Bonnie Raitt had a semi-hit with this song in the late seventies or early eighties (who remembers?), but I like the original most. NRBQ is in my top five favorite bands, and I like a lot of bands. I've probably told the story before about hanging out with the band at a park in Frederick, Maryland, so I won't belabor that, other than to say they were such nice guys! I've seen them many other times too, a few in Jacksonville and several shows at {shudder} the infamous Hammerjack's in Baltimore. I honestly can't think of any other band I would have gone there to see there, and I saw NRBQ there twice. The second time the show ended early because a few "Hammerjackholes" started a brawl very close to the stage. Of course, you know I was at the edge of the stage; I was lucky not to get hurt, but as I recall a bottle or some other projectile hit the guitarist. And that was that.
Anyway, one of the reasons I love this song so much is that it perfectly describes most of my life. With three sons and all there friends hanging around, it's always been "me and the boys". Even with friends, I gravitate more toward men than women, and I reject the notion that hetero people of opposite genders can't have a friendship that doesn't involve sex. That's a lot of negatives. What I mean is that I've had many male friends with whom I've never had sex. It can happen, and it's actually great! My friend who died at the end of 2014 was one such friend, and while we had some flirtation, I was always glad that we never went anywhere with it. We wouldn't have been able to have the kinds of conversations we had and the bond we shared if it had been otherwise. Sometimes I miss him so much I feel like my heart is breaking into a million pieces.
But that's not where I was going with this to start with. Tonight my middle son's band is opening for an eighties band that enjoyed a lot of popularity and is still well-known. My youngest son was trying to come to town for the show, but he is in his last month of classes and isn't sure now that he'll be able to make it. I hope he can, but I know I'll see my other boys -- and I don't mean just my son who's in the band but all his friends I haven't seen for months. Is it wrong that I enjoy the company of these young men (and their significant others) more than I enjoy people closer to my own age? I don't care. It's true. My sons -- all three of them, but especially the middle one -- say, "Mom, it's great that you come out and get along with our friends so well, but you really need to spend time with people who aren't in their twenties [or thirties, in the case of one son]." Good or bad, I think my dating life is over (at least with that guy) nearly as fast as it started, and the sad truth is that I don't care about that either. There are plenty of other men around if I feel like meeting them. In a few hours I'm going out; it will just be me and the boys (and one of my female friends -- she likes the boys too).
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