My kids were introduced to QUITE a few songs by me just singing them around the house, or in the car, or whatever. “What’s that song called, Mom?” and then we’d look it up and play the real thing. At some point I got into the habit of pausing right there to play the real song. That was to prevent certain misunderstandings, like all that time they thought Human was a slow lullaby. They were very confused when they heard the real version. It sounds very different a cappella, though to be real, it could be pretty great performed that way. Maybe.
They’re grown and gone now, but I happened across this song today: To Whom It May Concern. “I’ve missed you, but I haven’t met you.” What a great lyric for the lonely. I want to say I heard it first while blues dancing, or perhaps as a followup after hearing a different song of theirs. What an angsty album that is. An angsty band with an angsty breakup, too! And I love it. And this would get stuck in my mind, so of course I’d sing it sometimes.
Hearing it today reminded me of when my kids first asked about it. They’d missed the bus, and I was driving them to school.
“Who’s that one by?”
“The Civil Wars.”
They gave each other A LOOK. Silence and confusion. We were at a stop light, so I made Siri pull up the song and play it for them.
The horror on their faces! But they were teenagers. I thought they were old enough to handle topics of romance and longing, right?
It turns out they thought the song was actually about an actual civil war. “I’ve missed you” — as in taking aim and not getting it quite right — well now, that brings in a whole different meaning! 😳
That’s just one silly anecdote in a lifetime of silly anecdotes, and we had plenty of those when all three of us were together. But I think about those moments a lot lately, because I miss them. In the normal way, of course!
Legend of Velda 