Written by M. Evan Wolkenstein (Year ’98-’99, Fellow ’99-’00, PCJE ’00-’02, Summers, ’04, ’05) – The song “Father and Daughter” by Paul Simon used to make me cry. More specifically, playing “Father and Daughter” on my guitar, while my newborn daughter—my firstborn—dozed in her swing, that made me cry. Admittedly, it’s a fair-to-middling song, not even in Paul Simon’s top 50, but my daughter was so tiny then, and my heart was so open, I’d reach the chorus, the waterworks would activate, and I’d blubber my way through the words: I’m gonna watch you shine, I’m gonna watch you grow, which is exactly what happened. She became a shiny, much bigger 3-year-old, and now, she’s really picky. I can’t play “Father and Daughter” anymore; she’s forbidden it, along with every other song except, currently, “Polly Wolly Doodle.”
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