“DISSOCIATION” — Where a song’s meaning and lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with the memories associated with it.
LATE AUGUST 1982 — To say I was depressed was an understatement. I was in the fourth month of a downward slump I thought I’d never recover from. And the approaching month of September did not look any different.
In all of the bad, there was some good. I had plenty of time on my hands, so I was spending some time with my grandparents, something I had not done in quite a while. On this particular day, I was washing and waxing Grandpa’s car — a blue 1973 Ford Galaxie station wagon. Grandpa owned several lots behind his house and I had pulled his car onto one of them. In southeastern Illinois, the day was sunny, but not hot. In other words, the weather was perfect.
While washing the car, at some point I had turned on the car’s AM radio. I can’t remember the particular AM station I tuned to, but I imagine it was WAND 1050 out of Decatur, Illinois or it could’ve been WLS out of Chicago. Whatever the station, it was this song and its sound that caught my ear and created a lasting, associated memory…
“I keep forgettin’ we’re not in love anymore
I keep forgettin’ things will never be the same again…
That was the first time I heard Michael McDonald’s ”I Keep Forgettin’” and I loved the melody and the bass line — especially playing through the Ford’s single speaker AM radio. Why did AM radio sound so good through one in-dash 6 by 9 speaker? Anyway, it sounded so good.
I’ve heard Michael McDonald sing this song many, many times since August 1982, and it’s still one of my favorites. The big blue Ford station wagon is long gone. The well-groomed, shady lots where I washed the car are now part of a battered trailer park. And my Grandpa, whom I loved dearly, passed away over twenty years ago in 2003.
But every time I hear this Michael McDonald song, I think of that sunny day back in August 1982, the big blue station wagon, and my Grandma and Grandpa.
