dynamic elf

[scene: in the car. NPR came on when I started it up.]

N: I want to listen to music. I want "Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes."
Me: Okay. *plays it*

[30 seconds pass]

N: Actually, I don't want to hear this, and I don't want to hear anything else by Paul Simon.
Me: Okay, what do you feel like hearing? Want to see what's on the radio?
N: No, something like Paul Simon but different.
Me: Um. How about Cat Stevens?
N: Is she a real cat?
Me: No, he's a man who sings songs. He sang "Moonshadow". [which I sang to her this weekend]
N: Okay.
Me: *plays Father and Son, the only Cat Stevens song on my iPhone at the moment*
N: What is this song about?
Me: It's about a parent and a kid who are having trouble listening and understanding each other.
N: When do they get to the part where they sing the title?
Me: This song doesn't have that! The title isn't in the song.
N (unimpressed): Oh.

[pause]

N: Not this song either. I want someone who sings stronger.
Me: Hmmm. How about Jay Brannan? *plays*
N: Oh! I've heard this song before! I have heard this, right?
Me: Yup!
N: I like it.

The song played out in silence as N listened contentedly. I wasn't sure what to put on next, so I went with Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, and she was really into it, and especially the way his voice gets soft and loud. She practiced saying "hallelujah" until she got it right, and never asked what it meant, which is good, because there's no telling what I might have said.