So… before Feist was Feist, she released an album called “Monarch”, recorded in her dad’s basement, or something. Long story short, yours truly Dr. Wormwood acquired an original copy of this album one night some 6-7 years ago, when in a hilarious turn of events, my dear friend Aroon was mistaken for a close friend of Leslie Feist herself. (She was kind enough to sign some stuff and not blow our cover, probably because any one of us could have consumed her in one bite.)
Needless to say, after a night of feeling like a rock star (groupie), I went home (to my mom who was still awake) and popped the CD in (to my dad’s stereo). The first track was appropriately titled, “It’s Cool to Love Your Family”. Yeah, I had dreams of saving enough money to move out (because a full-time job in NYC is equivalent to subway fare, rat fare, and the occasional hot pastrami on rat). But right then and there, as I overlooked the um, majestic Queens skyline – where the Federers and Nadals made faces at the Mets, and where a wee Wormwood was born some twenty-ish years before – I was listening to Feist’s words.
And so I bring you a very special Modern Donkey this week – IT’S COOL (IT’S COOL) TO LOVE YOUR FAMILY. Did your parents make you listen to music you hated as a kid? Did it turn out that some of that music was actually great? Are you embarrassed now to have ever made fun of Freddie Mercury (or your dad trying to sound like Freddie Mercury? or most of your relatives trying to look like Freddie Mercury? or that they weren’t trying at all and really Freddie Mercury may have been a Turkish Genghis Khan procreative equivalent given how everyone and their goat looks like him over there?) Or maybe it wasn’t your parents, but a sibling, someone who played you a song or two that really shaped how you listen to music today. Who were they? What were the songs? Are there songs that always make you think of a specific family member?
Anecdote away, mein lieblings! Would love to hear any stories and thoughts. And fret not, just like my (2)7th birthday party, my parents may or may not show up on Wednesday. So tune in for a very special donkey, and thanks as always!
Modern Donkey 