Surprise Party

That will teach me.

Posting a picture of me playing a guitar on Friday finds me playing for a surprise birthday party come Sunday. The guy who was the drummer for my first band turned 60 today. His wife had called up as many people she could find who had played with him, plus the usual relatives and friends. There was a good turnout and he was truly surprised. I was surprised as well- a guitar was thrust into my hands and I ended up singing and playing for over two hours with an old pal (who had been in my second band.) He was a "ringer"- he knew a million songs, while I was more of a "ruster", but I did manage to add something to the festivities. It must have been OK, the manager of the place wanted to hire us!

About two-thirds of the way through the set my pal threw me a curve with his choice of a song: We'll Sing In The Sunshine, a "modern" love song written and made popular by Gale Garnett. I had sung it before, sung it to an audience of one, a dear friend who was leaving the state. The lyrics aren't what you'd call romantic, but rather more realistic, almost to the point of being brutally frank:

We'll sing in the sunshine
We'll laugh every day
We'll sing in the sunshine
Then I'll be on my way

I will never love you
The cost of love's too dear
But though I'll never love you
I'll stay with you one year

And we can sing in the sunshine
We'll laugh every day
We'll sing in the sunshine
Then I'll be on my way

I'll sing to you each mornin'
I'll kiss you every night
But darlin', don't cling to me
I'll soon be out of sight

But we can sing in the sunshine
We'll laugh every day
We'll sing in the sunshine
Then I'll be on my way

My daddy he once told me
Hey, don't you love you any man
Just take what they may give you
And give but what you can

And you can sing in the sunshine
You'll laugh every day
You'll sing in the sunshine
Then be on your way

And when our year has ended
And I have gone away
You'll often speak about me
And this is what you'll say:

We sang in the sunshine
You know, we laughed every day
We sang in the sunshine
Then she went away

Lots of shared memories at that birthday party, lots of smiles and laughs.

One private memory, too. No laughs, but definitely a smile.