You Really Got Me

Wolf Parade post made me think of my da. He wasn't a huge music fan but he'd listen on occasion. He liked country music when he wasn't listening to farm radio, but he always let my older brother and i pick (which meant fight, literally) which "rock" radio station we'd listen to in the barn when we were milking the cows at night.

One time when he and my mom came back from shopping, he had a present for me. (Very unusual, growing up, money was very very tight and other than christmas and birthdays, gifts just didn't happen....wasn't even something we'd expect) Out of the K-Mart bag he pulls....ohmigod, it's a record album....and it's....ewwwwwww....Van Halen's first album. I don't think i hid my transition from elation to disappointment very well. And i think i kinda hurt his feelings.

But of course, there were barn chores to be done (there were always barn chores to be done) so we all hustled off to the barn. While i was piling up corn silage (why did i get stuck with the silage and joe got to do the corn feed? i can still smell the silage on me) my dad wandered into the silo house.

I tried to explain that i wasn't really into those hard rock band like Joe was (not that joe was either, he was kansas and journey and i even discovered an ABBA greatest hits 8 track tape in the red duster i inherited from him...and not like van halen is really hard rock anyway) but that i was way more into the mellower, pop music, top 40 hits. But if he wanted to buy me something rock, i was ok with todd rundgren. But that i really appreciated the idea and it was a very nice thing to do. I still laugh thinking how i probably just mystified him with all the bands i was naming that were acceptable to me (looking back, even i think all 70's rock sounded the same), and my hubris of correcting such a wonderful gesture, but to his credit he didn't roll his eyes (my dad never rolled his eyes) and i'd like to think his feelings weren't too hurt.

Receipts were eventually retrieved from the garbage and an exchange happened the following week, although for what, i don't really remember. I just remember the Van Halen album that my dad bought me, just being a dad and connecting with me. He was a really good guy.