Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie...

Did I mention that John has been singing "American Pie" lately? I can't remember, what with my ears ringing from the number of times he's belted it out.

It all started a few weeks ago when Tommy's co-workers invited us out for some Saturday morning karaoke. That's right, Saturday morning. These people take their sing-a-longs seriously and the karaoke clubs open around 9 in the morning. It was so much fun, and not at all what I expected. We had a nice little room with snacks and drinks, and a song selection system with videos. John really got into it and sang along to "Country Roads" with Tommy before deciding on a little Don McLean.

I shouldn't have put it on the iPod when we got home. I realize that now. Because it was only a matter of hours before he was asking me "Mama, is this going to be the day that I die?" "What is whiskey, Mama?" "What is rye?" And he sang it a lot. A LOT. We begged and pleaded for him to stop. And then he would just hum it.

On Tuesday, we went out to lunch with his friend Eleanor to celebrate her birthday. While we were there, Eleanor's mom mentioned that Eleanor had started singing "American Pie" and as soon as John heard her mention the name of the song, he started right up. Eleanor joined in, to the great amusement of everyone else in the restaurant. How cute, I thought -- he's shared it with his friend.

If only that was the end of it. Eleanor's mom called me last night because she had spoken to the teacher about an unrelated matter, and as it turns out, the song has been banned -- yes, banned! -- from his school, after John managed to teach it to his entire class -- plus a few students from the younger class -- on the bus and on the playground. Instead of their class song that they sing as they go from class to class, John was leading them all in "American Pie" and I just wonder what all these foreign parents were thinking as their kids came home singing about liquor and the death of American music legends. (Honestly, I'm still not sure whether to be mortified or proud!) I had lunch with another mom today and when I apologized for any problems the song might have caused at their house, she laughed and said, "Oh, so that's why she's been asking me if she's going to die!"

When I asked John if he had been singing "American Pie" at school, he said very shyly, "No, that's not a school song. It's just a song to sing at home." So I turned on the iPod and cranked it up. :-)