Manic Mom Plus 4

Thanks to the video game Rock Band, my son came home from his cousin’s house and told me that his favorite song was In Bloom by Nirvana. Trying to sound cool I said that Nivana’s Nevermind was one of my favorite albums. He looked at me and said, “What’s an album?” Nothing makes you feel older than realizing that a noun that you grew up with has left the vernacular.

My IPod and IMac are so old now that I cannot download any more music (pathetic, I know). So, I called up my brother (AKA my son’s fairy godfather of call things cool) and told him about the exchange and asked if he had the album at this house. Two days later, an Amazon.com package arrived with the Nevermind CD as well as Lady Gaga’s latest (love my bro!).

After hearing this album (old habits are hard to break) playing for what seems like every minute of everyday, my son approached me while I was washing dishes and said, “Dad told me that the guy that sings In Bloom killed himself by shooting himself in the head.” (I know what you’re thinking, what a charming detail to share with an 8-year old?) Nearly dropping a sudsy plate, I turned to him and said, “Yes, he died and a lot of people that liked his music were really sad.” He asked, “Why did he kill himself?” Searching for something deep to say, I realized that if I told him what I knew, it would lead to more questions I couldn’t answer (drugs, depression, crazy wife, etc). I just looked down and said, “I think he was just really sad.”

Going from Jonas Brothers to Nirvana in the span of a week is mind blowing to me. Not that I was ever a big fan of those puppy eyed, chastity ring wearing goofballs, but I’d much rather deal with questions about how Nick Jonas broke up with Miley Cyrus than deal with the mind field of Curt Cobain’s suicide any day.