God is great, beer is good...

...and people are crazy. Those are the lyrics to a country song by Billy Currington. The first time I heard that song and it's haunting melody, I thought to myself, "ain't that the truth?" That's the beauty of a great song--the ability to sum up life, and all of its complexities, in just a few short, simple statements. None of this "my heart will go on, blah, blah, blah.....near, far....blah, blah, blah." Directness--that's really more my style. Get to the point, say what you want, mean what you say. God is great! Beer is good! And people are crazy!! Country music can be so refreshingly direct. Many of the songs talk openly and honestly about the singer's feelings...I love my pickup truck....she's a tramp....I'm a drunk....I love you... you hate me.....I love horses.....you're a cheater.....she's a tramp.....I love beer.

Just like a photo, the power of a song can be incredible. Any song, any genre. It can create memories, make you relive them when you hear it again years later, and bring you to tears, whether it's from joy or sadness.

I often think, what would we do without music? How did I survive prior to the invention of the Ipod, or worse yet, how would I survive if I lost my hearing? Some songs hold a special place in our hearts and remind us of a memory or a particular place and time. Every time I hear "Color My World" it reminds me of middle school dances. Back then, that was one of the popular "slow dance" songs.  "One for My Baby" sung by Bette Midler on Johnny Carson's last Tonight Show reminds me of Ed's dad and his final days at our home. "More than Words" by the group Extreme, was my "focus" song during labor with Alex (all 15 hours of it!). It was kind of ironic that we heard it while out to dinner, over the weekend, for his 18th birthday. 

Which leads me to Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out." Those two songs couldn't be more appropriate for Alex this week. He's not familiar with them but seeing as how they were popular in the 70's, I am! I've been humming them all week.

As I mentioned, Alex turned 18 on Saturday. The lyrics to this song include "I'm a boy and I'm a man." Isn't it funny how Alex is old enough to sign up for the military so he can be trained to go overseas and defend his country, and he can register to vote to have a voice in the leadership of his city, state, and country, but he can't have a beer? Not that I'm suggesting that I want him to drink alcohol, but just the fact that 18 is old enough for some stuff, but not others. When I mentioned the irony of this to Alex, he said, thanks to psychology class, it's because an 18 year old's brain is not mature enough or developed enough to "handle" the alcohol (at which time I thought to myself...hmmmm, I know some 30, 40, and 50 year-old brains that aren't mature enough to handle alcohol, what's their excuse?). I guess for now he'll have to settle for  singing "God is great, milk is good, and people are crazy."