Today is my 30th birthday, and my initial inclination was to put on something ponderous and indulgent; one of my favorite introspective songwriters like Van Morrison or Leonard Cohen or something like that. But rather than belabor my own self-reflection, I’d rather just go with the kind of song that the 12 O’Clock Track is all about—a breezy, jumpy, light respite from the grim despair of the everyday. So here’s Harry Belafonte’s “Jump in the Line.” It’s at the end of Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder dances to it with the ghosts of football players while floating above a staircase, and that’s really all you need to know.
