Kooks like us
I was listening to a David Bowie song the other day, "Kooks." It's not really a great song, and I never noticed it much on the record before, preferring to fast-forward to songs I liked better. But I was busy sweeping so I let the song play and all of a sudden the lyrics caught at my ear. Oh, it's a beautiful song! It's all about Bowie's kid, and how it's going to be hard for him to have such crazy parents but that they'll always be there for him. Here's the part I liked:
I bought you a pair of shoes
A trumpet you can blow
And a book of rules
On what to say to people when they pick on you
'Cause if you stay with us you're gonna be pretty kooky too
Violet of the Future, I hope you're not embarrassed by your wacky parents. We go to campouts with naked people milling around, and we have funny clothes, and crazy ideas about food and love and health and what's right and what's wrong that other people don't agree with. I hope you won't feel ashamed when your pink-haired mama comes into your classroom. I hope you won't ask me not to suddenly break into songs as I'm walking down the street. I hope you won't ask me to drop you off a block from the party. I hope you're not mad at us for making you weird, too. I'm not sorry we're weird, but I don't ever want to embarrass you, baby. We believe in you.