And then in 1959, there was Barrett Strong wailing his heart out, "The best things in life are free, but you can keep 'em for the birds and bees, now give me money (that's what I want)...!"
Let's see now...in 1959, I was all of 12-13 years old and even then disagreed with Mr. Strong. The song that I most identified with (and still do) is Ray Charles' "My bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I'm busted..."
(FYI, the correct quote is "the love of money is the root of all evil" NOT "money is the root of all evil." A good friend and mentor explained that to me, and the fact that money can also be used for good, so a tip of my beret to Dr. D!)
Whatever, money causes people to do very bad things, of which I want no part, even if it means permanent church mouse status in this thing called life. I am no fan of The Pitchfork, never was, and since money seems to be inherently evil, it's steered as clear of me as I have of its benefactor. But I am beginning to reconsider Barrett Strong's words in my golden years (whoever thought that one up should be hanged in effigy. More like rust if you ask me.)
When I was a little kid, my older sister explained the meaning of Christmas to me. When she got to the part about giving presents to people, my eyes opened up like saucers: "YOU GIVE GIFTS TO PEOPLE??!" Wow, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I immediately ran to the hallway closet, where I had hidden a plastic Christmas stocking filled with sticky hard candy and, on Christmas morning, presented it to my father as my very first Christmas gift to him. That's the kind of kid I was, and that is who I remain.
I think my cousin Evelyn Grosso Stanley summed up my constant financial crises neatly in a recent conversation.
"Paula, you are the ONLY person I know who so fully embraced the ideals of the Sixties, you never let go of them!"
I think my favorite cousin in the world hit a bulls-eye with that one.
"Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I'm busted. I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day, the county's gonna haul my belongings away 'cause I'm busted... I'm broke, no bread, I mean like NOTHIN'.....!"
Flower Power...it's a good thing some flowers are edible!
