A musiczl off-tops contribution that justifies breaking the rules

[daveklepper]

AS TIME GOES BY --

 

         

 

      I salvaged a CD of Frank Sinatra’s hit songs from the bargain counter at the university bookstore. It’s no surprise that the CD didn’t sell. Each generation despises the popular music of those before and after it. It had been years since I had heard Sinatra's voice. I slipped the disk into the machine and took a journey back to my childhood. Sinatra differed from the current crop of singers in that he enunciated each word of his songs. That suggests that the lyrics, as well as the tunes, were meant to be experienced. I squirm a bit now as I listen to cliches about eyes like moonrise, a voice like music, lips like wine. A phrase isn’t trite, though, the first few times that you’ve heard it and I was young then, and innocent. A kiss was summum bonum and I did more daydreaming than kissing. Those lyrics clearly had been meant for teenagers and probably even for the youngest and most naïve of us. I sat back in an easy chair and listened to several old chestnuts which put me in a nostalgic mood. Then another track started:

 

 

 

  “Time after time I tell myself that I’m

 

                       So lucky to be loving you.

 

                       So lucky to be the one you run to see

 

                       In the evening

 

                                 When the day is through –“

 

 

 

          On impulse I pushed myself out of my easy chair and set myself in motion to surprise my wife with a hug and kiss. The kitchen door was closed. My wife, who was working inside, clearly hadn’t been listening to that music from the past.

 

          Food and implements were spread over the working counter and she was facing away from me as I entered. Suddenly she turned, with eyes flashing a danger sign. Her face held a grim expression. Without lifting her gaze from me she pointed to the telephone.

 

“The children just called.” she said, “They went on a picnic together and ate too much, so they won’t be coming to dinner.

 

          “What am I going to do with all this food?” my wife asked, angrily. “The freezer and ‘frig are both full.”

 

          Judging by the tone in her voice I realized that I was being held responsible somehow. I mumbled something vaguely comforting and then, following the path of prudence, I backed out of the door quickly. As I reentered the living room I heard Sinatra singing, too loud by far:

 

 

 

          “I only know what I know,

 

          The passing years will show

 

          You’ve kept my love so young, so new

 

          And time after time

 

          You’ll hear me say that I’m

 

          So lucky --- “

 

 

 

I pressed the off button.

 

I thought to myself  “I am glad that our kids and their children mingle and enjoy themselves even without us (therefore my guilt by association) but it was inconsiderate for them to cancel the dinner date. They should have known that their mother counted on it. –

 

"All that food came from the freezer, so, with careful packing it should fit right back in there. – It wouldn’t do for me to state the obvious, though. That would only make her angrier.”

 

I pushed a little round button and the shelf holding the CD extended itself. I carefully removed the disk. After I pressed it into its plastic container I looked at the picture on the jacket and whispered,

 

“Tough luck, Frankie. The generation that you brainwashed has grown old.”

 

 

 

 

 

Prof. Lawrence M Lewin Dept of Clinical Biochemistry Sackler Medical School Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv, Israel Fax [phone]

 

[wanswheel]

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