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Saturday, July 14th, 2007

My Dad and Frank Sinatra

Hanging out with my Dad this week, talking about anything and everything... I was reminded of how much of a HUGE Frank Sinatra fan he has always been. (My Dad is a really, really good singer in his own right.)

When I was growing up, he used to play a little known record named "Watertown" (recorded in 1970) at FULL VOLUME on the stereo at all hours of the day and night. It's a concept record about a guy whose wife suddenly leaves him one day -- he's alone in his life (formerly "their life") left to raise their two kids... It chronicles the thoughts and emotions he goes through in trying to understand what happened, all the while bravely acting as if (and hoping that) she'll come back to him.

Dad would absolutely blast that record... frequently, with eyes closed in a kind of reverie. And during these lush, loud "Frank moments", as the song finished, he would turn to whomever was standing near (frequently, me) and say something like...

"Whoa... Man! That is a classic!

Or, "Listen to his phrasing on that one... Impeccable..."

Or, "Wow... that evokes pictures in my mind!"

SuperFan.

Dad listened to ALL of Frank Sinatra's music... and there is A LOT of it. But he had a particular liking for the nostalgic stuff... the sad stuff... I think that's why "Watertown" absolutely slayed him every time. One music critic described the record as "A series of brief lyrical snapshots that read like letters or soliloquies... The culminating effect of the songs is an atmosphere of loneliness, but it is a loneliness without much hope or romance - it is the sound of a broken man."

Here are the lyrics to a song named 'She Says' from the record:

She says she's sleeping well, she says she's lost some weight
She says she's seen some shows, she says the city's strange
(So she says) She says the weather's cold, she says there's been some rain
She says there's lots to see, she says she hopes we're fine (So she says)
(So she says) The price is high, high as the sky
And she says, she says, she's comin' home
____________________________________________________________

So with all of that as context...

My Dad were driving around last night, coming back from a late night run to Jerusalem restaurant to satisfy a baclava craving... talking about Watertown and how much he liked that record... ("It's impeccable!") And it dawned on me... I wonder if THAT'S where I can trace the beginnings of my own downer music fetish? I think I blundered onto one of my "psychological imprints". Apparently, I have my father -- and by extension, Frank Sinatra -- to blame/thank for my love of introspective, sad music.

That's my excuse.

~John

P.S. I bought Dad a new copy of "Watertown" today on CD from Amazon... He hasn't heard it in a long, long time... ever since he got rid of his records and record player (mistake). I'm going to burn a copy first, of course.

Posted By John Common at: 12:07 am

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Saturday, July 14th, 2007

My Dad and Frank Sinatra

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