Paul Staley and his family are fighting the shut-in blues and feeling hope for the future by singing a love song to their hometown of San Francisco.
Little kids can get obsessed with a song. Every parent knows this. When I was little I fell in love with the Christmas carol “Hark the Herald, Angels Sing.” It could be the middle of summer and I’d ask my mom to sing what I called “Angel Song” as my bedtime lullaby.
So I wasn’t all that surprised when, a couple weeks before Everything Changed, our four-year-old grandson started singing the opening bars to “San Francisco.” Not the flowers in your hair one, but the older one about opening up your Golden Gate, the grand finale to Beach Blanket Babylon. He was learning it at daycare, and although he could carry the tune, he couldn’t get very far with the lyrics.
My wife and I didn’t know the words any better so, of course, we went online where we found not only the lyrics but videos of the Jeannette McDonald and Judy Garland versions. Singing “San Francisco” became part of our routine with our grandson and his younger sister.
But with the imposition of shelter in place we have had to keep our distance from them even though they live just downstairs. It’s awkward and difficult, but necessary. And so we were overjoyed when our son sent us a video the other evening.