History repeats

When I was a kid, my dad would come home from work every afternoon (he taught high school) and as he got changed out of his work clothes and into his being-at-home clothes, he would always stack a few 45s on the record player and let them drop down one by one. This is kind of an odd memory for me because my dad was not really the one that I associate musical memories with - it was, after all, my mom that introduced me to the Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits 8-track. But I do remember my dad doing this, and one song that I remember being played a lot was the 1968 country hit "Skip A Rope." (stream)

I never really listened to the lyrics to "Skip A Rope" back then, but boy are they cryptic!

Daddy hates mommy, mommy hates dad
Last night you should have heard the fight they had
Gave little sister another bad dream
She woke us all up with a terrible scream.

And this is even worse!

Forget about the rule, just play to win
And hate your neighbor for the shade of his skin.

Now, the song was certainly not celebrating these sentiments, but it's odd that it took me so long to actually hear the song for what it was.

In any event, I was getting ready for work tonight (one more overnight, then hopefully NONE in 2009) and I found myself listening to "Skip A Rope." All that would have been necessary to complete the circle is if Anna had come in to listen while I was getting ready.