I bet I’m not the only child of hippie baby boomers who knew “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” before any other Paul Simon or Simon & Garfunkel song. Or before many other songs at all, really.
My father can’t have been the only one inclined to bust out with a “hop on the bus, Gus” when herding his children into the car, or a “make a new plan, Stan” when trying to divert our attention. All I know is that he’d often rely on this song either for gentle parental teasing or for our entertainment — because sometimes there were little singing/dancing performances that went along with it. And I suspect others of his generation probably did the same, leading to a Generation X soaked in jazzy solo Simon.
It seems to me at least one of my siblings was super taken with this tune as well. Maybe the baby brother? The one so young he’s not even Gen X? I can’t pin it down, but I have this vague sense that one of them cracked themselves up by singing the chorus with a hard emphasis on the names.
It was probably the baby brother. This is, after all, the boy who laughed himself into tears at age 3 over “Mum mum bo BUM” (banana-fana, etc.), and who inexplicably added “pepper” and “hulla” to everybody’s names (Kitty-pepper, Emmy-hulla, etc.). Dude never met a song, rhyme, or nickname he didn’t love.
Good rhymin’ Simon times with the On the Swing family.
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September 30, 2010 at 11:04 am
mamakitt
So adorable, that little brother. I didn’t know the “pepper,” which you so fully embraced and used yourself, came from him.
September 30, 2010 at 11:08 am
thegirlontheswing
OHHH yes. It all began with the baby brother. He made up “Kitty Pepper” — which lent itself nicely to the adaptation with which you’re familiar!