Space Invasion From Mercury

Little Bean's First Original (Maybe) Song

The other day, at the piano, Little Bean said, “Daddy, do you want to hear my song?”

“Obviously!” I replied.

And so she began playing a song, which she said she thought up and was original. I have no clue if that’s the case or not. But after a few bars, I told her to start again. And this time I recorded it.

The name of the song is “Space Invaders from Mercury.” Is it any good? I don’t know. Sounds like a retro arcade video game to me, or something out of late-season Stranger Things. You decide. Here it is.

I took guitar lessons for two years, have been a writer and creator for 40, and I’ve never written a song. Honestly, I’ve never really had any interest to. But something got in her head and she fiddled for a while and wrote a weird, retro-1950s science fiction song.

I’m not reinventing any parenting wheel here, this sort of thing happens all the time. I wrote my first short story when I was in fifth grade, it was basically Starblazers fan fiction. And while nobody is ever going to accuse me of making a million bucks following my dream, the fact is that when I did begin writing in elementary school, my parents didn’t try to squash that impulse. True, my father always talked about having a Plan B but they, in their own ways, facilitated my creative urges even if they never quite understood why I was interested.

Or perhaps they humored me?

So, the same is true today. Her little retro tune gets played over and over and I nod and try to help her find connection, maybe suggest some ways to add some flair or talk about 1950s style sci-fi.

But as with everything else from her rocks to her crafts to her (nearly insufferable) obsession with that one song about Baby Yoda and chicken nuggies, I try to encourage. In the case of the nuggies, I try to re-direct.

There obviously are times when ‘No, stop’ is part of the conversation but I try to save that for non-art related things.

Maybe she’ll be the next John Williams. Or maybe she’s just not be afraid to try new things, will experiment with sound and words and art. Or maybe she’ll forget how to play her new song by tomorrow and will move on to the next thing. Whichever. It’s fine. I have it recorded so now she’ll never forget it!