Song a Day Challenge – Day #1 – The Hippy Chick

Thanks to Danica from Living the Beautiful Life for nominating
me for the Five-Day Music challenge.

The Rules are:

Post a song a day for five consecutive days.

Post what the lyrics mean to you.  (Optional)

Post the name of the song and video

Nominate two (or one) different blogger each day of the challenge

For the challenge, I decided to focus on how I first became aware of music and to describe over the next five days how my taste in music broadened and changed.

The summer of my 12th year was the Summer I met the hippy chick who lived in the same neighborhood in Queens as my Grandparents.

I thought she was wonderful with her waist length hair and bell bottom jeans.

I met the hippy chick the day she asked me if I spoke ‘Southern’.

I was embarrassed because I worked hard to get rid of my Southern
accent when I went  ‘up North’.

I thought I could brazen it out.

“What accent?” I asked.

“The one you just used!” she replied. “Look!  I got a new 45 and can’t make out the words. Maybe you can make out the words. Will you try?” She smiled, “Please?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” I said, and we laughed.

A few minutes later I was in her apartment writing  down the lyrics to ‘Respect’ by Aretha  Franklin.

She read the lyrics and glanced at me over the silver rims of her pink
granny glasses.

“Those lyrics were letters of the alphabet?”

I nodded: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”

She tore the wrapping off a new copy of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band’ by The Beatles.

I explored the cover as she placed the album on the turntable.

We’d never heard anything like it.

We discussed different songs and played most of them again.

She was taken by ‘Within You and Without You.’

“Dance music about the meaning of life?” she asked.

But this wasn’t dance music.

This was ‘thought’ music.

The segue from one state of mind to another in  ‘A Day in the Life’ is still magic.

I told the Hippy Chick I thought the Sgt Peppers Album was amazing so she gave it to me as payment for my work.

I thanked her and raced home to listen to it again and again for the rest of my life.

For the challenge I nominate

A Momma’s View

and

Life of an El Paso Woman

I found this cover of ‘Respect” by Otis Redding on the Internet Archives.

Enjoy!

 

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