My Father’s Day Soundtrack
If you’re like me, you can’t hear certain songs without thinking of your dad. More specifically, without thinking of your dad giving the song’s history, what other bands performed the song, and what lyric from the song he always tries to live by. With Father’s day approaching, here are 3 of my dad’s favorite songs and their corresponding lessons.
First, Elton John’s “Funeral For A Friend.” This is a magical trip of a song and it has always put a smile on my dad’s face. If you haven’t heard this song, I highly recommend it. This abstract journey turns the music into something almost tangible as it wordlessly describes its epic adventure. It’s an immersive kind of music and one you can tell was created as music for music’s sake. Music as an experience.
My dad has always loved those kinds of left-of-center, instrumental heavy tunes. He has never been afraid to hitch his horse to something that wasn’t entirely the standard. “Funeral For A Friend” and some of his other favorites from groups like E.L.O. and the Moody Blues are great examples of what can be found if you spread a wide enough net and focus on what you actually enjoy instead of what you’re supposed to enjoy.
The second song is a tune from Bill Joel but dad and I disagree on which one fits best. I’ve always said it’s “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” because of the line, “Don’t waste your money on a new set of speakers, you get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers.” This line will always remind me of my dad who has still swears by the longevity of off brand anything. I don’t know that he’s ever put it this way, but my brother and I always claim dad’s motto as “anything worth buying is worth buying on sale.”
When I’ve brought up this line to dad, he smiles but says that’s not the one he’d pick. He’d point to “You May Be Right,” (oddly from the same album.) There’s a line in there about driving your motorcycle in the rain claiming “you told me not to drive, but I made it home alive, and you said that only proves that I’m insane.” Apparently this came a little too close to the truth for some of dad’s younger adventures. He was sure to bring it up frequently when my brother and I started driving.
Our third slot goes to a Harry Chapin song, but no, not that one. If you’re familiar with these columns you know I wouldn’t do something that clichéd. There are many Chapin songs I could pick, and they’ve all been my favorite at one point or another. The one that always comes back to me though, is “Flowers Are Red.”
Like much of Chapin’s work, the song is playful, direct, and a beautiful piece of satire. A boy paints flowers in school and is chastised because he used many colors and as the teacher says, “Flowers Are Red.” The boy’s hard-fought response throughout the song has always stuck with me. It’s about perspective, having an open mind, and standing up to nonsense. “There are so many colors in the rainbow, so many colors in the morning sun, so many colors in the flower, and I see every one.”
My dad has always enjoyed exploring and sharing music. Music is a philosophical experience for him. The experience of the sound, the stories they can tell, and the lessons they can teach are all reasons I can’t wait to pass these tunes on to my daughter.
