THIS Is The Actual Best Song To Close A Wedding With
This is a personal blog and a subjective choice. It was just a clicky headline. This was my song choice and my family's wedding tradition. The song is "I Don't Want To Go Home" by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. Little known song, but an all-time jam. When we used to have the Sirius radio hour we'd all rotate picking an intro song and this was mine a couple of times. It's a "if you know you know" type of song and if you were in the McDonald clan from like 1982-present then you KNOW.
Every family wedding I've ever been to has ended with this song. Usually one of my uncles has stolen the microphone from the DJ/Band/MC at this point because another one of my uncle's stole it an hour or so earlier to sing Run Around Sue. This song is the PERFECT way to end the night. It captures the vibe perfectly. You're not shouting...you're singing. The lyrics say it all..."oh I know that it's getting late, but I don't wanna go home"...and we don't. It's been a great night. We are tired, but still having fun. In a circle like white people tend to do at weddings. Arms around each other's shoulders. Nobody seems to mind the body odor or sweat from dancing or booze stained shirts or the shitty thing my other uncle said a couple hours earlier. Why that chorus hits "reach up and touch the sky baby" and everyone at the wedding reaches up in unison while singing terribly at the top of their lungs...it's electric. I promise you. I kind of want it to be everyone's tradition.
This guy used to tour with Springsteen and somewhere along the way it just became our thing for weddings and big family parties and it hits every time. Here is a weird rendition with Springsteen