~4~ The Book Of Love

"What do you think of this track, Dad", asked Emmeline, thumbing her iPod to locate a song uncharacteristically quiet: strings, no less, in the intro.

"It sounds different to your usual stuff, where did you hear it?"

"It was on Scrubs; Listen, what do you think?"
..and I listened..

"I think it's Peter Gabriel, singing his cover version of Book of Love"

Teenagers are unsettled when something of the moment turns out to be long familiar to their parents.

"Hmmph"

I danced an a internal little jig of pleasure at my own cleverness

"Who IS Peter Gabriel, anyway"

I was stung: "Ah, Em, Em! Who is Peter Gabriel? Well, he used to be in Genesis for one thing"

"You mean Phil Collins?"

"Even before Phil Collins, but hey let's listen, I do like this song.. "



"It reminds me of someone", I said.
"Mum."
"No, not your mother, someone else; long ago"
She stared at me...thinking that through, and hit repeat and we listened a third time to Gabriel's pure and heartfelt delivery

Eventually: "Well for one thing: no-one ever told you: I love it when you sing to me"
"Perhaps it was the charts and facts and figures that rang a bell. But you don't know everything - perhaps someone once did"
"Yeah, right, some imaginary person"