Monday, March 15, 2010

Help! Closet Dweller Needs a Tune




Child of mine, child of mine
Oh yes, sweet darling
So glad you are a child of mine.
Carole King

Today I changed the sheets on my bed. Not because I planned to, but because Janna at Something She Wrote posed a question on her blog the other day as to how often we might fess up to changing our sheets. Okay. Weekly, of course. Right?

Couldn't sleep last night. Got up this morning, stripped my bed and washed the sheets. Maybe if I had more than one pair of sheets. But they're not fresh when you pull them out of the linen closet - and I like to hang them outside, and ...

I've lost the thread.

Anyway, so Jacob, my oldest who is getting married in April, calls me while I'm tugging on the last corner of the clean bottom sheet and says,

"I need you to pick a song for the Mother/Son dance."

"Okay," I say. "I'll think about it and let you know."

Back to making the bed. While I'm putting on the blanket and trying to make neat corners in the tiny side leftovers on the King size cover that's REALLY MADE FOR A QUEENSIZE EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS KING (why do they do that?), a deep thought hits me. I fall onto the bed and after a few moments of hyperventilation, grab the phone and call Jacob back.

"So like the two people who prefer hiding in the back row, in the dark, have to get up in front of everyone -- and dance. Like alone?"

"That's what I said," he replies.

Shit.

All I can think of is Hank Williams - Six Pack to Go.

I Googled Mother/Son dance and the only one I liked is the Beatles - In My Life - 2 minutes 37 seconds. I have always loved, and sang to my children, Carole King's Child of Mine. But I would sob all the way through that and it is also 3 minutes and 53 seconds. An eternity. On a dance floor. In the spotlight. In a silver pair of shoes that are killing my feet.

When Jacob came by today, he said we don't have to do it if we don't want to. Now I feel I have too much time racked up in the best song pursuit. Easy to puss out on it, but must press forward.

So, I pose the question to all of you. An appropriate mother/son dance song that is cool, not sappy, not sad, not at the top of the mom/son dance Google hit list, has a little sass, classs, not too slow, not too fast, and will hopefully make everyone else join us on the dance floor when the next song is Love Shack.

Help required, indeed.

Please click on the songs to the right to see what I'm thinking.

30 comments:

  1. I'm an idiot when it comes to popular music...my mother brought me up on the classics so I'll have to beg off this request... I did the Mother/Son dance a couple years ago but didn't know the song made a difference...it was lovely fun and everyone joined in. You'll love it, no matter what :)

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  2. Nothing comes to mind except "Love Stinks," but that might not go oever well.

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  3. Alright, I love a challenge and a million years ago I had a wedding coordinator business. I am going to try and remember (BTW, I got married in April but had a Sunday brunch wedding so there was no dancing).
    I like Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World".

    Another thought: Your son picks the song for you two.

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  4. ROFL! Sorry!

    Tough situation, indeed. I know of many father/daughter songs, but not a mother/son one comes to mind. Hmm...

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  5. nothing comes to mind at all... see how helpfulwe are?? But i'm sure you'll find the perfect song! You won't stop until you do...

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  6. Alison Krauss' Baby Mine is a sweet song. It's long but has a place to end it quite naturally at the two and a half minute mark.

    I also love Neil Young's My Boy

    And there's always Guns N Roses' Sweet Child of Mine.

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  7. Oh and maybe Carol King's song is meant to be.. since you were struggling with King sized sheets at the time. ;)

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  8. It definitely has to be Child of Mine, especially since it has significance to both of you. Also what comes to mind is Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. And if you just want a good cry during your search, google Sunrise,Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof. I can work myself into a sob every time!

    Now I'm going to have to go google tunes...this is just the kind of search I love!

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  9. I see a few that I like already suggested. Louis Armstrong sounds like a good choice.

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  10. Well, for our wedding we did a joint mother/son, father/daughter dance to In My Life. I didn't realize that was a popular choice. We chose it because I thought it was sweet, without being romantic, and the song came from our parents' generation yet was well known by everyone.

    I have been to countless weddings and I find that the choice of songs is always interesting - it tells a story about those involved. So if the Carole King song is significant to you and your son, I think you should use that. It makes no difference how long it is. The time just flies by that day and before you know it - its over.

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  11. I have to say I love Songbird by Fleetwood Mac....but hey it is you up there dancing in your silver shoes which are killing your feet, in front of hundreds of people so I think you and your son should make the choice together.....LOL
    Honestly nothing will matter except that your son is being married and the day will be wonderful.......impossible for anything to be anything but perfect.......:-) Hugs

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  12. Most of the weddings I've been to start with a father/daughter dance and mid-way through, the groom and his mother dance the rest of the song. That way, you don't have to pick it and only have to dance half-a-song!

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  13. Carole King, absolutely (though I took perverse enjoyment from the B52s!). So what if you cry--you're supposed to--and there's so much meaning behind the words for both of you. And you can always blame the tears on the shoes, if necessary ;)

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  14. Pick something that won't make you cry, if you start, you may never quit.

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  15. Don't choose just because of the length of the song.... And TELL the DJ that you want the dance to be short. Background: my daughter and hubby created their own cut of a song so it would be short. They gave it to the DJ, but instead he played his own version, which was extended and repeated and endless. Finally they just stopped dancing, and it was fine. Have fun with it!

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  16. I have danced at two of my sons' weddings. Can't recall the song, but do recall the dance!

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  17. Alas, I'm no help! Find something at a comfortable tempo, though, so you don't have to think about keeping the beat!

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  19. I can't offer song help, but look forward to the dance as a story after the wedding. I love how you've written this conversation and woven it into sheet-changing. I'm with you on the not-fresh-from-the-closet thing.

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  20. Okay, just to let you know, I've got my thinking cap on and if I do come up with something fabulous, I'll give you a shout.

    Hey, that's it: SHOUT!

    Wouldn't that be fun?

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  21. The first three you picked sound like they are sure to make you cry. I would. The fourth, though really upbeat, doesn't quite sound mother/son dancish. Maybe something instramental?

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  22. Julie, I came by when you first posted this but was completely stuck for ideas, so didn't comment. Thought I'd come back after everybody else had come up with some brilliant choices, but they're almost all as blank as I was, and still am!
    I kind of like the comment that suggests asking your son to pick the song.
    Hope you do find something that feels right, whichever way you decide. Me, I think I'd go with something that was just plain fun to dance to - something swing-ish, and forget about the significant lyrics.

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  23. OK, this is pretty far our there but how about David Allen Coe's YOU NEVER EVEN CALLED ME BY MY NAME?

    Here's a sampling of the lyrics:
    WELL, I WAS DRUNK THE DAY MY MOM GOT OUT OF PRISON
    AND I WENT TO PICK HER UP IN THE RAIN
    BUT BEFORE I COULD GET TO THE STATION IN MY PICKUP TRUCK
    SHE GOT RUNNED OVER BY A DAMNED OLD TRAIN

    Maybe it's not quite for the Mamma Son dance but it's a funny song...

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  24. I think this is my first time visiting your site...crossing over from somewhere?

    Have you considered 'Just the Way You Are' by Billy Joel?

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  25. My vote's for "It's a Wonderful World" but am also leaning towards "Love Shack"; I mean, how cool is that one? You could really shake a tail feather with that one...

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  26. that is tough! i do like that beatles song.... sweet child o' mine (guns & roses) already humorously suggested.
    I like "kind & generous" by natalie merchant... a really fun one would be "loves me like a rock" by paul simon- but not really a slow dance one-
    good luck!

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  27. Traditionally, the father/daughter song is on the slow side, but the mother/groom song can be a bit faster, and it would encourage others to join in. Something happy and upbeat! You'll do fine in your silver shoes!

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  28. I always root for "What a Wonderful World" and Armstrong; classy and cool at the same time.

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  29. I was watching Regis and Kelly a few weeks ago, and Kelly said she changes her sheets every other day...or was it every day? Apparently, she talked about it to her Twitter followers too.
    I tried to imagine "her" pulling and tugging on the sheets of the king size bed 3 or more times a week...or does someone else do it for her? :)
    I'll be waiting to hear what song you all choose. :)

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  30. No weddings for us yet, but this is a song I've had a lot of fun dancing to with my son when we get to hang out.

    I couldn't do anything sappy or I'd be a crying mess and I would not like that at all.

    Take Your Mama by Scissor Sisters


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oChrm0FNDD4

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