Song in the Holiday Mercedes-Benz Commercial

You may have seen this Mercedes commercial recently featuring a stuffed animal finding a new home (a MUCH warmer home, as the ad implies) with a family in a Mercedes SUV. The ad is titled, “Plushie” and you can watch it here:

Voiceover for this ad is performed by actor Jon Hamm.

The song used in the ad is called “Your Sweet Heart” by Elijah Aaron. From Elijah’s website:

“All music composed, performed, produced, mixed and mastered by Elijah Aaron Palnik.”

For this ad, though, Mercedes brought in a woman to sing the lyrics, which are as follows:

The world is much bigger now you’re gone 
I hear your voice in every song 
Feeling like a shadow in a world I don’t belong 
Then your sweet love came along 

Now you’re miles of time ahead 
Your voice still echoes in my head 
Feeling like a shadow in a world I don’t belong 
Then your sweet heart came along 

Where would I be had I not met you 
How would my days continue on 
Who would I be had I not found you 

I guess it I had it all wrong 
Till your sweet heart came along

Here is Elijah performing this beautiful song.

Back to the MB commercial, I think the shorter version doesn’t quite give you the warm feeling that the original 60-second version does. Take a look at the longer version here:

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Women, don’t settle for “just ok”

One things I like to do on this blog is write about relationships. Sometimes my relationships, sometimes other people’s relationships. A few years ago I posted about folks who return to their exes, and sometimes that’s a good thing (rarely!). This post will be along the same lines… but slightly different. I know a woman who has been interested in a man for a few months. She’s been friends with the man for awhile, but the man can’t decide if he wants to date her or another woman on his radar. When I ask my friend, the woman, how things are going with him, she says they are “OK.”

Usually I respond with casual encouragement but lately I’ve wanted to shout from the rooftops… DON’T SETTLE FOR JUST OK!!!!! I want to tell her that she deserves — not “should be,” not “could be,” she DESERVES — to be with a man who’s on cloud 9 with her. The only time the words “just OK” are uttered are whenever he has to be away from her, like on a trip or out to the store.

Now, I’m not saying they must spend every waking second together. We all know how claustrophobia feels. But women (and this goes for men, too), if there is a person out there you’re interested in and they are taking their sweet time deciding between you and another potential partner, evaluate critically what he (or she) is saying. This is not the Bachelorette. The dude needs to make up his mind and give his full self to you or the other woman. Anything less than that is unacceptable and I hope you realize you are worth so much more than “just OK.”

When I chat with my friend again, I hope I have the opportunity to tell her how special she is, that she’s worth a heck of lot more than a dude who is being lazy and almost mean to her. There is a man out there who will adore her as she deserves. Not a guy who strings her along while he has another woman being strung along the same way.

Don’t ever settle or think that is just the way relationships go. You are amazing. You are special. You are not just anybody.

-Out of the Wilderness

Carrying things in my pockets

I will start off by directing a question to the men out there: do you like carrying things in your pockets? Women, you can answer too, of course, but I can only speak as a man so that’s where this post is coming from. I absolutely do not like having things in my pockets. Especially bulky things. I think my dislike for it began sometime in late high school or early college having a wallet in my back pocket. Know what I mean? You’re sitting in your car, the movie theater, or anywhere else and everything is lopsided.

There’s another story that absolutely no one knows but me. Do you remember those detachable face plates you could by with aftermarket car stereos? The were around in the early 2000s. I’m not sure if they were popular but the idea is that you take the face plate with you when you exit the car and it deters anyone from stealing your car stereo. Genius. I was driving an SUV that had one of these so naturally I took the face plate with me everywhere I went. One place I went was a public bathroom…

Yes, I accidentally dropped the thing into the toilet!

Yowzers. I quickly fished out the unit from where it had just splashed down. Now do you feel my pain for why I don’t like having things in my pockets? There are a million reasons, but having something valuable slide out and into a public toilet has got to be close to #1.

There was another time I was carrying my Razor flip phone and slightly bumped something with my hips. A few minutes later I found out this is what shattered the outer screen on the phone.

Do you have any stories like this? Don’t leave me out here to be embarrassed alone!

-Out of the Wilderness

Clever and Cute Beach Wall Art

If you are in a cold climate, you will either love or hate this post. Over the Christmas holidays I was in a home that had oodles of clever pictures and portraits, all praising the beach life. I love each of them for their cleverness and beachyness. Take a look, and remember warmer days are ahead 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Out of the Wilderness: 2020 in review

I set out at the beginning of 2020 to write a blog post every day of the year and I am very happy to say that I posted MORE than 365 times. Every day at 1pm there was something new on the site, whether you liked or not is a gray area but I’m so thankful for you all who have been on the journey with me. Who knew back in January what we were in store for as 2020 has been a crazy year. Lots of posts addressed the wild events of 2020 from the coronavirus, the US Presidential election, and a handful of terrible dating profiles.

Here is a list of the top 10 posts from this year, based on number of views.

The Song in Apple’s Commercial for iPhone 12 Pro Max and Mini

More about Xfinity’s ad “Go Your Own Way”

Allstate’s Island Commercial: The Islands, the Truck, the Music, and the Hound!

Toyota’s Holiday Ad featuring Military Man Returning Home

New Allstate commercial – actors, location, and music

Truist TV Ad featuring well-known song and Cruiser the dog

The Woman in Jon Pardi’s “Ain’t Always the Cowboy”

Who’s the Dude in “More Than My Hometown” by Morgan Wallen

Publix ad featuring Ro Malone is simply adorable

8 Movies and Songs with “Mask” in the Title

Well, then! Obviously a lot of posts about commercials and music were sought after. To be honest, I loved researching for these posts and discovered that with a little time and effort, I could find the info people were seeking. I’m hoping to do more of that in 2021, for sure. As far as posts about my personal life and experiences, here are a few of my favorites from 2020…

Soul change or just behavior modification?

Marriage worship

“[enter city name] Strong” is so overused

Toothbrushes for 20 years

God, I thought I understood You

And I also wrote more satire in the style of The Onion and The Babylon Bee. That was fun. Here are a few favorites from that catalog of posts…

Joe Biden Hosts Grassroots Event with Room Full of Cardboard Cutouts

Hindsight Distancing Itself from 2020

Joe Biden Exercises with “Basement to 5K” plan

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness