Today I'm going even further back in my memories. This one goes back to my first "teen rebellion" attempts. Now I know that a John Denver song seems to be a weird choice for a rebellion song but I can explain. It wasn't the controversy about the "high" in Rocky Mountain High. It wasn't that I thought it meant getting high. I was a pretty sheltered kid in a tiny Baptist town in Mississippi and at this point in time, I didn't even know what "high" was!
No, it was something far more basic (and ridiculous now looking back). My father hated John Denver. He didn't like his voice, he criticized how he looked and dressed, simply put there was nothing good about John in his eyes. Sort of how earlier parents felt about the Beatles I guess. It didn't help matters that he and I were, umm, not close. We'll go with that.
Mom on the other hand liked John Denver's simple music. We both enjoyed the acoustic guitar and John's gentle voice. Granted he wasn't the strongest singer to walk the earth, but you could feel his love for his music when he sang.
So, to the rebellion part. Mom bought me the album despite his complaints. My mom and I each had bedrooms across the hall from each other. Down the hall and down about 3 steps were my brother's bedroom and my father's room. Yes, there rooms were on opposite ends of the hall and opposite sides of the house. That's another story completely though. This layout meant that my bedroom shared a wall with my father's bedroom. Guess where I put my record player? That's right, right up against the shared wall. Whenever I was mad or annoyed by something he did, I locked my door and on went John Denver at the highest volume I dared. Glad my kids never tried this, I can just imagine all the ICP lyrics assaulting my ears! I can still hear his voice yelling to "turn that damn thing off" (always ignored) or complaining to Mom who would explain that I wasn't hurting anything. It was also the album I would escape into when they were fighting one of their frequent fights. I would turn it on, lean back comfortably on my bed, close my eyes and pretend that I too was enjoying a campfire in the Rockies.
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