Singing In Traffic

The stereo in my car does not work. It hasn’t worked for some time. There was a period when it was sort of working, when if I turned it on and off enough times it would eventually catch. But I mentioned the problem to my mechanic when he was working on another of my car’s issues, and so he fiddled with it for a bit, and the result was the stereo stopped working entirely.

And so I sing. Songs I know. Songs I love. Songs like “Friend Of The Devil” by the Grateful Dead and “She Belongs To Me” by Bob Dylan. Anyway, this has been going on for a while, and what I’ve noticed is that I keep going back to the same bunch of songs. Songs from my childhood, or at least ones I’ve known since my teen years. But nothing more recent.

Why can’t I add to my repertoire? There have been plenty of excellent songs in the last couple of decades. In fact, the whole point of this blog is to let folks know about all the good music that’s out there these days. So it’s certainly not for a lack of good material. So what is it? Could it be a question of memory, of having more difficulty learning as we get older. Or is my brain full?

Or is it something about this group of songs? The ones I constantly return to while driving are:

• “Friend Of The Devil” by Grateful Dead
• “Uncle John’s Band” by Grateful Dead
• “Ripple” by Grateful Dead
• “He’s Gone” by Grateful Dead
• “Bring It On Home To Me” by Sam Cooke
• “Love Is Only Sleeping” by The Monkees
• “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan
• “She Belongs To Me” by Bob Dylan
• “Tangled Up In Blue” by Bob Dylan
• “Shelter From The Storm” by Bob Dylan
• “Heart With No Companion” by Leonard Cohen
• “Lemon Tree” by Will Holt
• “My Goldmine” by Ellis Paul
• “Wake Up Little Susie” by The Everly Brothers
• “Tears On My Pillow” by Little Anthony And The Imperials
• “Whiskey In The Jar” by… well, lots of people

I don’t necessarily expect to find an answer, but I am interested in the question. And every once in a while, I still try turning my car stereo on and off several times to see if it will magically catch again. But no, it never does.