All Things Considered is an NPR program I get to listen to on my way home from work everyday. It's a hodgepodge of stories ranging from Indie music bands to current world affairs. This week, they started a segment called "Mom and Dad's Record Collection." Musicians, celebrities, contributors and various guest have been asked to tell a story about a song introduced to them by their parents that brings back vivid memories. As I listened to the first contributor tell her story about the song "Edelweiss" I started thinking, what's my most poignant song memory?
Near as we are to Father's Day, I thought posting something about this might make for a nice surprise for my Dad. My Dad has been a musician for as long as I can remember, mostly because he started playing guitar long before I ever came around. Even before he had met my mom. I can even remember him singing the love song he wrote my mom to my brother, sister and me when we were little. Of course, our favorite back then was when he would play the Sesame Street theme song and the three of us would burst into the first lines... SUNNY DAYS CHASING THE CLOUDS AWAY! I'm not sure what the rest of the words are anymore but I don't really need to. That one line brings back plenty of joy.
My favorite family movie of all time, which our family affectionately refers to as "The Dad and Kids Video," is a video my Dad recorded to send to my Grandmother who had had a stroke but enjoyed watching TV. My Dad turned our tiny living room into a sound stage, complete with microphones, video equipment, sound board, everything that was normally off limits to us kids, as far as I was concerned. The idea was that the three of us siblings, led by our Dad, would sing our favorite Christmas carols to send to Grandma. What resulted is a hilarious taping of a sound check, attempted singing and lots of tom-foolery and kid-kicking.
All that to say, I have lots of musical memories that involve my Dad. But the one memory that was most vivid and came to mind first when I was listening to the NPR story was one involving a more... classical environment.
My Dad went straight into the Navy after high school. During that time and in the time since he has suffered some hearing loss. Quite a bit in one ear, actually. So much so that he chooses his seat at the dinner table so that his good ear faces the majority of the conversation and that he sits on the right side of the living room so that he can hear my mom talking on the left. Having hearing loss of my own, also mostly in one ear, I can kind of understand what it's like now. Nothing ever seems to sound quite balanced. But when I was a kid, I distinctly remember one time (and possibly on even more occasions than that) when my mom was out, maybe at the store, maybe at work, but definitely not home, my Dad grabbed a kitchen chair, set it in the very middle of the living room, right in the middle of the surround sound speakers and putting in a CD of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. I remember literally having the BOOMS blasting out of all the speakers all around my Dad as he sat in the kitchen chair in the middle of it all, with his eyes closed, making small conducting movements with his hands. I remember running into the living room to see what was going on and feeling my heart pound along inside my chest and my eardrums swelling with each explosion. I don't remember if I thought my Dad was crazy or crazy cool back then. But I know that today, I wouldn't trade the 1812 Overture for anything less than crazy cool. And probably not even that.
Thanks Dad, for all the melodious memories.
Your Pumpkin
