1/29/24: Tom Sawyer

No, his mind is not for rent.

Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the space he invades,
He gets by on you

When “Tom Sawyer” plays, it’s 1 AM.

I’m at my friend

Dave Nadig

’s house, surrounded by friends, laughter, games. Rock Band is on the TV. Sands is on the drums, Mits is on the guitar,

Cory Banks

on bass.

The opening synth drops.

I grab the plastic mic stand.

"A modern-day warrrior; mean, mean stride,” I wail. “Today’s Tom Sawyer, mean, mean pride.”

I can’t quite find the key. It doesn’t matter. Where we’re going, we don’t need keys. Mits strums some power chords, and I’m just drunk enough to sing along to that, too. “Duh-duh-DAH-DAAAM.”

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For his birthday (which is today—happy birthday, my friend!), Dave and his wonderful family used to host these weekend-long gatherings of friends, where dozens of us from all around the country would descend on his house (RIP his septic tank) to play board games all day and Rock Band into the wee hours of the night.

Some of my happiest memories are from those weekends. Friends, singing songs, being together, being ridiculous. That’s what it’s all about.

---

The verse ends.

“Doo-dee-doo-dee-doo-doo,” I sing. Because I sing that part too.

---

We’re older now. He still has the parties, but we don’t drink as much as we used to, or stay up as late, or break as many septic tanks. We’ve moved from his house to different locations. And the time of 1 AM Rock Band has passed.

That’s okay. I still treasure those days and am grateful that I had them.

“Tom Sawyer” is not a song about friendship and love and togetherness, but it has become one to me. Whenever I need a pick me up, I’ll Doo-dee-doo-dee-doo-doo along to the chorus and smile.

So happy birthday, Dave! This song is for you.