"(Simply) The Best" by Tina Turner, Thursday, October 7, 2021

The 1989 anthem "The Best" with its electric guitars and keyboard production is one of Tina Turner's most recognizable songs. Born in 1939, the rock 'n' roll legend would turn 50 with the song's release, yet she still could rock a mini skirt. The song was first a minor hit the prior year for Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, whose musical career in the U.S. had declined. Tina Turner brought new life into the song, adding a bridge and a saxophone solo by Edgar Winter. The simple music video draws a subliminal comparison to Turner's energy with the horse she ends up riding. Today Turner has just signed a deal with BMG for $50 Million for her entire catalogue as well as her name, image, and likeness. The 81-year-old singer has survived abuse, drugs, cancer, and other health scares in recent years. Earlier this year, HBO released a documentary titled Tina, as a "farewell to fans." Today her catchy 1989 hit ended the news program I listen to every morning, so how could it not be the song of the day?

I CALL YOU WHEN I NEED YOU. MY HEART'S ON FIRE. I don't know when I first heard this song. My upbringing had very little secular music in it, but I remember humming this song when I was seven or eight. I thought the lyrics were, "something possessed." When my mom heard me singing about "demon possession," she freaked out. I don't have much memory of the song impacting my life after that until a few years ago. There was the parody on SNL's 40 year anniversary that was pretty forgettable. But in season 4 of Schitt's Creek, singer/actor Noah Reid, portraying Patrick, arranged and performed an acoustic cover of the song, serenading his on-screen boyfriend, David Rose, played by Dan Levy. The song quickly became one of the fans' most beloved moments in the series. The power of the Tina Turner hit helped to further develop Patrick's character as the sweet, fiercely devoted anchor to David's impractical, often superficial, whims. It also helped to establish one of the most positive portrayals of LGBTQ representation on television. Noah Reid's vocals nowhere match Turner's. But through the power of a popular song, viewers see that love is love. Schitt's Creek joins the ranks of shows like All in the Family, Northern Exposure, and Modern Family that introduce lovable queer characters, to varying degrees of importance. Schitt's Creek is different, though, as writer/creator/actor Dan Levy told the Los Angeles Times that the creators "made a choice early on not to show homophobia in the series." He went on to say, "There was something fascinating in projecting a version of our world that was kinder and more empathetic." In other words, simply the best version of our world.

BETTER THAN ALL THE REST. Patrick and David are just two examples of the power of this song. Turner's solo career is probably best remembered in two songs, the latter is "The Best," which had preceded a string of hits and was followed by several more including 1995's James Bond theme song for Golden Eye. Turner worked for every accolade. A Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Inductee (along with ex-husband, Ike Turner), a former Guinness World Record holder for the largest concert attendance by a solo act, the first black woman on the cover of Rolling Stone, multiple Grammys including a lifetime achievement award, and the title of "The Queen of Rock 'n Roll," Tina Turner was born to a mother who didn't want her and endured an abusive marriage before getting divorced and becoming a solo act. However, despite being a well known rock and RnB singer with Ike,

record labels passed on her solo work for years, until 1984 when she released her other most iconic song "What's Love Got to Do with It?" Billboard said that Turner reemerging on the charts was "one of the greatest comebacks of all time." In an interview in 1984, Turner talked about wanting "to be the first black rock 'n' roll singer to pack places like the Stones, David Bowie, or [Rod] Stewart." And Turner did all of that. In her later years, turning to Buddhism, she embraced the power of forgiving her abusive husband. She doesn't excuse what he did, but she told Oprah Winfrey in 2018 that she was trying to understand why Ike did what he did in the light of his own childhood trauma. Speaking to The Sun Herald, Turner stated: "I don’t look back. I don’t dwell. I wouldn’t change anything because every experience, good or bad, has made me the person I am today. Buddhism has taught me that life is a process."

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