Recorded in 1983, "My Hometown" was on the smash hit "Born In The U.S.A." album released by The Boss in 1984. We watched Bruce and a young Courteney Cox dance on the "Dancin' In The Dark" video over and over on MTV, then, over a year later, today's tune became the seventh and final radio single from the album.
And all seven cracked the Top 10 on the charts. Few have done it, 99 percent of artists can only dream of accomplishing it.
It also took this song a long time to hit me.
I will admit this song never blew me away while I owned the album from my senior year of high school until well past its Top 40 radio window from late 1985 and early 1986. But, as classic rock radio kept it going in the 1990's and beyond, and, as I began to unequivocally relate to the song, my Beaverdam days getting further and further into my past, and now with a son, and later, of course, a daughter, "My Hometown" struck a deep, deep chord.
My kids know Beaverdam, and neither one ever wanted to move there. Neither did my wife. "TOO FAR", they said. In unison. But at least twice a year, usually on a Saturday or a summer's day, I would pop Robbie and Rachel in the van and go home. I taught them about my favorite oak tree, still standing on the playground at Beaverdam Elementary, talked to them about what buildings were still there from my school days, and what had changed, went to the old church, and finally, on a Saturday in 2004, took advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity to walk them through the house where I grew up. That meant the world to me.
This song has certainly grown on me, and, I suspect, on many other parents in my generation, and I'm grateful for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment