“People Watching” the Delightfully Unusual Single from Sam Cary

Have you ever been in a position where you don’t identify with what someone says about you? This situation doesn’t happen to me often. I usually am pretty self-aware of all my habits, good or bad. That said, I found myself in this position a few weeks ago. When I first heard “People Watching”, the latest single from Sam Cary, I did not make a direct connection to something I do on an almost daily basis. It took a few listens and several days before I banged my forehead in an “ah-ha” moment.

“People Watching” is a song about something everyone does, but they may not even be aware of it. We all strive to connect to people, and sometimes a little surveillance is needed to find those with whom we connect best. That said, in moderation, people-watching is a normal part of life, even if we are scared to admit it. For me, it has become part of the job.

I can’t relate to every new tune the comes across my desk. That, by no means, a particular song is bad. I just do not fit into the story. To do a song review that has little to nothing to do about me can be extremely difficult. When I first started all of this, I would have to lean hard on an artist to come up with who a particular song was for. There were times when that wasn’t enough. Then one fall day, I found I had all the resources I need around me.

I was struggling with a write-up one day at a local coffee shop. I pulled my earbuds out for a break and overheard a conversation these two young women were having. As it turns out, they were discussing the very topic I was writing about. the write-up I was struggling with suddenly came together. Since then, people-watching has helped me connect songwriter’s stories to real people.

Sam Cary goes a little deeper with the overall theme “People Watching,” which I have also learned over the past couple of years. There are people all around us daily. They have their own stories and are from all walks of life. Yet, as different as the next person may be, we all want the same things. Humans simply want to be loved and understood by someone else. It doesn’t matter if it’s the guy at the bus stop looking for quarters or a CEO paying $12 for her morning coffee. They both want to be loved and understood.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Sam, as well as myself, hope when you are out, you can connect to the people around you. People-watching could very well be the first step in doing that. Loving and understanding the people around us may not always be the easiest task, but it’s always worth the effort.