Jeff’s birthday

O Pabbi Minn

I love Bjork. In high school and college I especially loved her. I loved her growling sometimes screaming but mostly her crazy beautiful voice. Swan dress and all I love her.

Once, around the time of my school days, I had my parents listening to a jazzy ensemble she had done, hoping they could appreciate it.  I watched them squint as she screamed out a note. Sigh.  Parents don't understand my music. Then this song "O Pabbi Minn" came on and my dad started singing it in English (Bjork was singing in Icelandic).  It was an Icelandic cover of "Oh My Papa" by Eddie Fisher (which was an English cover of the German song "Oh Mein Papa" by... someone in Germany). 

It was humbling and connecting all at the same time.  Here I thought I had this awesome new stuff, and it was a cover of an old song my parents knew.  I obviously knew of cover songs, but this one offered me a look into how over time, these things connect us, they mean the same things to us, even though we may imagine them differently.  

So that song is what played during our father/daughter dance at my wedding.  And maybe no one understood at all.  Or maybe, like my dad, some of the more experienced folks could pick out the tune and appreciate the choice.  Or maybe my dad's just a really special guy.  Yeah, I'm going with that last one.  

Thanks for always being there for me, dad.  Even when we're far apart.  Thanks for helping me to appreciate that everything old is new again, and to see some of the hidden connections in this world.  Happy Father's Day, O Pabbi Minn.

O Pabbi Minn by Bjork
Oh My Papa by Eddie Fisher