Telephone songs, combines and lions

The Lion Sleeps Tonight; The Tokens

On a beautiful summer day in 1996, Mom, Dad and I came home from town to find a message on the answering machine. The first thing that we heard was my sister D. who said, “Okay. Go.” I will remember the next twenty seconds forever. My four-year-old niece M., all precocious and cute and everything, stepped up to the phone and enchanted all of us with the following:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are grey.

You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please, don’t take my sunshine away.

Now how do you forget something like that?

About five years later, I came home from a Marine Band rehearsal and checked my messages. One was a gig, one was Mom, and the last one was my nephew N.

Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out to the crowd.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack.

I don’t care if I never get back.

Oh, it’s root, root, root, for the home team.

If they don’t win it’s a shame.

For it’s ONE, TWO, THREE strikes, you’re out

At the OL’ BALL GAME!!!

I have to tell you, this one caught me by surprise. When he was two to three years old, he didn’t like “Mom” to sing in church, so he would put his hand in front of her mouth. I worried that we might have a musically mute member of the family. But you should hear him now with his headphones on, wailin’ away with Craig Moran about how he’s a …

… God-fearin’, hard-workin’, combine driver,

Hoggin’ up the road on my p-p-p-p-plower,

Chug-a-lug-a-luggin’ five miles an hourrrrrrrr

ON MY INTERNATIONAL HARVESTERRRRRRRRR!!

M. opted to extend her repertoire with songs from “The Lion King.”

It means no worries for the rest of your days.

It’s our problem-free philosophy: Hakuna Matada!

Hakuna Matada, Hakuna Matada, Hakuna, Matada…

And cute doesn’t belong in your vocabulary until you’ve seen and heard a five-year-old impersonate Timon and Pumba.

Timon: I can see what’s happening…

Pumba: What?!

Timon: And they don’t have a clue…

Pumba: Who?!

Timon: They’ll fall in love and, here’s the bottom line: Our trio’s down to two!

Pumba: Oh.

But the funniest comes at bedtime, when everyone in the small house is juuuuust falling asleep, when out of the silence we hear:

Awimoweh, Awimoweh, Awimoweh, Awimoweh

D.: M., go to sleep!

M.: Hee hee hee hee hee hee.

P. and D. lived down the road from us and they had one son and two daughters. C. and B., the two daughters, would frequently play their 45 rpm records for us when we would go over to their house for a visit. I don’t know how many records they had, but two of the songs in their collection locked themselves up within the confines of my biological iPod and they’re never going away. One was “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” as sung by The Tokens in 1961.

The other song? You’ll never guess. Check back next Saturday.

Credits: To the inventor of the answering machine. Thank you. I got to hear my niece and nephew sing their very first songs. Many, many times.