Get it On

The first album I ever purchased    
with my own pocket money
was T-Rex, Electric Warrior—    
   
It was 1971! It was England!    
I'm twelve.    
   
TWELVE!  
One year from being a teenager  
   
It's the end of July    
or first of August, who knows—  
it was hot as hell;  
I picked strawberries    
and babysat all summer    
to earn enough money for that album  
   
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on  
Aowwwwwwww! Yeah, BABY!  
( Remember. . .twelve )  
   
I get it home, eagerly unwrap. . .    
and. . .it's warped—  
I'm devastated    
   
So, my father returns it    
( without me )—says he'll go  
at lunchtime from work  
   
He gets home that evening    
and has sad news;    
ALL the albums were warped  
because he made the clerk check  
   
What does he purchase  
as a replacement. . .  
   
as God is my witness. . .  
this is the truth:    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Partridge Family, Family Album  
   
The. Partridge. Family.    
   
W.T.F. was the Partridge Family    
doing in England    
in 1971  
   
I was so upset    
he returned my money    
   
Though, I must admit  
David Cassidy grew on me  
but that's a different story  
   
I was in my early 30's    
when my son, then twelve,    
TWELVE. . .  
wanted a particular 'rap' CD    
YO!  
   
He worked hard all summer    
doing yard work earning his own money  
   
I went to purchase it    
on my lunch break the next day  
when record stores still existed  
   
But contemplated,    
due to certain language    
telling him they were sold out. . .  
getting something a bit milder instead  
   
Then it hit me    
as an American baseball out of left field. . .  
   
He ended up getting what he wanted,    
Dr. Dre/Ice Cube Baby!    
I can't remember;  
but, what I do remember—vividly    
is visiting my father that weekend  
looking him dead in the eyes,    
and asking. . .  
Were all those T Rex albums    
really warped. . .  
   
He just grinned, and said,    
"It's not like you didn't get your money back. . .    
after all, you were only twelve"    
   
He was a cheeky old bird—  
but wise nonetheless;    
however, I must admit  
this once  
I disagreed with his assessment—  
   
though, also must confess  
through a strange course of events  
that I have yet to understand. .  .  
I quite forgot about T Rex—    
   
which, I believe  
was his intent    
   
dammit  
~