Marital Sacrifice and Counting Crows

When Paul and I got married ten years ago, I LOVED the Counting Crow‘s cd August & Everything After. It’s one of those “life soundtrack” cds that when you hear it, it sends you to a very specific place in time (riding shotgun in Nate’s car with Melanie in the backseat going to and from lifeguard training at the Monett, Missouri YMCA, twisting through open farmland and down into wooded valleys having a very cathartic sing-along voicing all that nineteen-year-old angst and delight).

Well, Pauly and HATED Counting Crows. If I put the cd in and left the room, he’d change it saying, “It’s so WHINEY.” He’d stop Rain King short because he couldn’t stand that final “yeah” at the end. This caused me great distress. I really liked that cd.
At the time we had no money. I had just started my first job and we were paying for Paul‘s seminary education. We would discuss whether we could swing a walk to 7-11 for a Slurpee and a Whatchamacallit--seriously. We saved up to have dinner at Houlihans. So when a new Counting Crows cd came out I knew there was no way I was get me some Adam Duritz. I sacrificed the Counting Crows for love…all for love. I never bought an other Counting Crows album…sigh.

I tried not to be resentful, but when a new song came out on the radio I’d have a little pity party and think about what I was missing. And sure, later on we had more disposable income and I could have bought the albums but he still would have hated it…and if you can’t blast it through the house and sing the “yeah” at the end of Rain King at the top of your lungs, what’s the point?
Then about two weeks ago, Paul busts out August and Everything After. He’s playing it nonstop. He’s taking it to the office with him. He’s WHISTLING Counting Crows songs around the house, for Pete’s sake. He’s saying things like, “Rain King is such a great pop song. The lyrics are poetic! The tune is catchy! Let’s play that one again!”

What?!

I tried not to be resentful. I should rejoice in my husband’s conversion not be mad about it (call me Jonah at Nineveh, if you know what I’m saying). So, I’ve decided to celebrate Paul’s conversion to Counting Crows fandom by buying some cds. I hope they're not whiney.