Almost Eden

Warning: The content of this article is intended for rock n' roll fans over the age of 18. It may not be appropriate for, understood or appreciated by others.

I had an unsettling experience yesterday that's been happening a lot lately. For some reason Israelis seem addicted to music that was popular in America in the 70s and 80s; it plays randomly in elevators and shops. I highly doubt they understand what the words mean, otherwise I don't think they'd be playing - in religious neighborhoods - songs with lyrics like:

• "We made love in my Chevy van..."
• "It's the last dance, the last chance for love..."
• "Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove."

Follow up:

Some of you may be saying "so what's your problem with this stuff?" I'll tell you. I have three problems with it:

1. The obvious problem is my concern that young, innocent minds don't need to be exposed to this stuff (it may be a surprise to some of my readers that there are people in this world - both Jews and Christians - who manage to shield their children from filth... TV, radio, etc.)
2. I don't like the fact that my favorite artists from that time period (like Journey, and Led Zeppelin are sharing "elevator music" status with the likes of Lawrence Welk! (No offense to Mr. Welk or his fans intended here. It's just that it was the elevator music of my youth that aroused in me a desire to flee buildings that played it.)
3. I feel embarrassed for the store clerks and patrons who attempt to sing along using non-words because they don't know the language. An embarrassment I'm familiar with due to my pathetic attempts at Hebrew.

I suspect that they pay some "Muzak" type company to provide them with these tracks because they feel it may attract American tourists. Obviously no one is considering the fact that many American tourists come to Israel to explore the places where they believe their various religions began. Imagine two Catholic nuns or a Christian homeschooling family walking into a shop that's playing "I believe in miracles, where you from you sexy thing?..."

After my writing class I took two buses to get to the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem for a meeting with a guy at MATI (a business development agency) to learn about the steps involved in starting a business in Israel. It was a quiet building; no music.

From there I walked to a chef's supply store (that my friend Aviva told me about - thanks Aviva!) to buy a chocolate mold and supplies to make my own confections. I really enjoyed this store and would have purchased more if I had a car (and lots of money). At some point I noticed in the background a song from the 70s, it was Karen Carpenter singing "Close to You". I felt a little sad listening to it because I know that she tragically died at the age of 32 of a cardiac arrest caused by the strain that her anorexia had put on her heart. It caused me to recall how anorexia nervosa disrupted our small town neighborhood in the 80s, almost devastating two families.

The song ended and next came what I felt was an odd transition; Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. I was ready to check out my purchases, but became paralyzed. I couldn't leave the store yet because I didn't want to miss my favorite part of the song (the vinyl long gone from my home); the brilliant escalation from mellow to hard rock that makes it difficult for me to resist dancing in the aisles.

"And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all is one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying a stairway to heaven."

The song is now stuck in my head; I got up singing it quietly this morning. Yisrael overhead me and wanted to know what I was singing so I pulled it up on YouTube for him.

He was bored by the quiet introduction of the finger-picked acoustic guitar gradually transitioning into a slow electric piece. But when the faster hard rock kicked in, I noticed his adrenaline was flowing as I spotted him from the kitchen playing air guitar.

When it finished he decided (without my permission) to check out some other Led Zeppelin selections that YouTube was offering him. First he clicked on "Black Dog", which I decided had inappropriate lyrics. We agreed he could try "Immigrant Song" which I anticipated he wouldn't like. To my surprise, he remarked "Now that's the stuff I like" while jammin' on his air guitar!

To my knowledge my son has never heard this type of music before. I invested good money in collections like "Baby Einstein/Bach/Mozart" to positively stimulate his brain in utero through age 3. After that he progressed to adult Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven tapes, and religious music. So I gotta wonder, was his attraction to this music transmitted genetically, or does Led Zeppelin have a unique multi-generational draw?