Thursday, March 1, 2012

Innocence Remembered

Davy Jones passed away yesterday. If you're a member of the under 40 set you may have heard this piece of news and thought to yourself, "hmmm...Davy Jones? Wasn't he a character in Pirates of the Caribbean?' Yes he was but as we all know characters don't really pass away, they remain forever and always within the confines of a book or movie.

I'm talking about the Davy Jones. Davy Jones who sang vocals in a band popular back in the late 60's and early 70's known as The Monkees. Davy Jones who was a heartthrob of epic proportion. If you're part of the over 40 set and heard this news you may have felt a touch of sadness and a small wave of nostalgia for a more innocent time. Most women my age will tell you that in their once upon a life they dreamed of walking down the aisle with Davy Jones.

The Monkees were were one of the original 'boy bands' and they made records and had their own tv show. Davy also made a famous guest appearance on another show popular during my tween years which was The Brady Bunch. Marcia Brady had a bona fide crush on him and if you surveyed my peers you'd find pretty much all of them remember this particular episode. It aired in 1971. I was 11 years old and in the 5th grade

Do 5th grade girls still play Barbies because we did. My sister and I had quite a few and when friends joined in they'd pack up their Barbies in the original clunky-chunky black Barbie suitcase and carry them over to our house so we could really have a big game.

One of the things we liked to do was assign each Barbie a boyfriend and the three most fought over were Davy Jones, Bobby Sherman, and David Cassidy. This trio of 'teen idols' were all rather boyish in their looks, handsome and neatly dressed, with winning smiles and a twinkle in their eye. They sang pretty harmless stuff about love and life and nobody dropped the F-bomb into their lyrics or called women nasty and derogatory names or wore sunglasses indoors at night (puh-leese!) or talked gangsta when they most assuredly were not anything remotely close.

Oh they may have been dealing with all sorts of yucky stuff behind the scenes but they weren't tweeting it to the universe and they had no fan page on facebook because, duh, there was no facebook. We could innocently crush because if they were abusing drugs or had a foul mouth or demanded a bathtub full of Evian or their hotel room painted black before they'd agree to set foot inside or some other such ridiculousness we never heard about it.

And you know what?
I think that was better.

People like to make fun of that era and granted, the style trends make for an easy target, but I look around at this world sometimes and I long for eleven year old little girls to know the innocence I knew in 1971. There's something to be said for peeling back the layers of life one birthday at a time, to exploring your world bit by bit and not having the entire universe at your fingertips in a google search.

We can't go back. We can't undo technology and I'm not sure I'd even want to if given the chance. I use email daily, write a blog, and I'm on facebook and twitter so obviously I can appreciate some technology. Even so, it saddens me a little to think my future grandchildren will live in a world spinning faster and more furious than we do in the year 2012.

Some days I want to slow it down, add a filter, let us come to the world instead of the other way around.

Days like yesterday when something takes me back to 1971 and suddenly I'm face to face with the memory of my dad mowing the grass on a sunny Saturday morning. The smell of a barbecue grill and fireflies dancing in the dark. The sound of my sister's voice on the telephone, the one with the extra long chord made for stretching and twisting and wrapping as you talked. My brother on his guitar with his bedroom door slightly ajar. The giddy and glorious freedom I felt playing tag with the neighborhood kids in the dusky light of a late summers eve. A sister who was my constant companion and our suitcase full of Barbies.

Daydream believer and a homecoming queen. Imaginations running wild in the safe place called childhood.

27 comments:

  1. I think fondly of my pink Barbie suitcase and can't wait to pass it on to my future little girls. way to be super nostalgic, mom! love you

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  2. I still have my original Monkees albums.
    The world does spin too fast sometimes.

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  3. So very sad that Davy Jones is no longer with us. I always liked him! Just goes to show you how fragile life really is.

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  4. I loved Davy Jones!! Sometimes I hate technology also.

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  5. No, 5th grade girls don't play with Barbies, but 5 year olds do. My granddaughter has quite a collection. I think that 10 year olds think that they are all grown up. Yes, times have changed and not always for the better.

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  6. What a great post, Joyce! I so agree with you. The life I knew as a kid - playing with the neighborhood kids at the creek, riding horse, building forts, being OUTDOORS instead in front of a computer...are all a thing of the past, it seems.

    And didn't the Monkees have a great sound and some great songs!

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  7. I was saddened by the news yesterday. I loved him and the Monkeys. Those were the days. I remember them well. I played with Barbie dolls. I do remember the long phone cords and I had many conversations with my future husband on those phones! It is definitely a different world today.

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  8. Well I am not quite 40...but still love The Monkees and am singing along with you :)

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  9. That was beautifully said, Joyce.
    You captured the memory that many of us had during that time.
    So sweet. So young. And as you said, so innocent.

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  10. Ahhh, I remember those times too exactly. I'm still hearing his songs in my head today.
    Good times. :)

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  11. He was taken from us too soon. Sad day.

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  12. I have lived in the life not too long but have heard from my parents all about those days...the days where everything was simple and playing meant playing outdoors. I wish I would have lived during that time because I think it was better. So much better than times from today. Thanks for this post. :)

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  13. I wrote about Davy today as well. I will miss him as I had a huge crush on him. Good times when being alone in my room with my dreams really meant being alone. Great trip down memory lane.

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  14. This is my favorite post you've ever written! So well done! I've linked to you to share it with everyone I know.

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  15. A hard loss for many hearts.

    I enjoyed reading over your blog. My first visit here.

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  16. Great post, I'm with you all the way, though I'd add Donny Osmond to the pack . . .

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  17. Ah, the memories of simpler times. Thanks for escorting us down memory lane. ;-)

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  18. This is so well written Joyce. I watched The Monkees and Brady Bunch a few years later in re-runs but had all the same sentiments.

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  19. I know what you mean. Remembering those days can warm our hearts. I grew up very much like you did. Davy's death had us all thinking back on where we were when the Monkees were popular and how our lives were simpler and innocent. I have good memories. I loved the trio of young heartthrobs! As tweeners they were part of our "coming of age." It's hard to hear of them aging, and dying. Davy left a little too soon, but he left us all with great memories.

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  20. Excellent post! And yes, Marcia's date w/Davy is one of the Brady Bunch episodes that stuck with me (the other one is the card house challenge episode). I was 12 in 1971.

    I mentioned the news to My Sweet Baboo, and my 15 year old daughter looked at me and said, 'Who's that?' and my 18 year old son cracked a Pirates of the Caribbean joke. Sigh.

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  21. Oh, loved this post and of course, I was a teenager when Davy and The Monkees "hit the scene" and I can still sing every word of every song. Some things you just never forget!

    And, I had a trunk for my Barbie's and her clothes that my Mom made for her. Yes, those were indeed the best of times.

    Thanks for another great entry!

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  22. I've tagged you on my blog....play along if you like! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  23. I remember my mom putting a Monkees album on the hi-fi (as opposed to "wi-fi"!) while my siblings were at school. I'd sit in front of the speakers and play with my dolls. I just loved Davey Jones!

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  24. I don't know about walking down any aisle with Davy Jones, but I did like the Monkees a lot, especially that member, Nesmith. He and the Monkees in general had a great sound, still sounds good today.

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  25. I remember watching a show with my dad called The Monkees and they all had twinkles in their eyes??!!

    Lovely post, as usual :)

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  26. What a "thought-provoking" post! I feel the same way! I miss those simpler times--like playing Barbies at age 11 and watching "The Monkees" on t.v. I still love their music, even now. (Kathy)

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  27. What a great post! It brought back all sorts of memories. I too watch my grandkids at play and think we had it so much better as kids. If nothing else, it was simpler. As for Davy Jones? Yup Davy Jones and David Cassidy were two teen heartthrobs I had a ton of pictures on my wall of -- ripped straight out of TEEN magazine none the less. Do they even still print that one? :)

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