The other day I hit my local excellent used record and CD store, M-Theory, and among other things, picked up a copy of Wings' Greatest on CD. This made my husband very happy, it made me very happy and it too made my daughter quite happy although I didn't know it would do that at the time. I put it in the player and hit "Jet" thinking that would be the song for her, what with the anthemic chorus and all, but no, she wasn't having it. I tried "Hi Hi Hi" because it's rousing, but still no. She turned up her nose. Then I played track 7, my favorite as a child, the odd "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey." She loved it! She said it reminded her of Yellow Submarine. She asked if the meanies were in this song. She asked if it was the same guy singing... life is swell, she has learned well, thee young grasshopper.She has now listented to that song far too much, though, somewhere in the neighborhood of 47 times. Over just a few days. In the interest of our sanity (because face it, 47 times of one song, one odd little song, is not really doing us any favors and defeats the point of all this a bit really) my husband introduced a few more from the CD and she landed on another: "Silly Love Songs." Which is frankly a dated late-70s sounding silly fluff of a song. But here's the key to its success in her eyes: the lyrical repeat of "I love you."
We say "I love you" A LOT in our house. I'm sure I overuse it, but I like the way it makes me feel warm each and every damn time I say it and so I say it a lot. And she almost always smiles at me sweetly and returns the gesture. When it rears its head in song, she's as happy as if her whole family had gathered around, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, and said it to her and only her.
There are other bands and artists that have "I love you" in their lyrics: Eminem, Celine, Jewel. But I don't like them. And frankly neither should our children.
Ah, but we know another tune, one she lobbed on to some time ago that has the same effect and frankly is better than all these other tunes (in my thouroughly subjective opinion) and that my friends, is the Pixies, "La La I Love You."
Oddly there is one more song that intones a bit of love that she really truly enjoys. And I'm not making this up and it's kind of funny really. Dogs Die in Hot Cars, "I Love You Cause I Have To." Like I said, pretty funny considering how many times I day I tell her I love her. What am in for when she's 13?
Wings, "Silly Love Songs"
Pixies, "La La Love You"
Dogs Die in Hot Cars, "I Love You Cause I Have To"
Bonus "I Love You" Track:
Van Morrison, "I Love You (The Smile You Smile)"
3 comments:
We say "I love you" a lot in our house too, which is something I did not hear very much as a kid. I picked it up from watching "Little House on the Prairie" and thinking that when I have kids I want our family to be like that.
Do you know Tom T. Hall's song "I Love"? It was one of my faves when I was a kid, and it's a great song.
I don't know that Tom T. Hall song! I'm gonna look for it though. Thanks!
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