When I Grow Up...

maybe I'll finally be smart enough to understand why "Cracklin' Rosie" is "a store-bought woman."

To back up a bit, let me share with you what I'm doing this semester for entertainment. I've been bringing my iPod to campus each day, and I listen to it whenever I'm in my office. I know that doesn't sound unusual so far, but I decided before the semester began that I was going to listen to all of the songs in alphabetical order. I just got to the D's today, so you can tell that I've had quite a few songs in the early letters of the alphabet. (Classes started five weeks ago.)

There are always unexpected surprises when you take what should be an orderly approach to a project like this. For example, you might be listening to a couple of pop songs from the 1970s when, suddenly, a contemporary country song will begin. Or perhaps a rockabilly tune from the 1950s. Or maybe a quasi-orchestral piece. Or avante garde rock. You never know. You may go from Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 to Madonna to the Runaways to Billy Joe Royal (and I did). It's not quite like a Shuffle because it isn't random. Not at all. It's actually quite rigid when you think about it. Yet the same sort of delightful juxtaposition as you find with a Shuffle is happening.

I'm also finding out some very interesting trends. I have a lot of versions of some songs. I have two versions of "After the Gold Rush," both of them exquisite (k.d. lang on one; Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou on the other). I have a country version of "Almost Persuaded" (David Houston) and a blues/soul version (Etta James). I have three versions of "Cry Me a River." Yes, one of them is the Julie London version. I also have three different versions of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"--a fact of which I am not particularly proud. The champion, so far, is "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." Five versions, all different artists: Barbra Streisand and Rufus Wainwright, my two favorites, among them.

There's also the intriguing phenomenom of different songs with the same title. An obvious one would be "Crazy in Love." Perhaps you know the one by Beyonce (with an assist by Jay-Z). However, I also have the earlier country song with the same title sung by Conway Twitty. That's quite the interesting pairing. And I have four--yes, four--different songs--yes, all of them different--entitled "Call Me." Of course, one of them is the Blondie song.

So, earlier today, Neil Diamond showed up singing "Cracklin' Rosie," and I heard again a line that has puzzled me over the years, the one where he tells her that she's "a store-bought woman." My friend C says that it suggests that she is upper class, a better sort of "product" than she might be if she were "homemade." I can see that, but it would sort of depend upon your attitude about "store-bought" versus "homemade," wouldn't it? Store-bought clothes would be preferable to the alternative, but homemade cooking always seems better to me. I'm still puzzling over that one, and I'm sure there are many more puzzles to come.