In college I had a roommate, Rick. And he was a nice guy. We got along fine. But I think he could sleep through a tornado. And an example of what I mean is also one of the biggest reasons I hate the song, Free Bird, by Lynrd Skynrd. If you haven’t heard it, do yourself a favor, and don’t. Unless you’ve got 5 to 14 minutes of spare time you truly don’t care about.
But maybe I’m being too harsh.
Yeah, now that I think about it, take your spare time and give it a listen.
Then, maybe you can tell me why I shouldn’t hate it. But back to the biggest reason I do. Rick, the college roommate, had a very early morning class he attended twice a week. At least I think it was twice a week. Because this was a long time ago. Anyway…Rick knew he’d oversleep if he didn’t set an alarm. So, he set his clock radio to wake him up with, you guessed it….music.
And the first time his music alarm went off, there was just some DJ talk. But then, the DJ started up the album version of Free Bird. OK, how do I know this all happened? Because I’ve always been a light sleeper. So, Rick’s alarm went off and I woke up immediately.
But Rick didn’t.
Then, the song continued. And continued. And continued. Like I said, the DJ put on the album version, which is a little over 9 minutes long. Probably because he needed a bathroom break or something. But whatever the reason, I lay there listening to Free Bird, which I already didn’t like, and waited for Rick to wake up and shut off his alarm.
But Rick didn’t.
And the song got to the fingernails-on-a-chalkboard-seemingly-endless guitar solo part. Still Rick slept. And still I didn’t. So, I decided to take control of the situation. And I grabbed my handy ax. No, wait. That was just a thought. It wasn’t supposed to be part of the story. Forget you read it.
Anyway…
I finally got up…even though I didn’t have a class for about two more hours…and gave Rick a nudge. And then a slightly stronger nudge. And on about the 3rd or 4th strong nudge, he woke up. But guess what? Yeah, you probably guessed it. He didn’t turn off the radio. And I didn’t go back to sleep.
So, the moral of the story? Well, there are two, actually. Anytime you’ve got 5 to 14 minutes of spare time, listen to some music by Beethoven.
And…if you have a light sleeper roommate, set your alarm to Beethoven’s music. Sure, it ain’t Free Bird. But then again, it sure ain’t Free Bird.
Stay tuned,
Get my Rhyme & Reason Podcast delivered (free) right to your device.
My books are also on Amazon.com or Apple Books
Grab yourself an un-cool T-shirt
Or how about some music for kids