And because our brains are way they are, we are way we are, -- we endure love, grief, excitement, inconvenient passions, attempts at rational control, impotent anger and need to push to head of line. And we do dumb things like fool around with Jose's faithless girl. (Don't go there!)

EQ is about experiencing and managing those emotions -- yours and theirs -- and it's in all our songs.

It used to be Western tradition to have a poet laureate – starting in England in 1600s, appointed for poetic excellence and being a salaried member of royal household with no official duties, they spoke feelings for people. (Poets laureate of England included Jonson, Dryden, Wordsworth and Tennyson, among others.)

Though states in US continue to appoint poets laureate, poetry is no longer “popular” (as in 'enjoyed by many people') and their original function is now filled by our popular music.

EQ is about experiencing and managing those emotions -- yours and theirs -- and it's in all our songs.

1. Kodachrome (Paul Simon) / EQ can matter more than IQ, especially when it means being able to "read writing on wall"

When I think back on all k*** I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all, and my lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I can read writing on wall.

2. Heaven’s Just a Sin Away (The Kendalls) / Primitive (Reptilian) Brain’s winning out over limbic and neocortex

Heaven’s just a sin away, just a sin away, can't wait another day, I think I'm giving in. How I'd love to hold you tight, be with you tonight, that still won't make it right, 'cause I belong to him. Way down deep inside, I know that it's all wrong, your eyes keep tempting me, and I never was that strong. The devil's got me now, gone and got me now, I can't fight him any how, I think he's gonna win ... Heaven help me when I say, I think I'm giving in.

3. The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time (Mickey Gilley) / Reality check, chemical , low impulse control and intentionality, low EQ

Ain’t it funny, ain’t it strange, how a man’s opinion changes when he starts to face that lonely night... The girls all get prettier at closing time, they all begin to look like movie stars. If I could rate 'em on a scale from 1-10, I'm looking for a 9, but 8 could work right in. A few more drinks, and I might slip to 5 or even 4, and when tomorrow morning comes and I wake up with a number 1, I swear I'll never do it any more.

4. Count on Me (The Statler Brothers) / Empathy, communication, interpersonal skills, intuition, high EQ, what a couple

Six shows a week, 44 weeks a year they worked with their big cats on stage, and not once has there been an incident.

In fact, according to reports, Montecore nipped at Roy’s arm earlier in show before carrying him off stage and seriously injuring him, without leaving any bite marks.

Which is more than I can say about Baby Kittee here at my own house. I know all about Baby Kittee. She is, to quote William Blake, “red in tooth and claw.” As I vacuum around house, I find wings, scales, tails and other remnants of her nature. Her name was chosen by my granddaughter. It might as well have been “Fluffy Killer.” Cats are always one generation away from feral; they do not permanently domesticate, like dog.

Now did you catch that 6 shows a week? According to Horn’s surgeon, Dr. Derek Duke, “A contributing factor to [Roy’s] current condition is his extraordinary will and strong physical attributes. These are significant elements in his ability to recover.” Indeed his “thumbs-up” signal to his partner has been mentioned by reporters.

We are told that as he was carried away, he asked that cat not be put down. “Please don’t shoot cat,” he said. “Save cat.”

It was Roy Horn’s 59th birthday (October 23, 2003) when he was performing on stage with 7-year-old, 600 pound Royal white tiger, Montecore, that cat injured him.

Reports from shocked observers varied, but consensus, now that some time has passed, is that tiger became fascinated with a woman’s “big hair” in audience, even to point of lying down on job, at which point Roy bopped him to get his attention.

Roy then endeavored to stay between cat and woman (what’s with “big hair”?) and it was at this point he fell, stage hands rushed forward, and Montecore took action. According to head of Mirage (Mr. Wynne), he didn’t “drag” Roy offstage, nor did he “attack” or “grab” him.

Siegfried and other big cat experts agree that if Montecore had meant to do job, he would have shaken him to break his neck, and, as Siegfried said, “There would be no Roy.”

Instead Wynn describes it as a gentle “carry,” like a mother cat carrying her kitten off to safety. It is entirely possible Montecore was heading back to his cage and taking what he cared about with him.

In interviews, Roy talks continually of his bonding with his cats. He is present at their birth, and keeps constant company with them.

We know that bonding can occur between all mammals because of limbic brain we share in common. It is how we bond to our own young, and to one another, as do dogs, cats, horses, and other mammals.

Ironically, in my Emotional Intelligence courses ( http://www.susandunn.cc ), I use “the tiger within" to describe those primitive-brain emotions or instincts that occur automatically that have to do with fear, aggression and self-preservation.

Psychologists call it 3F reaction – fight, flight, or canoodle. And that’s about only decision reptiles, and lower animals ever have to make. They learn rarely, if at all; they react to their environment in terms of what it can do to them or for them; and they don't with each other or with their young - in fact they'll eat them.

We retain this brain. To this we evolved limbic brain (mammalian), what makes us care for our young, bond, be able to empathize, communicate and play ... and why when we look into eyes of one another, or another mammal, we see soul, we feel a sentient being. It initiates mutual caring.