Some of my earliest memories are of my dad playing his acoustic guitar and singing me to sleep – or usually singing me to silence since I’ve never cared much for sleep. Even as a little girl, I knew how special it was to have a dad wrote songs just for me. There were two songs in particular that he would rotate for bedtime, one his favorite and one mine. But both songs meant a lot to me and were major landmarks of my childhood. They felt like home, peace, and the very best parts of my father.
I was nineteen years old, away at culinary school, hanging with my best friend and his friends. I had the feeling I was being silently rated as the new transplant into their established crew. We were having a pretty good time playing games and listening to music. I seemed to be scoring well when MY WHOLE WORLD STOPPED!!! Suddenly, I was warped back to 1984 as my father’s precious bedtime song began playing on the radio!
I started freaking out, chanting, “No, no, no – NO! I could see my friend’s friends staring at him as if to say, “What’s up with your girl?” But I couldn’t calm down. He asked me what was going on, and I yelled, “MY DAD WROTE THIS SONG!!!” With that statement, the looks from the group showed a mirror of crazy, and I knew they would never believe me. With no explanation, I ran out to call my dad. I knew this was going to devastate him, but he needed to know.
By the time I got to my apartment, I was in tears. My father is a professional artist who’s had other ideas and projects stolen from him in the past, but this was precious! I called and told him everything. At first, he couldn’t understand me because I was extremely upset, but once he understood, there was a pause… I’ll never forget these next words. With great sadness in his voice, my father said, “Oh, pretty baby, I didn’t write that song; Led Zeppelin did.”
I felt several emotions at that moment, but there was one that rose to the surface like scum, embarrassment. I’d just yelled into a room full of people that my father wrote Stairway to Heaven!!! I asked him why he never told me, and he said, “I didn’t realize you thought I wrote it.” Then I asked why we had never listened to the song before; we had an uncommonly musical home. He told me that although he loved the song, he hated Robert Plant’s voice, so he never played the album. And with that moment, the landscape of my childhood memories changed forever.
Needless to say, I never really became a comfortable regular in their group. I’m sure I was always the crazy girl who hyperventilated and made wild accusations.
In retrospect, this story is hilarious. I actually wish I had it on video. Just the thought of my poor, guilt-ridden dad having to tell me that the song I thought he wrote for me is a classic hit. So ridiculous! What really makes me laugh is that I’m still that naïve, sentimental girl who never considered her father hadn’t written that song especially for her – and that’s one of my favorite things about me.
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold And she's buying a stairway to heaven
Broken Bits 