Last night, after my hot date,
I lapped up some vanilla ice cream with hot caramel sauce,
got into my pjs,
and announced to my family that I was ready for bed.
My dad implored me to stay downstairs for a few minutes, so that he could play me a song that he wanted me to hear.
So began an hour long music session. In that time, we went back and forth, playing each other songs that we wanted the other to hear.
It went something like this:
Dad played Tom Waits, I Hope that I Don’t Fall in Love With You
I played Ray Lamontagne, Shelter
Dad played She and Him, Gonna Get Along Without You Now
Dad played a Ray charles and Van Morrison version of my favorite song, Crazy Love
He got a double turn.
I played Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
I played The Beach Boys, Don’t Worry Baby
It was my double turn, I guess.
Then, dad played The Beach Boys, Feel Flows
Then, I started to think of Almost Famous,
so I played Elton John, Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
and dad played  Take Me to the Pilot
I played Simon and Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water
because Art sings like a crystal bell, and I wanted to hear the swell in the final verse.
And then, we both got down to business. We put on Thunder Road,
the acoustic version. And we closed our eyes. And sang every word.
And that was it.
Except for our encore of The Rolling Stones,You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Live from 1969. Just ‘Cuz.
We spent an hour,
and hour that was quiet,
and not so quiet,
weaving in an out of time,
and memories,
and associations,
and lyrics
and notes.
I didn’t go to bed as early as I had hoped,
but it OK.
It was more than OK.
It was magic.