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Music In The Key Of Life

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By KRIS DIGIOVANNI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 25, 2008

Sometimes I think I'm the only one on the planet without an Mp3 player. Everywhere I look, people have tuned out the real world and tuned in to some favorite track. Those dancing silhouettes on the television commercial sure seem to be having a lot of fun. Maybe I am missing out. But I've resisted buying one because I can't get all the songs I really want - the ones that pop into my head at odd moments and make me smile.

First, I'd have to have "Little Toot." That's the musical story of the brave little tug boat that I played over and over on my little red record player (yes I'm that old) until I nearly drove my mother nuts. Next, I'd want my kindergarten teacher singing "The Eeency Weensy Spider," the first song I ever learned in school. Then, Mrs. Nelson from third grade playing the piano and singing "Three Little Witches," my all-time Halloween favorite.

I'd really love a circa-1960 recording of my late uncle singing "Blueberry Hill." He had an amazing collection of early rock 'n' roll hits, and every Sunday after church, when the family gathered at my grandmother's house, he'd emcee a game of "name that tune" with my sister and me.

How I wish I could download the campers and counselors at good old Camp Hitaga singing, "Be My Little Black Mosquito," "Sarasponda," or "White Coral Bells," complete with crackling campfire noises.

I'd cherish a recording of my middle-school chorus singing the show tunes and 1940s songs my 8th-grade teacher was fond of, and which nobody sings anymore - "Bye-Bye-Black Bird," "Carolina in the Morning," "How are Things in Glocca Mora?" to name a few.

I know I can download the pop songs of my teen and early adult years, which are now stored in the closet, boxes of LPs worn beyond recognition. Maybe the crisp, digitally renewed sounds of the Beatles, Doors, Dylan, and Derek and the Dominos would block out that whole 1980s disco thing, and The Bee Gees would stay out of my brain.

As a Girl Scout leader I had great fun teaching my troop silly songs. I'd sure like to hear their giggly voices singing "The Titanic," "The Billboard Song" or "Alice the Camel" one more time.

Although I generally hate country music, I wish I could get a copy of "Rocky Top" as sung by that nameless band in that nameless night spot in Dallas, where we used to have so much fun on the rare nights my husband and I managed some time away from the kids.

So I guess I'll stick with the "iPod" I've got in my head - the one that holds all the music from my past and collects the music of the present. I know that someday I'll think back on the time I now spend listening to XM-Kids while driving my grandson to and from school, and I'll be able to play back the songs we sing together. If you haven't heard Bill Harley's "Down in the Back Pack" (a parody of "Down in the Boondocks") or Uncle Jim's "I've Got a Butt" you don't know what you are missing. Lucky for me, I've got them stored permanently on the iPod in my brain.

Kris DiGiovanni teaches in Pasco County, her second career after 15 years in Information Services.

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