The Cat in the Hat (and now even Finance Minister Godongwana) reminded me of my favorite quote from PJ O’Rourke: “A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid.” than a hat.” But he is sadly no more. Sadly not the cat, the satirist, who left this earth last week at the age of 74 – but for me he will remain forever young, captured with his long hair and broad tie in a black and white photograph on his book covers I have to face it: funerals are my…
The Cat in the Hat (and now even Finance Minister Godongwana) reminded me of my favorite quote from PJ O’Rourke: “A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid.” than a hat.”
But unfortunately he is no more. Sadly not the cat, the satirist, who left this earth last week at the age of 74 – but to me he will remain forever young, captured with his long hair and broad tie in a black-and-white photograph on his book covers.
I have to face it: funerals are my favorite events these days; my generation is dying out. Blame the baby boomers, but what a legacy we’re leaving behind – we’ve taught our kids that they can be seen and heard. We shared the ups and downs of our lives with them honestly; taught them that life has lemons, lots of them, and I wasn’t worried about showing them our clay feet.
Those same feet that my father hid so well in his generation with his Jim Reeves and Mario Lanza. Who, you ask? Precisely. I will die happily, knowing that my generation’s music will be loved by the next.
ALSO: Dre, Snoop, Mary J Blige, Eminem, 50 Cent and Kendrick’s epic Superbowl halftime show
That’s what a feisty dresser in his twenties taught me when he stopped next to me with Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love blaring on his boombox. “You’re dating yourself,” I tell the boy. “Naah, Valentine’s Day still clings to me,” he laughs.
And I loved it, not necessarily the ’87 song, but that both the dresser and I can fall for the slack: Lay a whisper, on my pillow… Maybe it’s because my generation still rocks. Bob Dylan, Phil Collins, Def Leppard – none of them know they can’t crack the nuts anymore – with one exception: Mick Jagger of the Stones…
Death warmed up with eight children and countless ex-wives, but have you seen that man’s moves at age 78? And that voice…
I still move when I hear the opening bars of Sympathy for the Devil. Allow me to introduce myself for a moment. I am a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been there for a long time. I stole the souls of a million people and a faith. Music has stolen my soul.
And it reminds me of Bryan Adams’ style: 18 till I die. My generation, like O’Rourke, will be forever young. Rock on.