"Don't get old, kid."
I chuckle just thinking about that.
My grandfather said a lot of things, some of them alarmingly yet charmingly politically incorrect. But this wasn't one of them.
For as long as I can remember, telling me to defy aging was a favorite of his, usually while lifting himself off of the couch with his aching knees.
My grandpa — Pop, we usually called him, short for Poppie — died Wednesday morning.
I spent a lot of Wednesday thinking about him, and about my father, who flew from Denver to New York late on Tuesday night to be with him at the end.
As For Those About to Rock is my musical vein to the world and I think so often in musical terms, I wanted to find a song to play for myself in memory of Pop.
And after a lot of searching through my record collection, I couldn't pick just one. So I'll share both.
The last time I saw my grandfather was when he came to Colorado to see me graduate from college almost exactly four years ago. Four years before that, he came to see me graduate from high school.
As my class exited the floor of Denver University's arena, my school chose to play Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)."
With a knowing nod to the title's inappropriateness, it was the opening lines of the second verse that caught my ear:
So take the photographs and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time ...
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life
The song is about Green Day leaving behind punk rock and embracing its mainstream audience, but somehow, it worked on graduation day and it works here, too.
My grandfather could be a stubborn cuss who didn't like to go places, but he made a point to come to Colorado to see me graduate twice. And that meant a lot.
The second song could fit my father and I as easily as it does he and Pop. U2's "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" is a song Bono sang at his father's funeral that went on to garner Grammy gold. For all the highs and lows a father-son relationship can have, in the end, no matter how much you argue, fuss and fight, you're bound by something stronger than I could ever post on some blog on the Internet:
We fight all the time
You and I, that's alright
We're the same soul
I don't need, I don't need to hear you say
That if we weren't so alike
You'd like me a whole lot more
Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone …
And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you that makes it hard to let go
Sometimes, you can't make it on your own
Sure, there are plenty of songs and sentiments and a lot of them good. "Death is Not the End" or "All Things Must Pass" both had their charms. Someone's passing almost always makes me think of John Lennon's "Instant Karma!" — "We all shine on / Like the moon and the stars and the sun."
My grandfather will always shine on. Goodbye, Pop — I promise not to get old.
Nick,
Great tribute to a great man. Lou was always there for everyone who needed help. Fond memories will always be foremost when thinking of him.
Take care!
The Dude
Posted by: Jim Long | May 24, 2008 at 12:06 PM