I Had a Jukebox Graduate for a First Mate
While I couldn’t resurrect Shari’s family story for her, I could welcome her into ours. That’s something we Shaws do very well.
From the day we started dating, my family welcomed Shari as kin. I’m so grateful for my family. To this day, we’re all as close as ever. That’s the story Mom and Dad wrote. Our story.
Those early days of love were something. I tried everything I could to be charming to Shari’s mother. I joined the choir she directed. I worked hard at it to do well—I practiced at home. She noticed! What did she do? She sat me next to the tone-deaf tenor, Carl, hoping I’d help him find his notes. I did my best. Anything for the mother of the girl I loved!
But the closer I got to Shari, the more she tightened the reigns.
Spread out now Rosie, doctor come cut loose her mama’s reins,
You know playin’ blind man’s bluff is a little baby’s game;
You pick up little dynamite, I’ll pick up little gun,
And together we’re gonna go out tonight and make that highway run.
Rosalita jump a little higher, Senorita come sit by my fire,
I just want to be your lover, I ain’t no liar, Rosie you’re my stone desire.
We're gonna play some pool, skip some school,
Act real cool, stay out all night, it's gonna feel alright.
So Rosie, come out tonight, baby, come out tonight;
Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor,
Closets are for hangers, winners use the door,
So use it, Rosie, that's what it's there for …
Rosalita jump a little higher, Senorita come sit by my fire,
I just want to be your lover, I ain’t no liar, Rosie you’re my stone desire.
I know your mama don’t like me ‘cause I play in a rock-n-roll band,
And I know your papa don’t dig me, he never did understand;
Papa lowered the boom, locked you in your room, I’m comin’ to lend a hand,
I’m comin’ to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man.
Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny,
But now you’re sad, your mama’s mad;
And your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money.
Oh, so your daddy says he knows that I don’t have any money.
Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance,
Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance!
Well my tires were slashed and I almost crashed, but the Lord had mercy!
My machine, she’s a dud, out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey.
Well, hold on tight, stay up all night, ’cause Rosie, I’m comin’ on strong;
By the time we meet the morning light, I will hold you in my arms.
I know a pretty little place in Southern California, down San Diego way,
There’s a little cafe, where they play guitars all night and all day;
You can hear them in the back room strummin’,
So hold tight, baby, ’cause don’t you know I’m comin’ …
Rosalita jump a little higher, Senorita come sit by my fire,
I just want to be your lover, I ain’t no liar, Rosie you’re my stone desire.
Rosalita is a story of the forbidden love between a wild teenager and a young girl who was overly-protected. She might have seen it coming: Shari and I sort of lived this one out.
I was on a mission. “We’re gonna play some pool, skip some school, act real cool, stay out all night, it’s gonna feel alright…”, oh yeah, we did it all.
There’s the first time her mother let me pick up Shari from school—a schedule conflict as I recall. All her other options were unavailable that day, and there I was, thrilled to offer my services!
I polished up the Mustang and was there, leaning on her fender by the curb, when Shari walked out of school. She had two friends in tow. “Can we give Alan and Kara a ride?” Sure, pile in!
It all went great. Got home safe and sound.
But that ride! Let’s just say that story involves a certain rainbow-striped flag; a really-well devised plan; an off-duty police officer (who wasn’t part of the plan); what, in today’s culture might be labeled a micro-aggression(in more ways than one); a brief detour (to the local police station) on our way home, and … a jailbreak. But like I said, it all went great! (And don’t worry. The statute of limitations ran out years ago, I’m pretty sure.)
Each adventure we shared became a story of its own.
Like Growin’ Up’s lyrics, I’d found my first mate in Shari.
The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing;
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing.
Like Jungleland’s “Barefoot girl, sitting on the hood of a Dodge, drinkin’ warm beer in the soft summer rain …” Shari’s first beer? Check! Just like the song said, except without the rain (Shari hates rain), and the obvious—no girl of mine would sit on the hood of a Dodge! My daddy raised me better.
From Rosalita, the whole skipping school thing? Check! I had a plan. Worked great, too! We only did it once … you know, just to be able to say that we did. (Shari hates it when I say that!)
“There’s a little cafe, where they play guitars all night and all day; You can hear them in the back room strummin’ …” Getting Shari into Nick’s bar, underage, to see a killer local duo, the bass player of whom once played with Blood, Sweat & Tears? Check!
Just about every Springsteen story starts out with a guy and a girl getting in an automobile. You know we had to have a road trip in there.
Hey, what else can we do now? Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair; The night's busting open, these two lanes will take us anywhere.
Between Shari’s high school graduation and her first semester in college, we managed to sneak in a road trip to New York to see my sister Debbie … without Shari’s mom knowing about it.
On the trip, it was Shari’s idea to take a detour on the way to New York, that we—
Take that ride, across the river to the Jersey side,
Take my baby to the carnival, take her on all the rides;
‘Cause down the shore everything is all right,
You and your baby on a Saturday night;
Well, you know all my dreams come true
When I’m walkin’ down the street with you.
We walked “down the shore,” passing “them dusty arcades,” where kids were “bangin’ them pleasure machines, all night and all day.” We saw “where the wizards play down on Pinball Way,” and caught a glimpse of the old “tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag.”
We even saw where “the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do.” Her fortune telling shop was still there.
We even stopped on the way out of town to take a picture of me leaning on the historic Stone Pony just like a picture of Bruce. You know … just to say that we did.
To be continued …
DARIN MICHAEL SHAW 