Skip to main content

Song of the Week: "Little Boy Blue"

To celebrate the first leg (view map) of our 2-day, 400-mile whirlwind of a family vacation to Lake Chelan, it's time for a road trip song. The song of the week is "Little Boy Blue (North of North Dakota)" from Jake Armerding's self-titled album. It was the last song I added to the iPod before hitting the open road this morning.

Now, the lyrics may not fit the scene perfectly. June. North of North Dakota. But the sentiment is all there.

Got myself a debit card, little bit of cash
Petty on the speakers and I'm beating on the dash
Daddy was a highway, Mama was a view
I'm a little boy blue

After dinner tonight I went night swimming with the kids in the pool. Braeden asked each of us what the best part of today had been. Mark and Emma named various things we had seen. For me, it was just spending time with Thelma.

I'm a little bit of highway, shiny with the dew
little bit of summertime, sitting next to you
Never had a reason, never had a clue
just a little boy blue

Few things can compete with the open road when Thelma's by my side and the music is playing. I know the cardinal rule is to keep your hands at 10 and 2. It's so much better, though, when my left hand's at 6 and my right hand is in Thelma's.

She was looking so phenomenal, what was I to do
I crumpled up the gas receipt and stuck it in my shoe
Never had a reason, never had a clue
just a little boy blue

I'm not sure we ever managed to get Petty on the speakers. Thelma started going through the songs beginning with "A". My favorite Tom Petty song, "Wildflowers", never had a chance.

The way "Little Boy Blue" personifies the highway has me thinking about the faux folk song "Never Did No Wanderin'" from the movie A Mighty Wind. (A must see movie especially if you like folk music, humorous lyrics and improvisational acting. Think This is Spinal Tap meets Peter, Paul and Mary.)

My mama was the cold North wind,
My daddy was the son, of a railroad man from west of hell,
Where the trains don't even run...

No I, never did not wanderin'
Never did not wanderin' after all.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Driving East

I will wake up tomorrow morning, on Father’s Day, alone in Cheyenne without my family. I say this matter-of-factly. Designated days have only a light hold on me. An unexpected business trip that means being gone on Father’s Day? No problem. I'm not much for ceremony. More than once we have marked Father’s Day by splurging for a hotdog at Costco while filling up the minivan on a road trip. (Surely, Cheyenne has a Costco.) If I wake up emotional tomorrow morning, it's not because I'm alone on Father’s Day. It will be because of the cocktail of emotions I drank today. —— Driving across Wyoming was beautiful. Everything below the horizon looked groomed and green. The grass, the hills. the forests. A sea of green dusted with flecks of distant snowfields and antelope. (So many antelope.) Above the horizon, wild white and stormy black scratched across brilliant blue. The kind of sea and sky that softens your heart and tricks your mind.  I pulled off the highway at Little America f
2 comments
Read more

Three Wonders

I know the tradition began earlier, but I associate it with the Carmen Red Oldsmobile station wagon. There was also the Toyota van, but the Oldsmobile days were the magic ones. Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we would literally go. (Also through the valley, past the waterfalls, over the hill, and along the lake.) Neilan family Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The house where my mom was raised, where aunts, uncles, and cousins were just a few houses or blocks away. The two story house where on any ordinary day you entered directly into the kitchen, sat at the kitchen table, and just listened to my mom and her parents talk as an assortment of her brothers would inevitably call or stop by. But on Christmas Eve, the house was already packed to the brim with family, presents, food, and laughter. So much laughter. It was a wonderland as a child to be surrounded by people who loved you and were excited to see you. The house was warm and the large w
2 comments
Read more

Block Facebook Ads with CSS

(This is my experience evaluating Facebook for my daughter.  It turned into a technical exercise in CSS.  If you want the full narrative, read on.  If you just want the steps for using CSS to block ads on Facebook, jump ahead .) Emma asked permission to create a Facebook account so she can keep in touch with some of her cousins and friends.  Emma has been very responsible using our family computer and does a good job keeping our rules about what to do and how to behave online.  So, Thelma and I decided that it was probably OK once I had a chance to check out and become familiar with the privacy settings and parental controls. Even though I work for an online business and Facebook is a frequent topic of conversation when it comes to reaching out to and retaining online customers, I have to admit that I have rarely used the service.  I created an account for business purposes to become a "fan" of a client so I could keep tabs on some social marketing campaigns.  That's it.
3 comments
Read more