Music

Jon Bon Jovi's words of wisdom for new university grads involved laughing and dancing

by Richard Howard

Jon Bon Jovi was recently honoured by Rutgers University for his extensive philanthropic work with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters. Following his commencement speech to recent graduates, the Bon Jovi frontman revealed: “I tried to buy you all a gift, but I wasn’t too sure of sizes and, you know, favorite colours.” At which point I assume the grads leaned forward with dollar signs dancing in their eyes and dreams of an Oprah-esque gift-giving in their heads. Well, they quickly learned that Bon Jovi isn’t so much about ‘What You Want‘ anymore – but what you need, he will still give it for free. And apparently, what they really needed to go out in to the world and succeed was a brand new Jon Bon Jovi tune, composed just for them. After humbly informing them that “I did what I do best…I sat down and wrote you a song,” he launched into the following number.

The jaunty tune that was a little bit of Dylan and a little bit of country implored grads to grab life by the horns and make memories along the way. While there were many memorable lines throughout the song’s two-chord verse, my favorites were to be found in the chorus which contained gems such as “learn to laugh, dare to dance, touch the sky,” and “start this revolution and I’ll see you at the reunion.” Possibly the best part of the video? The faculty member (who I can only assume is part of the English department) cracking up behind JBJ throughout.