A song I didn't "get" until I was a parent

A confession: I have a Rod Stewart channel on Pandora. Harper and I listen to it every night when I giver her a bath.

The first song that came on tonight was Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young.”

And when you finally fly away
I’ll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell

But whatever road you choose
I’m right behind you, win or lose
Forever Young, Forever Young

I’ve known the song for years, but I really never felt the lyrics until I became a parent.

Another confession: I saw Rod Stewart in concert…with my mom!

So there I sat at the side of the tub staring all sappy-eyed at Harper, and she gave me her cheese smile. A knot grew in my chest as I thought about the day she would head off on her own, perhaps to travel the world. I thought about that moment and how I hoped we would have imparted all the lessons she would need.

The knot tightened.

And then Harper farted tiny little stink bubbles. She sniffed them, said “What was that?” and then she giggled.

—

So here’s the music video of “Forever Young.”

Honestly, the video kind of ruined the song for me.

In the beginning Rod is holding his son, and I can’t decide if he’s standing in the middle of the road about to be run over or sitting in the back of a pickup truck. His hair is moving a bit so I suppose it’s a pickup driving at 120 mph or some other ungodly speed that it would take to even slightly move his hair – it being so full of product.

Once I realized he was in the bed of a truck I though, “Oh my God, what an awful parent. Someone should call Child Protective Services on Rod Stewart!” Speeding down the road sitting on the tailgate with your son is way worse than Britney Spears driving with a kid on her lap. At least Britney’s kid was in the car!

Also, men shouldn’t wear shoulder pads unless they are playing football.