My Moms Music.
I was sitting in a little fish and chowder, hole in the wall eating dinner with a friend.
This place is as sparse as it gets. Plastic utensils, paper plates and a self serve soda fountain.
The food on the other hand is the best around. Cod, shrimp, scallops and the best deep fried calamari I have ever had.
The real drawback to the place is the music they play. No kidding you could hear it in any low rent elevator. All the best songs dropped to the level of bland, instrumental, sonically truncated, No highs or low tones, just mind numbing bullshit.
One of the great songs slaughtered in there tonight. The Beatles “Do You Want To Know A Secret.”
It took me a minute to figure out what the hell it was. When I did for some reason it reminded me of my mom.
My mom was brought up in the Bronx. She was brought up in a well to do family where she fondly remembers being bounced on uncle Al's knee. I'll let you figure that one out.
Her taste in music was for sure different. She loved classical, jazz and show tunes. I never got into the latter. As for me I remember listening to a small transistor radio on the school bus going to kindergarten. The song playing was the Beatles, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” I had never herd anything like it before. I asked my mom about it when I got home. She told me it was Rock N' Roll junk and I should never listen to it. Of course I did.
We jump to my moms 74th year. This is the year she passed away. Before she died I had to move back in and take care of her. I was in the middle of a divorce anyway. She really did need me there. The cancer from her lifetime of smoking was collecting its finale toll.
I got up one morning, went out to the living room. I turned on the stereo. Music has always helped me to stay focused. I had on “Rubber Soul” one of my favorites from the Beatles. All of a sudden my mom comes walking in. The song playing was “Nowhere Man.” She listened for a minute then said, “ I like this! Who is it? ” I felt myself grinning from ear to ear as I said, “ Mom this is the Beatles. ” Her mouth dropped, “ You mean to tell me I was wrong about all the “Rock N' Roll? For all these years? ” I just looked and said. “ Yeah. ” She took a seat on the couch, looked at me and asked what other stuff I had she might like.
For the next two weeks I took her on a journey of music. Some she liked some she didn't.
She died three weeks later. To this day I will never forget giving her a joy in music she would have never had.