Good Question
Did you happen to catch All Things Considered’s story on dads and music that played this past Friday? If you didn’t, here is a copy of the transcript. Listeners had been asked to submit the name of their father’s favourite song when he was the same age that the said listener is today. The emails and FB responses were collected over the course of a week. I was surprised to learn that an overwhelming majority of fathers chose a Jackson Brown song. I am guessing that my reaction was due, in no small part, that I’m fairly certain that my dad wouldn’t know a Jackson Brown song if his very life depended on it. [Though to be fair, I don’t think I would, either.]
But it got me to thinking; what was DadGiraffe’s favourite song when he was my age?
It is a good question because music tells us a lot about a person. And musical tastes evolve over time. So to select a particular moment in time gives insight into a younger version of our fathers as well as who they are today.
Oh, the answer? Händel’s Water Music. Played here as God intended, on a baroque trumpet, by Nate Mayfield:
And for a lighter take on Father’s Day, spend a little time with the Father’s Day edition of This American Life (available after 7:00pm).
What about your father? What was his favourite song when he was your age? Dads, what was your favourite song when you were the same age that your kids are now?
I called my dad back to ask him… The first one he came up with was “You make me so very happy” =)
That makes me happy.
Then he started naming bands: Grateful Dead, Creedance Clearwater, etc…
I don’t know the exact song that was my dad’s favorite…but I know it was definitely a Beatles song.
Is it a song if it has no words? Dad was all classical all the time. Although Jersey Boys was a big hit for a birthday present a few years back.
Is it a song if it has no words?
Of course it is. It’s called a niggun.