the Beatles :: Two of Us
The summer of 2002 I was Ben’s babysitter. Ben was three, I was 21, and we were together all day Monday through Friday, and this was our theme song.
We had the Ocean Mist (a.k.a. purple) Honda mini van, a credit card, and summer days at our disposal. We could be seen often at the Evanston beach and the Lucky Platter. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo twice a week the whole summer. Like the zoo, we never got tired of this song. I would put it on and Ben would stop what he was doing and stand up in a position I call the A-frame: legs a bit wider than hip width apart, then he’d start swaying side to side, lifting one leg at a time to the music. The best part was that he’d also sing along, which was more like a wail and/or a sigh and included grunts and head bobs while trying to keep up with the beat. It kind of went like this: “twou ush…reedin..nowha…..I gown hoom!” He’d usually end the song with a big leap, flailing arms, and collapse on the floor.
There were times when we’d be in the basement play room (a.k.a. the primary colored plastic palace), I would be sitting on the couch saying things like, “for the love of Jezuz Cristo, I need to talk to someone who is more than three years old. If I have to play that game one more time where he’s the lion and I’m the tiger and I never win, why I’m gonna…I’m gonna….What’s that Ben? You want to listen to Twou Ush? Awesome.”
And have you ever heard ‘normal’ kids music? Like this Ralph’s World guy? Seriously, who sings about boogers and days when mom gets mad? Maybe we liked Two of Us that much more because it wasn’t based on bowel movements and nap time, but treated us as who we were: two people creating their own adventures, trying not to get too bored or on each others nerves. Maybe that’s why Paul McCartney wrote this song for Linda. This song was the background to watching tigers at the zoo and to playing with plastic tigers in the basement. It meant summer and intensely serious play time for us.
The last time I saw Ben was two years ago. He acted shy with me at first and I wondered if he remembered me as well as I remembered him. At first he acted like he had maybe had a dream about me once and the whole thing was deja vu all over again. Like he knew something special had happened between us, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to bridge that to the present. Eventually he warmed up and although we didn’t get to play our theme song, we did get to play. And I’m sure he won.
Two of Us (5MB MP3)
the Beatles (homepage)
Ringo said on friday, september 19th, 2008
joshua said on friday, september 19th, 2008
oops Ringo, my bad. Speelling has bean fixt.
joshua said on friday, september 19th, 2008
Oh, and Alison, this a terrific story and a wonderful song. I have very nice memories of Whitney strumming and singing this, sitting on my bed, right around when we first started hanging out.
veejay said on friday, september 19th, 2008
woooooooaaaahhhhhhhh! Josh and Whitney sittin’ in a tree, something, something, something…I forget how it goes.
Great post, A!
dave said on friday, september 19th, 2008
ok…I am really upset you picked this song. not because its bad, because I was gonna write about it next.
That being said, this is a charming story…and better then anything I would have written. This gave me an emotional boner.
Who is this mysterious “Paul McCarthy” fellow?? :)