Fifty-two years ago this week--- December 11, 1964, Sam Cooke died at age
thirty-three.
So often late at night I find myself listening to his music. Songs
such as "You Send Me," "Win Your Love For Me," "The Little Things You
Do," "I Love You Most Of All," "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons,"
"Wonderful World," "Chain Gang," "Cupid," "Twistin' The Night Away,"
"Bring It On Home To Me," "Send Me Some Lovin'," the list could go on
and on.
In 1964 I was a senior in college and so related to his music from my
earliest of high school days.
"She Was Only Sixteen" She was only sixteen, only sixteen/ I loved her so But she was too young to fall in love/ And I was too young to know Why did I give my heart so fast/ It will never happen again But I was a mere lad of sixteen/ I've aged a year since then She was only sixteen, only sixteen/ With eyes that would glow But she was too young to fall in love/ And I was too young to know |
Guralnick's book, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke.
Some say that Cooke wrote the song "She Was Only Sixteen" about his
first and maybe his only real love. It is a song that I find pretty
easy to related to in many ways.
"Even today, I never dismiss a teenage romance as 'just puppy love,'
because I remember Bobby and me and the depth of our feelings. When
we're young we feel all kinds of emotions more strongly than we ever
will again. We've yet to become inured to pain and disappointment.
We're more fragile, uninitiated; and very often, we're not taken
seriously. If just one more grown-up had said to my parents, 'Don't
worry, she'll get over it,' I would have had an apoplectic fit."
(Connie Francis - "Who's Sorry Now?)
Hum... Have you ever wondered how young is too young to fall in love?
================================================================================================
December 11, 2014
Keep on,
Larry Adamson