Well I'm not a cowboy, nor on a steel horse do I ride, but the lyric seemed appropriate nonetheless. I've done too much thinking lately so it was nice to start today with a laugh (more on that later). I've been obsessed with great lyrics since I was a kid. Obsessed with words in general, I guess. I remember getting new CD's (which are to kids today what records were for us growing up; what old people used to listen to music on) and hoping the album booklet included the lyrics. I'd tear open the packaging as soon as we got to the car and start reading the lyrics before I heard any of the songs. Then once we got home, I lose myself for hours in both the lyrics and the music. Of course, no one buys CD's anymore (except my mom, on occasion) so no one prints album booklets, at least none more than a few pages long, (and somehow digital booklets just aren't the same), but I can still zone out and pour over lyrics for hours. I'm sure down the line we'll all just think of an album we want to buy (provided they still exist) and the album art will just pop right into our brains, including the lyrics if we so choose.
The one thing that's always driven me crazy is lyrics that don't make sense. In high school (and college, actually), friends would be raving over some pop song and how it was the greatest thing they'd ever heard in their lives and I would be the one pointing out a line (or twelve) that didn't make sense. That's not to say I didn't like the song, I usually did, but it would grind my gears every time it came to whichever line(s) didn't fit. As a kid, unfortunately for my mom, I often knew what songs were about because I listened to the words (my sister's always been more about the music, which is probably lucky for mom since I was a very perceptive young lad). She thought I was too young to pay attention to them until we were all in the car one day and "Lola" by The Kinks came on the radio. The song is about a transvestite but they don't come right on out and say it in the song, it's all alluded to. About mid-way through the song, my mom says I broke the silence in the car by yelling, "She's a man, fool!" in a very agitated and 'duh!' kind of tone. She had to pull the car over, partly out of shock and partly because she couldn't stop laughing. And that story made her realize that I pick up on things just a second quicker than most and from that day on my music listenin' was carefully monitored. (Example: I couldn't listen to 2Pac or LL Cool J, particularly 'Hey Lover' when they came out. I couldn't even own their CD's. But there were ways to work around that and I definitely worked 'em. Sorry mom.)
It would appear that my fascination and perception have been passed on to the next generation of music lovers in the family. My niece turns 13 in a few months and has always been very sensitive to music. She's been raised right and prefers older stuff (which depressingly also includes the 90's music her parents and I so love) to any of the crap out today. But her peers listen to the music of the moment and apparently much of that is about sex (see how old I am? I don't even know what today's music is about). Another family member borrowed my sister's truck and left the radio on some station that only plays current stuff and my brother-in-law started the engine just in time to hear, "Love me, hate me, say what you want about me, but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy". Yeah, remember the minor uproar about that song? He changed it immediately but then heard her say something about the song being about sex. My bro-in-law, shocked and mortified, asked his eldest child (and only girl) where she'd heard that song and she said at a friends' house and he told her not to listen to that song anymore, nor any other "post-crazy" (as he calls it) Britney Spears music. End of discussion. But it wasn't. They argued for a few minutes and then he called the Mrs. so she could listen in on the conversation and that's when their daughter mentioned there's another Britney song with a line about 'living in sin' and that that's what mom and dad are doing, so why can't she listen to that? (Enter me, via threeway calling, which is fantastic when you hear what my sister said next). My sister said the song is also about a threesome, so that's why she can't listen to it. The bro-in-law reminded the kid that she's being raised in a Buddhist/Catholic household but she leans towards the former so what does she care if they're hitched or not? Her reply? "Wait, what's a threesome?". My reply; "Yeah, [bro-in-law's name], what's a threesome?". (Exit me, via an authoritative hang up.)
In the end, nobody answered anyone's questions and her parents decided she can't listen to music anymore. As in ANY music (jokingly, of course). After the incident my sister called and filled in the parts of the story I'd missed and I found it even more hysterical. So did she, but obviously she's not looking forward to going home and having more conversations about it all tonight. Then, the bro-in-law called and the first thing he said was that he blames me and my "smartass genetics" for his kids being so sharp. (I said thank you but apparently it was not a compliment.) I started to make light of the situation and he said he was glad I found it all so entertaining and thanked me for my input in the moment (I said you're welcome but apparently it was not a genuine thank you) and I joked that he should've had all boys. Then his tone changed to a really happy one and he started laughing and I asked what was so funny now. He proceeded to remind me that I also have a girl, and only 9 short years before we're having a similar conversation. Right. . . damn.
