My First Love Song

I made doubly sure Mum was not around. With the bedroom door closed and the ceiling fan spinning at medium, I turned on the casette player. It was a simple rectangular box the size of a thick book with the speaker on one side, the casette slot on the other and all the buttons on the top. The telescopic antenna rested behind the buttons.

The song in the casette had been pre-recorded from the radio just yesterday. After a few days of sitting close beside the player, the DJ finally played the song I was waiting for – Anne Murray’s You Needed Me. There was no mistake when I quickly pressed the “Record” button right after the DJ finished speaking and just before the song began.

Now, with the song already recorded, a ball point pen in hand and a piece of foolscap paper backed by a text book, I listened intently as the song began to play. After the first line, I pressed the “Stop” button to write down the lyrics. That went on until I had the lyrics of the entire song on paper. I rewound the casette, played the song again and sang along.

That was the first love song I ever sang. The meaning was irrelevant. I just liked the tune. It was her voice rather than the message that tugged at my heartstrings. That was the time before I had a guitar but sang to my heart’s I did. I was about thirteen years old then. I was preparing to fall in love although I had no idea who she would be yet.