Head Tale

I don’t think Pace has a theme song for his grade eight grad today.

In my hometown, I went to elementary school until grade six then to high school in grade seven and I didn’t have a grade six grad theme song either (that I remember.). But it’s got me thinking back to my own grade 12 grad which definitely did and which I definitely remember.

To prepare for our grad ceremony and other activities, we had different meetings throughout the year of all Grade 12 students and also some with parents (fond memory: One father from a very religious family stands up and calls all the assembled parents “bootleggers” for even considering a “Safe Grad” – where we were able to drink underaged in a controlled setting such as a farm – instead of a “Dry Grad.”  He went on to say “What’s next?  Buying them cocaine?!?” and unsurprisingly, his son wasn’t allowed to come to the Safe Grad at a classmate’s farm.  What a “Safe Grad” meant was buses took us out and back home, volunteer parents controlled distribution of liquor that our own parents had bought for us, and I think there was a big bonfire, music and maybe some games – pretty dangerous stuff!  Another fond memory: the next time, I saw his son after high school grad, he was hanging out the side of a pick-up truck at the Craven Big Valley Jamboree, so drunk he could barely talk!) 🙂

Anyhow, at one student meeting, we discussed the very serious topic of a theme song for the grad.  If memory serves, there were three different factions – one group wanted a classic song (I think a Beatles song which in hindsight, I should’ve supported), one who wanted a hair metal song which is where I think my vote landed (Poison or possibly Guns n’ Roses) and a group voting for a current pop song – “Show Me The Way” by Styx which hit #3 on the pop charts in March 1991 when our grad was in May 1991.

My music tastes weren’t very evolved in 1991 (see how I picked the hair metal option over the Beatles who would soon after, became and remain to this day, my favourite group of all-time.) But even then, I knew you wanted a song that was meaningful, timeless and most importantly, not fucking cheesy (uhm, maybe the hair metal option was “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper which would’ve been even better – adding “timeless” to the check box in a way Poison never could!)

Unfortunately, a vote was taken and we got this abomination of a song, not only as our grad song but our entire grad theme.  Fortunately, in a fit of karmic justice, one of the decorations across the front of the stage came loose early on and so for the entire ceremony, parents and grandparents were left wondering what “SHOW ME THE WA ” meant?  Was “Wa” some new slang term for COCAINE???

Anyhow, here’s the tune that played as I walked down the aisle at Indian Head High School in May 1991 and into my future.  (Honestly, if we had to have a Styx song, I think “Mr Roboto” would’ve been more appropriate!)

(Oh, and apropros of nothing other than it being the most late 80’s/early 90’s thing ever, the name of the classmate whose farm we had the Safe Grad at was Jason, the son of the religious father was Jason and I was the trifecta as the third “Jason” in our small class of maybe 20 boys total!)

“Show Me The Wa_” – Styx