The Song!
Charlie Brown here isn’t the famous one. When the song came out, Peanuts was not the phenomenon we know. But I loved it cuz Peanuts, and if it had been called Jimmy Brown I might not have even noticed it. It’s not an uncommon name - there’s an actual Charlie Brown on my street right now. He has a 3 legged dog.
Petty Memories
My family lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between 1977 and 1979. I’ve recounted some of this elsewhere (Fights) - it was a really full time, and good. But I wasn’t into music then. I was into Star Wars and Lego. Musically, the only memories are the one at the top; marching up and down the living room to the Star Wars album, imagining I was about to receive a medal for heroism; and of Elvis’ Golden Hits on the record player and laughing at “a fuzzy tree”.
The Pete’s Dragon reference in the timeline at 1979 is simple but laden: one day I came home from grade 2 and discovered a melted, warped version of my Pete’s Dragon record in place of the one I knew and mildly enjoyed. My mother apologized - she’d played it for my sisters, forgotten it in the sun. She’d get me another, she said. But she did not.
I wanted to remind her for months, because she’d promised, but I was too conflicted: I did not want to appear petty. It was one of my earliest knots of regret. I never did mention it. She never replaced it. At nearly 51 years old, I mention it.
SEE: PETTY.
“LOOK AT THIS KITTY” CORNER
Thanks for reading. Tell yer friends.