Father's Day - of Music and Lyrics

Father's day came and went without much fanfare.

I promised myself that I would write a story about my dad - because he is the best daddy in the world - as a keepsake for myself, and also to put on record that my dad is my hero.

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Since the discovery of YouTube, my dad has become quite the YouTube addict and DJ. He trawls YouTube for songs of his youth and then googles the lyrics. He has also figured out how to manipulate the web browsers so that he can see both the video and the lyrics on the tiny screen of his netbook.

"Your daddy likes to listen to these oldies. It makes him feel like a young man again!" my mum would exclaim. "Now he is my personal DJ! When I sit here and play Angry Birds on the iPad, he will play songs for me to hear."

"Kai, come here and listen to this song. See the lyrics. The lyrics are so, so meaningful. Such beautiful lyrics!" my dad would sigh, and he would croon wistfully along to the song of his youth in his off-key, off-beat singing.

I have inherited my dad's obsession with lyrics. I am unable to listen to a song without listening out for its lyrics, and a lovely tune without meaningful lyrics is not worth listening to.

In recent times, with the arrival of The Bub Who Controls His Universe, my dad has stopped surfing the net for music videos as his schedule is dictated by the unpredictable sleep cycle of his precious granddaughter and her delicate dietary needs.

A typical morning for him involves waking up early to buy me coffee, watch me scarf down breakfast, followed by dropping us off. After that, he repeats the breakfast cycle with my brother. And then it's time for lunch with my mum.

A typical evening for him involves rushing home to grate half an apple, steaming some porridge, picking the bubs from infant care, preparing her bath, preparing her apple snack ("Ahhh! Aaa-pel. Aaa-pel!"), bringing her for a walk, feeding her, patting her to sleep, and then waiting for me to pick up the bubs.

I am blessed beyond measure to have him as my dad.

So as you can see, with the bubs around, there hardly is enough time for my dad to reminisce about the good old days and to surf YouTube anymore.

 However, just the other day, I learnt that he has been revisiting music and lyrics from a forgotten era in his life.

"Kai, what are the lyrics to Baa Baa Black Sheep?"