97/365 Pomp and Circumstance

This year, I have a best friend whose daughter is graduating from college and another best friend whose daughter is graduating from high school. It’s shocking, really. (Especially that I could push such grammatical limits here, in a public blog. Still, I reserve the right to call multiple people best friend.)

Whenever I hear “Pomp and Circumstance” (apparently the “Land of Hope and Glory” part), my head automatically fills in silly lyrics that I’m convinced will never leave me. At my own high school graduation, there were several guys who, during rehearsals, insisted on singing these words nonstop: I wanna smoke reefer, I wanna get stoned.

These were sophisticated times. These are the words bubbling up in my brain as the music swells.

With enough repetition of the tune, my mind then jumps to the words college pal Dave used to sing:

My reindeer fly sideways
Your reindeer fly upside down
My reindeer fly sideways
Your reindeer is dead.

I have no explanation whatsoever for those lyrics. None.

Here’s an abbreviated cover of the tune.