First Day in August

Listen while you read:  Carole King

On the first day in August
I want to wake up by your side
After sleeping with you on the last night in July
In the morning, we'll catch the sun rising
And we'll chase it from the mountains
To the bottom of the sea

When the day is over
And the night air comes to chill us
You'll build a fire
And we'll watch the flames dancing

You'll fall asleep with your arm around my shoulder
And nothing will come between us
On the first night in August

The first day in August

~  Carole King and Charles Larkey

So, no need to guess why I chose this song for today. I trot it out once a year for obvious reasons. It appears on 1972's Rhymes and Reasons, the follow-up album to Tapestry.

Not to take anything away from Tapestry, but Rhymes and Reasons is the more pivotal Carole King record for me. In the fall of 1972, I was teaching 7th grade English in Bumblefuck, Pennsylvania. It was not my desired position or location, but there was an overabundance of teachers and not enough job openings that year, and I needed to jumpstart my career. I lasted there one year. But it was a memorable year. At the end of that November, a few days after purchasing my first new car (a red 1973 Ford Mustang with white interior), my father died of a heart attack at the age of 51. I'd just been home for Thanksgiving, when he helped me pick out the car, and all seemed fine. The early morning phone call on November 29 is not something I will ever forget.

Rhymes and Reasons had been released one month earlier, and I'd purchased the vinyl. It was on constant play on my post-college stereo. While I tried to get my emotions in order before driving back to New Jersey that day, I listened to it over and over again, alternately crying and pulling myself together. I remember the drive home as if it were yesterday. It snowed while driving over the higher elevations of Honesdale and Hawley on Route 6 in my new red car. And how could I ever forget my mother's eyes when she opened the front door for me. They were red, like my car. It was obvious that she'd been crying all night. I think I might have seen her cry once more after that, on Christmas.

So do you think I can listen to this song without conjuring up that sad memory? But don't feel bad about it. It's a cleansing sadness, a memory of the first time that the Universe informed me that life was not fair. And it was not the worst time.

I do wish I was waking up with a certain someone on the first day in August, but that will not happen until a couple of weeks from now. But despite all of that, "First Day in August" is a pretty song. I hope it added to your day in a good way.