A Musical Interlude

Try explaining the following classics to your 10-year old:

Lookin' Better Every Beer, by the Stray Cats
Hurt So Good, by John Mellencamp
Everybody Must Get Stoned, by Bob Dylan

My 10-year old is a huge Bob Dylan fan, and I discovered today that he knows every single word to Everybody Must Get Stoned, right down to the well placed "oh yeahs" and "all-rights." On the way home from practice today, he belted out the entire thing from the back seat when it came on the radio. It was hilarious.

Who knew the radio could be minefield? Me, I love those songs too much to change the station, so I get LOTS of questions. What does "hurt so good" mean, mom? Oh my.

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When my now 8-year old was around 2 or 3, he used to take monster naps, like 3-4 hours long. Actually, he would go into his room for a nap, play for an hour, and then fall asleep for 2-3 hours. It was a thing of beauty, a long break for a tired mommy. He also really liked to listen to music while he was playing and then falling asleep. He particularly liked one Lucinda Williams CD, and always requested to have it play in his room. Some of the songs had upbeat, rock tempos and were not conducive to napping, so I picked one of the slower, bluesy tunes, and would set it on repeat mode, at a low volume. It would play for the entire 4 hours of his bedroom hiatus.

This daily ritual continued until one day, I decided I wanted to listen to this CD in my car. When Essence came on, I smiled, because of course, it reminded me of all of his naps, of hearing this music quietly wafting from his room. Then I listened to the words. One line says something like "help me get f*cked up."

Whoa.

THIS is what I had been letting him listen to ON REPEAT for months now? Those are the lyrics that had been burning into his little psyche for four hours a day, for weeks on end?

Niiiiice. Thanks mom, for the exposure to the world! Love it!

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