, Just Older. I first discovered Bon Jovi when I was 14 and It’s My Life was all over the radio, most of you will agree, an absolute banger!

However, back then that song spoke to me, but more in a sense of “YEAH IT’S MY LIFE YOU F**KERS! I’LL DO WHAT I WANT!!”

It still speaks to me now, but slightly differently now I’m a 40 year old dad! Now it’s more… “I’ve spent too long worrying about work and what other people think, now it’s time to take back control!”

Jon Bon Jovi was 38 when I first discovered the band, singing about stuff that I didn’t understand, to me it was an epic guitar solo or beat, the lyrics were great, even though I didn’t know what he was getting at!

As I’ve got older and experienced life, their songs have pretty much become The Story of My Life, I’ve fell In and Out of Love, been through hard times, good times, found comfort in friends and family, struggled with personal identity, become a father, experienced bereavement plus much more, all of which these guys have sung about in one way or another.

For me turning 40 was tough, but the song Just Older Came on my playlist and spoke to me, it told me, yeah you might be older, but you ain’t old! You’re comfortable in your own skin, you’re living and it isn’t over yet!

I’m two years older than Jon was when I first heard them, I’ll still leap about like a mad one when Living on a Prayer comes on after a few beers, I’ll still scream those lyrics, even though I myself am not Living on a Prayer anymore, Not living pay packet to pay packet, but I have been there, back then that song meant something special, now it reminds me of those days and I belt it out like no-one is listening!

I remember driving home from work one day, life wasn’t exactly going my way, It’s Complicated, but I was in a low spot and Someday I’ll be Saturday Night came on, I’d never really listened to it before, but this time I did, and it got me, I burst into tears and had to pull over, I couldn’t Runaway from it, I wasn’t right and I needed to fight to be myself again, so when I got home, I wrote “Saturday Night” on a piece of paper and stuck it to my fridge and looked at it Everyday, I vowed I would not remove it until I was me again!

A year and a half later, I took it down and put it away safe. I had got there, I wouldn’t have done it without hearing those words and realising I wasn’t OK. Knowing there is a problem is the first step to fixing it.

I think that’s why Bon Jovi means so much more now than they did when I was 14, back then I loved the guitars, the beat and the absolutely belting anthems, Now I’ve lived enough life to understand what those songs were actually talking about!

The band absolutely rocked the other night it was Legendary! I was a Bounce-ing around like a teenager again, I had a blast, even though some weird woman was sat behind me pretending to cut my hair, too many G&T’s before the show I reckon.

I’m not sure if they’ll be back, but just in case they’re not, I made the most of it and had One Wild Night!

Thanks to the band, not just for the other night, but for the 26 years!

You weren’t wrong when you said, “I’ll be there for you!”

You really were!

Take it easy!

TM

ONE LAST THING…

You may have noticed I’ve snuck a fair few Bon Jovi song titles into this blog… some more subtly than others!

Think you spotted them all?

Count how many different Bon Jovi song titles are hidden in the blog and comment your answer on the Instagram post where I shared this blog.

Everyone who gets the correct number will go into a draw to win a TimberMane hat!

No cheating, no Googling a list of Bon Jovi songs… although I have absolutely no way of policing that. 😂

Good luck!

TM

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