Baby, You're a Firework

Some Free Advice To Parents

Theme of the dance was “The Universe”

There’s this moment during Little Bean’s elementary Little/Big Dance when the DJ - who is the school’s gym teacher - spins Katy Perry’s “Firework” and I have an epiphany about my daughter, and indeed about myself.

I should add that this is a song that’s 13 years old, most of those kids in that gym weren’t born when it came out. I checked YouTube. The music video has 1.4 billion views. Billion.

The song comes on and the kids begin to dance and they begin to sing, and they know every word. Every. Single Word. Even my daughter.

“Cause baby you’re a firework, come on let your colors burst…”

And when Perry sings “Make em go, ah, ah, ah,” every kid in that gym shouts that AH to the ceiling, some scream it, and it’s beautiful, because that moment is theirs. They own it, those kids with their lives in front of them, arm and arm with their pals, hopped up on sugar and movement.

Do you remember that? Do you? Do you remember what that felt like?

Here’s my epiphany. It’s a two-parter. Ready?

First, the music mostly doesn’t matter. Because they do the same thing for the Taylor Swift song, and then they do the same thing for “Cotton Eyed Joe” and for Billie Eilish. What matters is the energy.

Second, here’s some free advice. If you’ve ever wondered why all the popular music today is popular, attend a third grade school dance and do yourself a favor; when all those kids raise their chins to the concrete rafters of that gym and scream every single word of every single song that you hate, be one of the parents that screams right along with them. You’ll be glad you did.