Playing Favorites (5/20/1944)

No, that’s not a typo in the title. In spite of my advanced age, I know what year it is (2021, right?). But I was born on this date in 1944, making this my 78th birthday (2022-1944=78. See? I is still good at math). So the question of the moment is what a music loving septuagenarian music lover will play on his birthday. The obvious (if not original) choice is the classic Happy Birthday we been forced to sing since we were kids. My favorite version:

Happy birthday to you,
You belong in a zoo.
You look like a monkey,
And you act like one too.

Cute but hardly appropriate … monkeys rarely life beyond forty. Or, I could find a page like 33 Best Birthday Songs Of All Time and choose one of the dozens of birthday songs that were recorded by various artists. I could reach back to my youth and choose The Crests Sixteen Candles, but that would be about 55 candles short (see? I is still good at math). Besides, the song is about heartbreak and I am a happy old goat today. I could choose Happy Birthday songs by The Beatles or Stevie Wonder, but as much as I love both artists, their birthday songs feel like half-hearted efforts. I could go modern with 2 Chainz – Birthday Song featuring Kanye West and the lovely lyric, All I want for my birthday is a big booty hoe. Not a freaking chance … we’re talking music here. And it’s crap like that that makes me feel even older.

So, I’ll pick a birthday song with a brain by one of my favorite singers, Carly Simon, who tells a story in every song. In her Happy Birthday song, Carly talks about all the things growing old has cost her, including caffeine and dessert. It’s a great birthday song, but it’s also a reminder of all the things you have to do make it to your seventies. And appropriately enough, she’s also a septuagenarian. Be sure to listen to the lyrics (or read them here).