born in the southland, baby

The other day I buckled Mitchie into his car seat in the van. As I started driving he's pointing at the front of the van and yelling/whining "dat, dat, dat!" Dat is 'that'. I couldn't figure out what he wanted. I looked around thinking he saw a toy or something interesting that he wanted. There was nothing. I turned on the radio. He looked happy for a second until it fired up. That's when I figured it out - he actually wanted the song.

The kids have a favorite song. It's a bluegrass song. Jordan and Tennyson sing along, and the three of them play air guitar in all the right places. It struck me as funny that the baby was requesting the song too. These are the song lyrics:

I was born in the Southland
Twenty-some odd years ago
I ran away for the first time
When I was four years old

I'm a free born man
My home is on my back
I know every inch of highway
And every foot of back road
Every mile of railroad track

I got a gal in Cincinnati
Got a woman in San Antone
I always loved the girl next door
But anyplace is home

I got me a worn-out guitar
I carry an old tote sack
I hocked it about two hundred times
But I always get it back

You may not like my appearance
May not like my song
May not like the way I talk
But you like the way I'm gone

They love the song. As it wrapped up the other day, Mitchell was already calling out "den, den, den" (again, again, again). I listened to the song three times before finally telling him that Mommy wanted to listen to something else. He only whined about it for a few minutes.

I think it's cute. Him, not the song so much. Not after 500 performances in the van.