Today I dropped a hundred on a Frank Sinatra box-set Sat on my bed, cross-legged And listen to Disc 2 Frank's April 8th Carnegie Hall set From 1974 The audience applauded over every note his orchestra closed with Cole Porter, thank you New Yorkers worshiped the Hoboken boy that crooned before them, Correction, most of the globe did. In 87' I was seven and was spending every Sunday Night with my father, watching Al Bundy Not the most sophisticated gags I still laughed when I didn't get, copying my dad It's kind of sad, but I knew that theme song Better than I knew the Canadian national anthem Francis Albert: one, Robert Stanley: zip Those morning cla**room recitals can't help you, kid "Who's that singing Love and Marriage?" Daddy answered: "Ol' Blue Eyes, The Chairman." "Never heard of him. Quite a set of nicknames How come you don't own a single Frank ca**ette tape?" "Because he s**s, son. Not my cup of Earl Grey." My dad preferred Mellencamp, while his records play "Whatever you say, you're the boss, pop." From then on, my eyes rolled whenever Sinatra was brought up And John Cougar got the head nod like "f**, yeah!" "Flip the side, son." "Coming right up, dad." I would play the air guitar, the Cherry Bomb Ain't that America. My friends would ask: "Who the f** is Mellencamp?" "Who the f** is Mellencamp? Who the f** is you?!" My friends would laugh, middle fingers at me Walk away and start singing Rick Astley In Indiana, that sh** would get you beat up, Pulled my Zellers jeans up, Rolled my t-shirt sleeves up I'd grab a magic marker off of my desk And try to draw a smoking woodpecker on my bicep, Put on my headphones, humming Jack and Diane Holding on to sixteen, and wasn't even nine yet. I memorized every single line said But didn't understand what any of these lines meant Now the question is: did I like him for his music and his messages? Or did I like him cause my daddy was impressed with him? Was the Lonesome Jubilee ca**ette a waste of a X-mas gift? And was I wrong for giving Mellencamp a "Right on!" And Sinatra write-off? Or was I young? Too young to have a mind of my own? Today I dropped a hundred on a Frank Sinatra box-set Sat on my bed, cross-legged And listen to Disc 2 Frank's April 8th Carnegie Hall set From 1974 The audience applauded over every note his orchestra closed with Cole Porter, thank you New Yorkers worshiped the Hoboken boy that crooned before them Correction...