Today was one of those moments where your son asks you a question and you want to tell him the truth yet you want to shelter him from the "bad" truths of life. Faced with the dilemma of the question; I decided to explain to him the story behind the song Polly by Nirvana.
Zman recently discovered Nirvana on Rock Band. He realizes the thought that went into each song Kurt Cobain wrote. Zman was inquisitive of the song Polly and today he wanted to know what the meaning behind it was as he had gathered it was about a bird or a girl named Polly.
I wasn't surprised as he is very analytical and wants to know the "whys of everything" so I sighed a deep sigh and I had some angst about what I was about to discuss.
When I got out of the Navy in 1990 the grunge scene was just beginning. I myself was listening to a lot of Nirvana and I wanted to know the meaning behind his songs. Just the way he sang it just draws you in.
Now mind you it was very difficult to explain this to a 9 year as he is so innocent and has no idea all the bad stuff that surrounds us daily. But I am sure my wife has explained we are very honest with our kids.
Polly is about a 14 year old girl who is on her way home from a punk rock concert and is kidnapped. She is brutally tortured and abused by a psycho. Using a blow torch and a razor he had his way with her for a few weeks. The song is told from the view point of the abductor. Naturally I left out any graphic details while telling my son but I did get the point across and the message of the song. This being that the will to survive is stronger than most can comprehend.
What the young girl did to survive was to pretend that she liked him and began to flirt with him and pretended she enjoyed what he was doing whether he was looking or not. And what subsequently happened he untied her and left her alone and let his guard down. She used this moment to escape, save her own life and alert authorities. This man was then arrested.
The way I explained it to him was no matter what life throws at you never give up and always hang in there and have faith in God that he is always with you.
Then he asked me what my favorite song was to which I had to clarify "what type of song". Then I replied "do you mean what I think the greatest song that was ever written" and he said "yes". I told him it was "The Day the Music Died" by Don McLean. He then asked why...we are still discussing it...
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15 comments:
I really enjoyed reading this post, Rachel & Hubby!!! It's really heart warming experience:)
My two daughters also love all the songs that JT and I listen to, whether it be good influence on the girls or not. They love the tune and they are not there yet to ask us what those songs really mean.
And yes, honesty is the most important thing in our family also - we need to protect them from all the ugliness in the world, but we can't hide them from it either.
Loved this post!!!
Way to go Hubby!!! And I agree "The Day The Music Died" or "American Pie" Is the best song ever!!!!
wow!! great job....i sometimes get a litle tongue tied when these conversations get deep...or can't find the right words!!! great job!!! i love it!!
wow I never knew the meaning behind the the song.
wow.
great post
What a great story. Did you ever think in a million years that you'd be explaining the workings of Kurt Cobain's mind to your kids? Brilliant!
*also, I didn't know the story behind that song....it's good and gruesome.
OMG I never knew what that song meant! Thanks for this story.
I think that's so sweet that you didn't just rub it off and say something like, oh it's about this girl and that's it.
No wonder Rachel always raves about you!!! Great parents, btw!
=0D
You guys are such great parents!! Not many parents would be so open and honest with their children. Especially with such a topic. Kudos to you two!
And I absolutely love Nirvana!! But never really knew much about that song! I will totally have to listen to it again!
Wow. What a kid! And wonderful that he is so inquisitive and analytical! Most kids never think about what the lyrics to a song means.
My babe is 2 and only interested in "itsy bitsy spider" at the moment. If he asked me the meaning behind the song and why the spider was so adamant about going up this spout, I'm not sure what I'd say... I can't imagine trying to explain "Poly"! Good job keepin it real :)
Love this story and the way you handled it with Zman. Nice job, hubby! So cute - you did a post for your wife!
Loved this post A LOT!!
I haven't ever listened to Nirvana's song. I will definitely do that!!
Love is really gorgeous!!
great post. it's hard to tell kids the truth b/c they are too young to fully understand but sometimes when my niece asks me questions i don't want to overly shelter her with fairytales.
Great post Hubby!! You handled that well with Zman!! :)
~Jill :)
I'm tagging either of you on my blog!!! :) Have fun with it. {HUGS}
love this guest post by the hubby! Ah, maybe I can convince my hubs to guest post on my blog!
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