One of These Things is Not Like the Others…

When I was growing up, one of my favorite shows was Sesame Street—wasn’t it everyone’s really? I think Sesame Street has been on since the dawn of time teaching children numbers, letters and the simplest yet most important lessons in life, like sharing and equality. One of my favorite song snippets from that show was “One of These Things is Not Like the Others,” where you had to choose which of the three or four things in a series didn’t belong. The lyrics went:

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things just doesn’t belong.
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
Before I finish my song?

They would show four Weimaraners in a row, but one of them peculiarly had spots. Oh that sneaky Dalmatian! He doesn’t belong! It was always great fun, but certainly taught a lesson in identifying those things that stick out of the crowd—those things that are unique, those things that are uncommon.

Have you ever seen that two-headed cow? Yeah, that’s pretty uncommon. What about that guy who battled the great white shark...and won? I would have to say I don’t hear too much of that happening. It would definitely fall under the unusual category. Or the suit made completely out of bees? Those sorts of things don’t make much of a buzz often…hence it’s uniqueness.

Okay, so maybe these things are all commonly found at Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums, but they are uncommon none the less to nature and to all of us. They certainly have a way of standing out, like that shifty Dalmatian.

At the Florida Theatre, we do uncommon too.

We often present interesting and unique acts that you wouldn’t find anywhere else in Jacksonville, making our venue shine beyond the marquee lights of our performing arts peers. But one show is especially uncommon—Uncommon Music…for a Common Cause on August 1 at 7:30 pm.

Uncommon Music is a showcase of local musicians bringing their talents together to perform in benefit of a Jacksonville non-profit, Body & Soul—The Art of Healing. The eclectic twist to the show is that the performers are unlike each other. You stand them in a line on Sesame Street, and you wouldn’t have three Weimaraners and a Dalmatian, you would have four completely different animals performing their individual genre of music, but for a common purpose. What better showcase then to bring things that are different together to celebrate something they do have in common? Sesame Street would be so proud.

As the lyrics do go, “One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong,” I will have to say that even if our musicians are like each other at this event, the one thing that does belong there is you. Come out and support local music with a mission.

Peace.