A Mother's Sad Song and the Radio That Replaced It
Radio Days
Growing up in 1960s Harlem, the author heard music communally—from open windows, speeding cars, and his mother's voice. She sang "The Party's Over" while bathing him, and as a six-year-old he heard it as a verdict on motherhood. Then in 1970 his stepfather gave her a wooden WNEW-AM radio, and the mornings filled with Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, and Harry Harrison—until Led Zeppelin pulled him toward FM.
Maybe it was just one of her favorite songs, but as a young boy, I heard it as a commentary on the regrets of motherhood, as though being burdened by me, her child, might have been the reason her life was no longer joyful.