Horrible Duets

It's a beautiful summer day as I drive along Route 3A from Scituate to Marshfield. I have the windows down and the radio turned up. The voice from the back of the car is singing along happily to Melissa Etheridge.
Please baby cant you see

My minds a burnin hell

I got razors a rippin and tearin and strippin

My heart apart as well

What the @#$%!!

Jenna is belting out the lyrics to "I'm the Only One" with all the heart and soul that her nearly four year-old soul can muster. I laugh to myself as she sings

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone

Go on believe her when she tells you

Nothings wrong

She obviously has no idea what she's singing but it doesn't matter. She knows the words and she likes the melody. That's all she needs. I turn up the music and listen to her sing along.

My daughter, the songbird.

We've always enjoyed music in the car. For years I had various Disney soundtracks for us to enjoy. We joyfully sang along to "The Little Mermaid" where I would sing Sebastian's part during "Under the Sea" or the French Chef during "Les Poisson". When we sang "The Lion King" I was alternately Timon or Pumba for "Hakuna Matata" depending on Jenna's mood.

As Jenna got older her music selections matured also. Soon she had Radio Disney programmed into my car stereo and we sang along to Hanson, A-Teens and a very young Britney Spears. I'm sure that we were seen belting out songs from "Grease" or "ABBA" as we cruised up Route 3 towards Weymouth and, later, Jamaica Plain.

I remember the first time that Jenna sang along to "Hazard to Myself" by Pink. We were caught singing "Man, I Feel like a Woman" at the top of our lungs in front of her Mom's house, too. Pam didn't let me live that down for some time afterwards.

Lately Jenna has been bringing her iPOD on our car trips and I have been exposed to music that I would never listen to. I find that I like music from "The Decemberists" and "My Chemical Romance" and other groups whose names I can't remember right now. When I was her age I could remember who sang a song after hearing it once. Now, not so much. She has always surprised me by adding songs to her iPOD that she knows I like. Pink's "U + UR Hand" and "Candyman" by Christina Aguilera are only a few of the songs she has surprised me with while we're in the car.

Sometime this past Autumn we were driving back home and Jenna was playing the soundtrack to "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". We love this production. We have laughed over it many, many times. The "Bad Horse Chorus" is enough to put us in stitches.

"So make the Bad Horse gleeful, or he'll make you his mare." - I'm laughing as I type this. God, it's brilliant. Anyway...

Today, we're listening to "My Eyes".

As I sing the first verse I realize that Jenna isn't singing along. Undaunted, I continue on. Jenna joins in as my verse ends, singing Penny's verses.

Of course she is...we're singing a duet.

I love her voice. I still do. 12 years later and we're still singing together in the car.

Sometimes, no matter how things change, some things stay pleasantly the same.