Monthly Archives: March 2007

31. Car tunes

Song Blog

When I found out that Harry Chapin had a brother who was a musician, and that I’d seen him on TV I asked a couple of friends if they wanted to see him perform at the Birchmere. This was the old Birchmere – the cozy one.

Tom Chapin is mostly a children’s singer – and sings whimsical songs about family life and animals and kids. He did sing a couple of Harry’s songs, and said some self-depreciating remarks. I felt bad for him – as he seemed to think the patrons were expecting Harry’s Brother, not Tom Chapin.

I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in my party who enjoyed the music, but we had a good enough time. During the intermission I ran into Tom Chapin in the little store at the Birchmere. He asked me how I liked the warm-up act, I said I thought she was good, he said he did too. I wanted to tell him that I was there to see him, not Harry. That while I liked Harry and his music, I was ready to be entertained by a different musician. But I didn’t say any of that.

That night I bought a couple of his recordings. We’d play them in the car for our children on long car rides – we soon learned many of the lyrics and would all sing along. Don’t tell their friends, but my kids still like to hear Tom Chapin’s songs in the car.

Here’s a video of Tom Chapin singing State Laughs, one of the songs we liked:

30. Pachelbel makes me cry

Song Blog

I don’t remember the first time I heard Pachelbel’s Cannon in D, but I remember the first time I was aware of hearing it. We’d gotten a new kitten (my birthday gift to my husband-to-be) and Cannon in D came on the radio. I scooped up Spike and danced, twirling about the living room with her in my arms.

Against my wishes, my husband-to-be occasionally let Spike outside. We lived on a bus route and Spike was killed by a Pittsburgh City bus when she was just under a year old.

A week after Spike’s death, our best friends, Neal and Marie, told us they were moving away from Pittsburgh to Rhode Island and a few days later my parents’ best friend died. It was the worst week of my life (thus far).

One day when we were visiting Neal and Marie in their new home Marie put a record on the turntable. It was Pachelbel’s Cannon in D. I burst out crying. Everyone was shocked and none of us could figure out my reaction – but later I remembered having danced with Spike while that music was playing. So as much as I love Pachelbel’s famous cannon, my mood changes when hear it. I no longer burst into tears, but I’m temporarily transported back to a dance with kitten and stricken with a taste of bittersweet nostalgia.

Listen.

29. I fell in love again

Song Blog,

The other day I went to a cafe with a couple of friends. The wine is on wine racks and you can pick out your bottle, the staff will open it and you can drink it with dinner. None of us know a whole lot about wine – I know to avoid certain kinds and labels, but don’t really know what’s good or not. So Alison decided on a cab/shiraz/merlot blend from Australia – not because she liked the brand or the wine inside, but because she liked the look of the label (shown on the right). I was slightly concerned. The wine was fine though. Sometimes judging a book by its cover doesn’t work, but sometimes it does.

Another time it worked out well was when I was shopping at Target. I don’t know what I was looking for, but a CD caught my eye. Normally I stick with musicians I know and like or were recommended to me. I’d been thinking a lot about my hometown in Illinois, so when I saw the title “Illinoise” in bright yellow letters I looked a little closer. The names of the songs were amusing and I felt like I needed a new CD anyway. So I bought it even though I’d never heard of the artist, Sufjan Stevens.

I played it when I got home and both my husband and his friend (from Illinois – and musician himself) immediately loved the songs on it. I did too. Our favorite, as a family, is probably his most famous so far – especially if you’ve seen Little Miss Sunshine. We sing along with it when we drive back to Illinois just as we enter Chicago.