AGING MUSIC FOR COUPLES TO GROW OLD BY

I first heard aging music from the Beatles.

When I’m Sixty-Four came out when I was thirteen.

Why would a young band contemplate being 64 years old?

It seemed weird. Until I turned sixty-four.

When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I’d been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty four?

That the Mop Tops would sing about ‘losing their hair’ seemed like a stretch.

So many other unanswered questions in there, too, like, “What do you do if you stay out until quarter to three?”

Staying out until midnight seemed like an extreme limit at thirteen. Do that and you might get grounded.

How were we supposed to age? The old people I knew were my grandparents. They seemed to like each other, so that was nice.

If I got old like them it didn’t seem so frightening.

I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride
Doing the garden, digging the weeds
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty four?

My grandpa built a house next to the house they lived in.

After he finished, he decided he wanted a basement. So he rigged up a system to dig a basement under his already built house.

Was he handy enough?

Who could ask for more?

Grandma. Grandma could ask for more. And did. Of herself and everyone else.

Send me a postcard, drop me a line
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine forevermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty four?

Does aging music end at sixty-four? Earlier?

Yours sincerely, wasting away

Four years after hearing When I’m Sixty-Four, I heard John Prine.

I was seventeen then, working a summer job with the school district. A couple of older guys were also on the job.

They were guys in their early twenties. It was 1971.

One of them dated a beautiful cheerleader a few year older, so they had to be good guys?

When they played John Prine they quieted down like they were in church.

We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
Well, it’d been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
And I still don’t know what for,
Don’t matter anymore.

They were older and wiser and from California so they were guys to listen to.

And they listened to John Prine.

Me and Loretta, we don’t talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeat itself
Like some forgotten dream that we’ve both seen.

If this sounds like you, maybe you ought to talk to your Loretta.

Or, maybe your Loretta is watching you stare out the back door screen.

Why not talk about the dreams you started out with instead of watching news that doesn’t seem to change.

The difference you make in each others’ life is more than letting it ride out in God’s waiting room.

Someday I’ll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could I say if he asks “What’s new?”
“Nothing, what’s with you? Nothing much to do.”

What’s new in aging music

First, find a new song that isn’t depressing.

Something snappy, a good beat, easy to dance to. Or something calming.

Go someplace nearby you’ve never been before. Try a local museum or a church.

You don’t need to be an artist or need your soul saved to visit a museum or church for a walk-around.

My wife and I are both over sixty-four. We dive into churches and museums everywhere we go. The last time we joined a funeral mass. They seemed like a good person.

Since may wife identifies as an English woman she comes up with unusual ideas all of the time.

She’s an inspiration for many posts, like the one about walking in ancient footsteps.

I asked why she wanted to go to Italy, or Spain, or France, or England.

She said she likes the comfort of settled history and seeing the towns and cities it was settled in.

Me, I’m happy to stay or go. Traveling is a challenge every time just because of the unexpected, which I feel compelled to figure out faster than anyone else.

Nothing much to do? Unless you are unable to do much of anything, there’s still tons to do.

Ever make a model? How long ago?

When is the last time you took something apart just to see how it works?

Aging music plays a tune to explore by. Like a curious dog sniffing around the house for new smells, engage your senses and take a walk.

Walk over to Rudy’s house and tell him you were stopping by because you were in the neighborhood, not because you’re desperately bored half to death.

Be handy and mend a fuse not because it’s blown, but just because. Take it to the store for a new one and sniff around for project ideas.

If you want something to do, it’s there to find.

If I were you, I’d find something fun to do with your Loretta.

Ask if she’d like to raise a hell-hound puppy together.

She needs you.