Hang On To Your Life

So I'm sitting here eating my lunch and thought I'd try and post something. Sound good? Good.

Louise, this entire post won't be all about music, so it's ok to read on. ;-)

I've got this R.E.M. song in my head, a song I haven't heard in quite a while so I'm not sure how it got there, but I just keep singing the same line over and over in my head. Somewhat annoying, I must say. What's the line from the song, you ask? "I am not the type of dog that could keep you waiting, for no good reason." Yeah.

Throughout my childhood and into my late teens I listened mainly to vinyl, with the occasional cassette tape, or, if I was in the car of a sibling, even 8-track. But in my childhood years I grew up listening to the albums in our basement.

My father had built a cabinet which hung on the wall and held a turntable, speakers, and many albums collected over the years. On one end of the cabinet were my parents' albums which I didn't listen to. On the other end were albums purchased by my brothers and my sister, but I believe mostly by my brothers.

Now, the collection would be considered small by today's standards, but it held some really good music. Bands like Chicago, Grand Funk Railroad, The Guess Who, Simon & Garfunkel, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Rod Stewart to name a few. It also included some great compilation albums, most notably a multi-LP collection of Motown songs and two collections put out by a Detroit radio station with the call letters CKLW. There were also many 45's. Great music.

I listened to music constantly growing up, and would sing along unabashedly. We had ping-pong tables that we would turn into forts, using blankets draped over the sides. There was a small group of neighborhood friends and we'd play together practically every day.

On one such day we were in our "fort" and we had all the lights turned off. I really can't remember what we were doing other than listening to The Guess Who. There is a song at the end of one side of their greatest hits album that is called "Hang On To Your Life" which, as a kid, could be a scary song. If you look at the lyrics, especially the last verse spoken at the end (rather eerily), it's not too hard to imagine kids getting a little freaked out by it.

Well, as we're sitting there in the dark listening to the song, something odd happens. All of the sudden, right in the middle of the last verse, which is the spookiest part of the song remember, it just stops! We all looked at each other and didn't say a word. We just sat there, in the dark, listening for anything that could be out there, afraid to move the blanket draped over the table and look out at what was there.

I'm not sure how long we were stayed quietly, nervously under the table, but we eventually made a run for the steps and out of the basement. Of course, you're wanting to act like nothing is wrong and that you're fine, so when my brother Tim asked what was going on we didn't want to say anything, but we sure didn't want to go back downstairs!

Come to find out later that Tim had gone into the basement and pulled the needle off the record and ran back upstairs. Totally freaked us out! But, looking back, if I was in his shoes I would have done it in a heartbeat, which I'm sure comes as a shock to most of you. I am a sweet, innocent person, you know.

You wonder sometimes if there are other things older siblings did to you that you're repressing. Another reason to avoid seeing a shrink, if you ask me. We'll just keep those memories nice and buried.