For the bulk of the years of growing up that I actually remember, what I would consider the “formative” years, I lived in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Not to be confused with the super irritating Brookline, New Hampshire that would show up in school closing announcements only to leave me extra disappointed.) During and after college I didn’t think much of my high school years at Brookline High School. And in fact, I ended up losing touch with every friend I made there. But thanks to the internets I have reconnected with many of them, some very recently. It’s been super positive, and it’s stirred up all these great memories of my time in Brookline. That’s what this song is about. These three incidents in particular:

• My friend Pete works in Kenmore Square in the building next to the one with the Citgo sign. He summons me. I comply immediately. We climb up to his roof and scramble to the adjacent roof. (They were attached so it’s not that impressive.) We climb up inside the Citgo sign, we can see into Fenway Park (Cool!), and I shut it off. This is the most hoodlumy thing I have ever done. We immediately bolt. I am later admonished by my friend Ethan. He tells me I should go back and turn it on. I do not comply.
• My friends, Roee, Pete, Ethan, Amy, and others spend an inordinate amount of time in Pete’s basement doing what kids do in basements. We also drive around a lot in Roee’s used Mercedes. When it’s late, and we’re starving, we head to the open-all-night falafel truck in the hospital district in Brookline. I order shishkabab and hummus every time. I try to use the lingo the staff uses to order and I am soundly rebuffed. I am convinced this is a political statement by the Lebanese dude taking my order. I enjoy the Shishkabab Hummus despite our political differences.
• My friend Roee works in Brooks Drugs in Coolidge Corner. He tries to get off work early so he can go to a party he is hosting at his house while his parents are out of town. Cliche? Yes. His boss won’t let him go. Roee says he’s going on break never to return. That night at the party, 300 kids show up. Things have gotten out of control. We call the cops on our own party before the house is completely destroyed. We beg the cops not to say who called them. We were already nerds in high school. If the cops had told who made the call, it would have been our death sentence.

For years after leaving Brookline I would always think of it fondly. And when I went back, I would try to analyze the place and understand specifically what it was I missed about it as if I could somehow make a list, add those things to my new home, and no longer feel homesick. Of course, that’s silly. It’s just where I grew up. So, that’s the space it will always occupy.

Thanks to Kira (fellow Brookline-ite, though I didn’t meet her until after high school) for feedback through the production process.

Anyone from Brookline, I hope you enjoy this. And, oh yeah, fuck Newton!

Brookline

[Lyrics]

BTW — here are some additional Brookline stories that were candidates but didn’t make it into the song (names hidden to protect the guilty):

• Friend works in video store in Coolidge Corner. Puts on borderline pornographic movie on main monitors in the store. Customer walks in with kid. Freaks out. Friend is fired.
• About to perform with my band in the school talent show. Head to the bathroom. Look over to the end stall and see two pairs of legs. One male standing, one female kneeling (facing male). Takes me months to figure out was actually happening. I was what they generously called a “late-bloomer”.
• Friend and I are sent by friend’s parents to buy groceries for the house. Friend and I enter into a state before going shopping that leads to us spend hours at the supermarket and buying $400 worth of groceries. This was hard to do in 1986. No Wholefoods.
• I show up late to my own SAT. (Not a dream.) I have forgotten my ID. The typing teacher who is administering the test doesn’t recognize me starts quizzing me to establish my identity. Having never been to homeroom, I honestly do not actually know the name of my homeroom teacher. My fellow students laugh. They only eventually vouch for me. I am eventually allowed to take the test.
• I audition for the school musical. The British drama teacher makes fun of me for shaking my leg while I sing comparing me to Elvis. My fellow students laugh. I play the sergeant in the Pirates of Penzance.
• I am about to get beaten up by a “point kid”. I am heading to grab my backpack and a quick thinking friend grabs me and tells me the kid is not worth it and I should not take the knife out of my backpack. The point kid is convinced I was about to pull a knife on him and takes off. I am amazed at how quick thinking my friend is.
• Some white kid that we interact with once-in-awhile utters the following statement: “Hey… I know karate. I hang out with Chinese kids.” I shit you not.
• My favorite english teacher is leaning over a desk. I congratulate her on being pregnant. She is not. This is the last time I ever do this.
• Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science lived in a mansion in Brookline. The mansion is now owned by the church. It has a gorgeous pool. We sneak in there to swim. We are chased off by the caretaker who lives on the grounds.
• My friend is housesitting for some family. We all hang out at this tiny house and do countless inappropriate and illicit things in the house while they are gone. it is like our own private crackhouse without the crack.
• On my way to a friends house, who I visit regularly, I always pass a particular house. For some reason, 4 out of 5 times I pass this house, there are scraps of porn littering the lawn. This goes on for months. I have no idea why. (I often pause to examine said porn.)
• On the last day of school, I am mugged by two dudes who don’t go to our school. The cops catch them. At the trial, they wear the exact same clothes they wore on the day of the mugging. I think they thought that was part of the requirement for the trial. This makes them even easier to identify. They are not smart. The public defender tries to get me to admit that it might not be my walkman. I am forced to admit in court and on the record that the cassette in it was a custom tape I ripped from a live Billy Joel concert VHS tape and therefore could not be someone else’s. My musical taste is exposed as way uncool, but I get back my walkman and my $8. The two dudes go to jail.
• We’re all driving around aimlessly in Brookline. We pull up behind a cop. My friend who’s driving honks at the cop. Seriously. Honks at the cop. The cop gets out. Gives us a hard time. Eventually lets us go. My friend is a dope.
• I work at Star Market as a bag boy. I am desperate to be a cashier. They won’t do it. Eventually they put me in the bake shop. I give gourmet chocolate chunk cookies to cute girls at super discounted prices. I keep up the practice despite the fact that it is never effective in getting me a date. I am not yet “results-oriented”.
• I eventually get an earring and am told by Star Market management that I need to take it out at work or I will be fired. I quit my job at Star Market. I get a job making more money at a state government office downtown. Nobody cares about my earring because they are all busy calling in “sick” on Fridays during the summer so they can “recuperate” at the beach over a long weekend.
• During my senior year I date a freshman. She is sophomore age, but the damage is done. I’m a senior dating a freshman. I don’t care. At least I have a girlfriend.

That’s probably enough.

Here are the lyrics for Brookline.

VERSE A

It’s 4:45 on friday
Summer job winding down and you say
Get over to Kenmore Square in time

Head up to your roof, inspect it
The building next door’s connected
We can climb up inside the Citgo sign

VERSE B

That switch is so big it’s humming
I’m the one, I switch it off, and now
You want me to go back turn it on
Fuck you no way not me, no how

And it was dark for several games

VERSE A

It’s past 1am on Tuesday
The smoke settles down and you say
Let’s get some food at the falafel truck

The doctor’s done ordering and I
want the shishkebab sandwich, that guy
who’s taking my order thinks I suck

VERSE B

I know that he knows just what i want
He won’t admit it, not tonight
My Lebanese friend, please feed me
I’m so hungry, I don’t care who’s right

And now I’m so full of lamb

CHORUS

Remember a time when i would never leave you
Remember a time when you were always there
Look real close and I can almost see you
Look real close and I am standing right there

VERSE A

It’s 2:26 on friday
Shuffle up to your boss and you say
Will you let me off early for my party tonight

Asshole says no, you steal snacks
You say you’re going on break, be right back
Are you gonna return, you say “yeah right”

VERSE B

Green line from coolidge corner
straight to your house setting up the keg
300 people showed up
We’re the ones who who called the cops and begged

Please come and throw everyone out

CHORUS

Remember a time when i would never leave you
Remember a time when you were always there
Look real close and I can almost see you
Look real close and I am standing right there

ENDING REFRAIN

I’m so there…

I tend to take a lot of pictures. I found out early on in my photo-taking tenure that the more pictures I took, the more likely that some of them would come out nicely. Of course, I’m always the one behind the camera. As a parent, I also have wondered just how much of the time I spend with my kids they will remember (if any). My father recently asked me if I remembered how we used to watch Star Trek together. I honestly couldn’t remember. He was crushed. It occurred to me that many years down the road when my kids look at our family pictures they won’t see me in any of them because I was the one behind the camera. Something tells me that this detail will be lost on them as they repeat the cycle and tell me they don’t remember me being there.

For some reason I decided that I wanted to use a string quartet in one of my songs. I’ve never composed music for a string quartet, and I’m not even sure that I’m qualified to write the little pop songs that I do write. That hasn’t stopped me yet, so string quartets watch out! Needless to say my first rendition used all the built in strings my software had to offer. And while I am no snob when it comes to electronic instruments, they just didn’t have the kind of sound I was looking for. In search of something more personal I was lucky to find to musicians who were willing to help me. Nathan, my daughter’s cello teacher supplied the cello for this song, and my pal Jenny played the violin. Between them I think they did an awesome job resembling a string quartet. If you like the song, they deserve the credit. If you don’t, blame me.

Take the Picture

[Lyrics]

Here are the lyrics for Take the Picture.

VERSE

I think the rain has stopped, the cherry blossoms dropped
Take a walk outside, and maybe go for a ride
Let’s throw the ball around, see the rocks that we found
I think we’ll be home soon, that big white ball is the moon

CHORUS A

Will you know that I was right there with you?
And do you know that I already miss you?
And please don’t forget that if I’m not in the scene
I was off to the side, someone had to take the picture

VERSE

The last bite is yours, we can’t go into that store
Let’s go sketch the lake, you want the pink cupcake
It’s already 10 to 8, look I cleaned my plate
I loved the breakfast in bed, mmm peanut butter on bread

CHORUS A

Will you know that I was right there with you?
And do you know that I already miss you?
And please don’t forget that if I’m not in the scene
I was off to the side, someone had to take the picture

CHORUS B

Give me a second and one more try
The light’s not right, please move to the side
If you could stay put for one with me
Everyone smile on the count of three
I just want a shot before the sun goes down
I need another battery, I’ll run into town
Hey check out the one that I just took
It’s perfect

VERSE

I’m a shark in the pool, drop you off at school
Another concert today, of course I saw you play
Alright I skipped that one, that concert wasn’t much fun
I admit, I confess, I swear I saw all the rest,

CHORUS A

Will you know that I was right there with you?
And do you know that I already miss you?
And please don’t forget that if I’m not in the scene
I was off to the side, someone had to take the picture

CHORUS B

Give me a second and one more try
The light’s not right, please move to the side
If you could stay put for one with me
Everyone smile on the count of three
I just want a shot before the sun goes down
I need another battery, I’ll run into town
Hey check out the one that I just took
It’s perfect
(It’s my favorite face, don’t give me that look)