It’s nice how you the web can put you in touch with old memories. For some random reason, I recently thought about an old song that used to make me cry. No, it didn’t touch my soul. It just scared me as a dorky, over-sensitive little six-year old. The song is called “Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye”. Since my name is James and I was frequently referred to as “Jimmy” when I was six, you might be able to figure out why that song heightened my insecurities.

But I did a quick search and found a video for it on YouTube. So I now know that “Goodbye Jimmy” was a 1959 hit song by Kathy Linden. On hearing it again after 45 years, I had a rather different reaction. I like it now; it’s sentimental. And by this point in life, I’ve learned to accept the goodbyes and get on with things. My life — everyone’s life — is a long series of goodbyes, of losing the things that you came to love. Sic obduco palma illius quod nos diligo.

And actually, “Goodbye Jimmy” isn’t completely sad. It holds out hope for an eventual reunion, although in a melancholy fashion. To quote the refrain, “I’ll see you again, but I don’t know when …” And guess what? I’m not the only kid who cried when the radio played this song. The YouTube page has a comment by a fellow now in his fifties (like me), who said “I woke up this morning thinking of this song for some reason. My name is Jimmy and when I was about 5 I always thought it was about me … It made me cry too, when I was little!” So, I wasn’t crying alone after all.

Another “goodbye song” that I like is the Bay City Rollers 1975 version of “Bye Bye Baby” (originally recorded in 1965 by the Four Seasons). The Rollers give it a Beach Boys-like ending, an interesting twist on what was otherwise a Frankie Valli standard.

Finally, my political cynicism for the week, in the form of a rhetorical question. Which was more stupid: not vetting Van Jones, or beating on the President for telling kids to study hard and stay in school? Too bad that we can’t just say “bye bye” to everyone presently in the White House and Congress.