When Paige was 7 years old I told her that when she turned 14 I would no longer censor her music. Censorship basically meant that I didn’t let her  listen to anything too explicit or offensive to women. Or basically, shit that I didn’t want to listen to in the car while I was driving her around.

Back then making her wait 7 years seemed like an eternity, but it sure got here in a hurry. As soon as she turned 14 the first thing she said was, “NOW I GET TO LISTEN TO WHATEVER I WANT.” I had no idea that she had been patiently looking forward to her birthday precisely for that reason. Just another notch on the “neener neener, I’m becoming an independent person” post.

In order to make commuting in the car together more enjoyable, I decided to create an iTunes playlist where we both contribute songs to the mix. Surprisingly, this has been an amazing bonding point for the two of us. This is what I call “accidental genius.”

It all started with Hey Jude. You may have heard of that Beatles song. She would listen to it over and over again thinking that the Beatles was some sort of one hit wonder like Barry Mann or Billie Ray Cyrus. That’s when I started introducing her to the entire Beatles’ catalog. And where she was just AMAZED, amazed and dumbfounded that one band could come up with so many great songs and original music. In the day of remakes and sampling, it was almost unfathomable to her.

Since that day, she’s been adding to the playlist and I round out the mix with songs from the wayback machine that I think she might like. Sometimes I give her a musical history lesson. For instance, until recently, she had no idea that the Beastie Boys are Jewish boys from Brooklyn. Or that Reverend Run was the same guy on Run’s House. You should have seen her face when she saw before and after pictures of Lauryn Hill.

Sometimes she schools me on her musical repertoire too. Who knew she new all the lyrics to most of Johnny Cash’s hits? Or that she loves the Doors? And Bob Marley? She even introduces me to music like Estelle or Lupe Fiasco (For the longest time I thought Lupe Fiasco was a Latino rapper. He’s not.) I love it.

Here’s a samplin’ of what we were listening to on the way to the mall yesterday while stuck 3 miles behind a car accident with no where to exit. Oh yeah, it was snowing too.

30 Seconds to Mars: The Kill (yes, that is Jared Leto)

Atmosphere: Guns & Cigarettes

Beatles: Don’t Let Me Down, Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, Strawberry Fields Forever, Come Together, Revolution, etc, etc, etc.

Britney Spears: Hit Me Baby One More Time, Womanizer, Circus

Cake: Going the Distance, I Will Survive

Coldplay:  Viva la Vida and various songs from all three CDs

Death Cab for Cutie: Soul Meets Body

DJ Kool: Let me Clear My Throat

Doors: Touch Me, Peace Frog

Eminem: Real Slim Shady, Mockingbird, Stan

Jack Johnson: Sitting Waiting Wishing, Better Together

Jay-Z Unplugged Live: This is the best.

Kerli Koliv: Walking On Air

Little Jackie: The Stoop

Lupe Fiasco: Kick Push, Superstar, Daydreaming

MGMT: Electric Feel, Time to Pretend, Kids

Mika: Relax, Take It Easy

The Killers: Mr. Brightside

And on and on …. can you guess whose songs belong to whom?

You may think I am paranoid, but I am really beginning to think that she thinks it’s her job to make me feel like an old hag.

Me: Why do you keep doing that when I tell you not to do that?

Paige: Duh. Because it’s my job to make you feel all old and shriveled up inside.

But once in a while, when it’s really late at night and no one is looking, Paige will crawl into bed with me and we will watch vintage Beastie Boys videos on Youtube.  And then she’ll say something like,

“Please mommy, tell me that story about the three Jewish guys from New York who formed a rap band again.  Pretty please.”

And for one brief second, she actually realizes that it was me who heard the song first, not her.  And for one really small moment in time she knows that I know more than she does.

But she never admits it.

Paige:  “Have you heard that song called, Tricky?”

Me:  “You mean the one by Run DMC?”

Paige:  “Who?”

Me:  “Run DMC.  It’s tricky to rock around, to rock around …”

Paige:  “I LOVE THAT SONG.”

Me:  “That song came out when I was a kid.”

Paige:  “REALLY?”

Me:  “Yeah, Reverend Run is that dad on the show Run’s House.”

Paige:  “Nuh-uh.  I LOVE that show.”

Me:  “Yeah, he’s the RUN in RUN DMC.”

Paige:  “Weird.”