When I first started blogging one of the first things I read said to write about what you know. Well I know a lot about things like the soils and geology of New Jersey and the design and operation of septic systems but I don’t think that will interest many people. So I guess I have to continue to write about books and music. Now many times I write about the new music I’m just discovering, not music I know. Well, tonight I’ll write about some music that I DO know that is the music of Tom Paxton.
I have been listening to Tom‘s songs since the late 1960s. Tom‘s songs have made me laugh, cry and every other emotion you can feel.
Tonight as I was listening to his album Comedians and Angels I heard one of those songs that tugs at you heartstrings, “Jennifer and Kate“ written about his daughters.
Tom‘s song “Jennifer Rabbit“ written for his eldest daughter was the opening track on his 1968 album Morning Again. Five years later Tom was compelled to write a song for his second daughter Kate. The song aptly titled “Katy“ appears on his album New Songs for Old Friends released in 1973.
Thoughts About Jennifer and Kate
Fast forward 35 years to 2008 and the final song of this trilogy “Jennifer and Kate” reflects on the lives of each of his little girls now grown.
The chorus of the song goes….
I see their mother in the way
They love this family
They give this family the love
Their mother gives to me
Their mother Midge Cummings and Tom Paxton were married in 1963. So they had been married 45 years by the time Tom wrote this song. They would make it to 51 years. Midge passed away in that year after a long illness.’
And while the chorus rings true. It’s the first and last stanzas that get to me, mainly because I see myself in the first four lines.
There is this thing about fathers:
They live in their own zone
They tell you, “Hi! How are you?”
And they hand your mom the phone
At things like sharing feelings
Let’s admit, they are not great
But the lucky ones have daughters like My Jennifer and Kate
And their fathers thanks his angels for His Jennifer and Kateor their Elizabeth’s,Nicks, Andrew’s and Peters (boys can be angels, too.
P.S. Tom Paxton’s latest album All New. Collaborative album with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marker was released today! Haven’t listened to it yet, that’s tomorrow’s listening!
