The Influence of TV

I watched a lot of TV as a child, and I think I turned out just fine. It even comes in handy sometimes, like when watching the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1. And it's a fun party trick to be able to conjure up the theme song for almost any show that aired from about 1980 to 1995.

But it has its downsides too. Recently, my mother presented me with a typed, bound copy of the lyrics to a song I really liked as a child. But she provided no sheet music (not that I could have read it if she had) and my memory of the tune was fuzzy at best. But Tai was intrigued by the red folder holding the pages of lyrics, so I sat down and sang it to him.

Without realizing it, I sang it to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies. And it totally works! But it causes me to break out in a twangy banjo solo at the end (which Tai whole-heartedly enjoys). And I think it drives Minh nuts.* So he went online and found a little audio clip of the way it should be sung. I guess I should sit down and learn it. But at this point I'm not sure there's any going back. Tai follows me around the house with this red folder and asks me to "read" him the book. Having not had the time to learn the real tune, I fall back on The Clampetts for help.

What have I done to my son? Surely one day he'll be sitting in a kindergarten classroom and the teacher will start singing this song the right way. My poor child will probably try to correct her and add in the verse about Swimming Pools and Movie Stars...

*Not to mention the fact that whenever Tai sees a cardboard tube, he holds it up to his mouth and does the theme to The Odd Couple ("dah do dah do dah doooooooooo")