As JV has hinted, we need to start headed back to the old time songs. I figured I'd kick that off by getting us a little closer. One of my earliest musical memories is when my mother and I went to an indoor rummage sale at this church in our neighborhood. It was then I first heard "The Sounds of Silence" and I remember it clearly. The smell of the wood pews, the poor lighthing, the feeling of something bigger. This music is sacred to me. Like church music in a way. So I give you their reading of Silent Night. All of their songs, especially off of "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", conjure for me winter and quiet places I visit all too rarely as an adult. I just want to go back.
Simon and Garfunkel: "7 O'clock News/Silent Night"
Another winter memory I have is of driving around with my father on the weekends, accompanying him to any of the many side jobs he took on. His friend Tommy owned a bar on the east side of Cleveland, and my father was often called on to fix the furnace, the plumbing...whatever it was. I don't really remember. I do remember an uninhabited bar early in the day. Unlimited cokes and a pocket full of quarters for pinball. Again, poor lighting (what memories are well lit?). And back in the van, on the way home or to the next job, we listened to tunes. Cruising the little neighborhoods of Cleveland, sidewalk snow crusting black from exhaust, Christmas lights on the phone poles, we sang. And it has never escaped me--not once, not now--that he always worked over to make sure my siblings and I had what we wanted and needed, on December 25th and beyond. This one's for him. This whole post is for the both of them.
John Lennon: "Happy Xmas (War is Over)"
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