There's a bathroom on the right...

I remember a time when I didn’t know the words to every single song that I ever tried to sing along with. I remember sitting around my parent’s stereo console with some friends and listening to the latest and greatest top 40 hit that one of us might have bought on a 45 that week. I remember as we picked up the needle and played it over and over, straining our ears to try to figure out the few words that we hadn’t been able to quite make out as we had listened to the song on the radio. I remember us kids all arguing about it and deciding that we really weren’t sure – some of us thought one thing, some another – and we’d decide on the most obscure one, somehow thinking that with a weird word or reference that we didn’t understand, the song was even cooler and so were we since we had it.

And – that’s where we left it. Blissfully unaware of our inaccuracy, and none the worse for it.

So – today – is there any song that you don’t know the words to that you haven’t looked up on the internet? Do you jump on the computer and it’s only a matter of seconds before any confusion about what you thought you heard is either confirmed or cleared up? Or – do you try to listen to it over and over… maybe ask your friends what they think the words are?

…just a little bit of innocence that we’ve given up to the information age.

Those Old 45's

45's were a real important part of my growing up. Albums (by definition, 33's, 12" vinyl records) were expensive and we just didn't have that kind of money as kids. When new songs came out and we wanted them, it was a quick trip to the record store to pick it up.

While it was possible to get them at the local Fred Meyer, Sears or even J.C. Pennys, it was always best to got to the Tower Records store. Going there was so cool. You felt like you were a part of the real music world when you were there. We would end up looking through the store for what seemed like hours, dreaming about all the cool albums that we might get some day. I'd usually end up making a mental list of these hopeful future purchases, too.


There was nothing cooler than being able to get home and play the 45 on the hi-fi and listen to it over and over again. And - if you were the first kid in the neighborhood to get it, your house was the place to be! You also had to be sure to have plenty of the little yellow thingies that went in the center of the 45. I think I remember one time when we didn't have any of them that weren't broken and we tried to center the 45 on the spindle... and we probably shouldn't have done it. I think it worked, but it couldn't have been good for the record.

I still have a box of 45's in my closet. I don't even own a turntable anymore, but I've got my old box of 45's. I don't know - maybe someday I'll sell them all and get rich - well, probably not. They're good memories, though.