Power of Love by Huey Lewis & The News

“Power of Love” music video

After my mom told me that my uncle had died of Parkinson's disease last July, I became flooded with feelings and thoughts. It's almost debilitating and only through time and self-reflection did I reach a sense of clarity. After nine months I think about my uncle every so often but in general I feel that I have "gotten over" his death.

Before my uncle's death I knew Michael J. Fox had Parkinson's and I had seen him do interviews in support of stem-cell and Parkinson's research. Even my uncle had Parkinson's I didn't really think much of this. Recently Fox has been making the rounds around talk shows promoting his new book Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist about his life with Parkinson's disease. His words and his life now mean something very different to me now that my uncle has passed away.

At first it was my uncle losing his balance, and then it was missing easy shots on the tennis court. Though it was probably, a gradual development to my young eyes it seemed like all of the sudden he was stuck in his recliner unable to walk. His clear articulate voice became garbled and his ability to even reach out his hand became almost impossible. Maybe it was the fact I myself was getting bigger, but it seemed that my once tall and athletic uncle was shrinking.

His brain gradually lost control of functions until he needed to be fed through a feeding tube, needed help to breathe and then finally, well things just. . . stopped.

I was born in 1982. Things seemed simple during that decade. We had a grandfather-like figure as the president and images of economic success seemed to permeate our culture. For a kid growing up it truly did seem like morning in America. My uncle hosted family get-together, we would go out on his boat and well, everything just seemed right. I was too young to see the other side of the coin, the economic hardship and problems at home and abroad. America had a sheen to it that like memories of a childhood that only seems to get brighter in the distance.

For myself, one of the most endearing films stars of the 1980s is Michael J. Fox. The image of him riding his skateboard to school as Marty Mcfly in the beginning of Back To The Future with “Power Of Love” playing in the background is one of my favorite scenes in film.

Back To The Future directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg featured Fox as a teenager who unwittingly travels back in time, meets his parents as teenagers, has to fight off romantic advances from his mom (hilarious), coaches his dad onto how to get with his mom, all while trying to get back to the future. This mixture of science fiction and teenage adventure was an enormous success and spawned two successful sequels.

After the success of their third album Sports, Huey Lewis & The News composed and recorded "The Power Of Love" for Back To The Future. This song was featured in the opening skateboard ride to school and was also the songs the Marty's band auditions with to get into a battle of the bands. Even though studio execs were disappointed that this song did not have the title of the film in the lyrics, they loved the song and it became a number one hit and was nominated for an Academy Award

Huey Lewis with his 80s mullet and clean image was about as threatening as a puppy dog In the 1980s when Springsteen was dealing with social issues, Madonna was pushing sexual boundaries and Michael Jackson was extending the musical possibilities of pop music Huey Lewis & The News were simply creating fun, relatable and catchy pop music.

"Power Of Love" is a celebration of all the things that love makes us feel and do. Lewis contemplates the good that love does, making men sing, correcting mistakes and also the bad making men weep and keeping people home at night. He concludes in the chorus that love may save your live and that love makes the world go round.

When I see Michael J. Fox talk, it makes me sad at first knowing how much he has changed from that character rocking out to “Power Of Love.” I’m reminded about my uncle and how the disease slowly debilitated him and the last time I saw him before his passed away.

The last time I saw my uncle before he died, I remember feeling very awkward. I didn’t know what to say or what I should do. He could barely mumble and he was immobile. It’s a horrible feeling worrying about your own emotions in these situations but I did. I wasn’t extremely close to my uncle and it wasn’t until after he died that I understood all that he did for my family and felt a deep sense of gratitude. I wrote my aunt, his wife a letter after died telling her how much all that he did for my family meant to me, but I never told him.

For the past couple months I didn’t know what to do with this feeling and it wasn’t until a recent Michael J. Fox interview that it all kind of came together. He talked about how the Parkinson’s made him appreciate his life more and make every moment count. I may not have made every moment with my uncle count. I can’t do anything about that but what I can do is make his passing mean something in my life. In the way, that Parkinson’s made Fox relish every moment with his family, my uncle’s passing can serve as a reminder of what is truly important in my life. Also, there will always be “Power Of Love” to remind me not only how great it was to be a kid in the 80s but to have my uncle in my life.