As my husband’s iPod hates our minivan (they literally don’t play nicely with each other, and only spew static instead), we keep the peace and lock-in to the same radio station on every road trip. The station plays what I guess would still be called “Top 40” music to anyone over 35; younger readers would refer to these songs instead as the hottest YouTube video hits they’re watching to learn song lyrics.
Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” and Pink’s “Perfect” and “Raise Your Glass” play constantly, along with anything by Katy Perry, The Plain White T’s, Usher, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Eminem, Chris Brown, Lady GaGa, Neon Trees and Jay-Z.
“Mom, how do you know this song?” Jordan asked as we were driving to school and I was singing along to Pink’s newest release. “How do you know ALL my songs?”
“When did I become dork mom?” I asked half-seriously. “Believe it or not, I do listen to all kinds of music, including your music. Besides, this station plays the same hundred songs over and over again; it’s hard not to know the words.”
When I’m seriously editing, conducting research or writing, my brain can’t handle having music in the background with lyrics, so I tend to listen to what can best be described as dolphin music: Ethereal, calm, organic. When Jordan and Jamie find me working, that is the sound streaming from either the iPod dock or the television.
Oddly though, Jordan and Jamie’s musical tastes are as varied as Jim’s, which absolutely cannot be pigeon-holed by any stretch of the imagination. Jim lives to have music playing, and his brother recently mentioned he remembered Jim at our old house, before the kids came along, jamming in the kitchen and always cooking.
How varied? A quick look at his iPod recently-played list included the Beastie Boys, Lyle Lovett, Ray Charles, Buena Vista Social Club, Jamie Cullom, Kid Rock, KISS, Johnny Cash, Aerosmith, Cowboy Junkies, Melissa Etheridge, Modest Mouse, New Town Kings, Toots Thieleman, James Brown, Noise Therapy, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Nine Inch Nails, Bonnie Raitt, Clint Eastwood, Lucky 7, Duffy, The Commitments, Sting and Ghalib Ghallab.
I don’t think Jim could have been prouder when Jordan sang along to “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” while driving home from preschool, or laughed harder at the irony of Jamie singing along to Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.”
While it’s fun to hear the kids jamming in the back seat to The Black Eyed Peas and Lady GaGa, Jordan and Jamie can also belt out a mean version of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” especially when they scream the chorus “I LOVE YOU, BABY!”
We hope their love of music continues to evolve, embracing cutting-edge as well as classic pieces. But sometimes, just sometimes, we miss hearing them sing along with Jim Henson’s Bear in the Big Blue House, with Tutter, Pip, Pop, Ojo and Treelo, and their sweet little voices singing goodbye and good night to Luna. We never knew that time, like their taste in music, would change our lives so quickly.
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